Jump!

Hi All- I hope that you have had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine was spent close to home and fun was had while attending a number of gatherings and spending time at home working on some of the first deadlines coming up quickly for my new book. All was loads of fun, and though I would have loved to have been up in Seattle wandering around the Folk Life Festival it was not to be this year.

I did want to share a little story that I heard at one of gatherings this weekend, for it's meaning has rung true, true, true for me. The story is really a question. If there are four frogs on a log in the stream and one decides to jump off how many are left? Most everyone there, said OK, it's too easy, so we must have it wrong and answered 3. Well, we were wrong, and the story teller went on to say that the frog had only decided to jump, he hadn't really jumped. Therefore, there were still 4 frogs on the log.

This made me sit up and take notice, for it hit home. While I consider myself a person of action, I'm no different than everyone else who knows what they should do, decides to go for it and then finds something, anything to stop us (ha) from jumping. If we never jump, even the first hop then we'll never know whether or not it is successful or not.

Today, I JUMP!
and, I know the thing that needs that action.

There are so many things that we want to do, decide to do and then fizzle out. I hope that you now will remember the frogs and pick one thing and JUMP!

Happily stitchin' & Now Jumpin'
~Rose

Catching Up with May

May around my house is normally pretty busy, for there are so many birthdays... then with the permission of a very fine quilter recently met, I was told that the whole month is one that should be celebrated. Mind you it can get a bit hectic when 4 out 6 of the people closest to you have the birthday right to have their own way for a month. But it does sound like fun!

This year May is also ushering in the first due date for my next book. It is very exciting. In my new book I am able to share many of the things about embellishments that I have been finding long the way while on my own quilt journey.

My first book, Dream Landscapes: Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Applique was incredible to put together. All the folks at Martingale Publishing could not be more wonderful to have worked with, and I am really pleased to be working with them on book two as well.

Needless to say that there have been a few days totally dedicated to stitching up and writing for the book this month, but that has not stopped the search for all those wonderful found things. Circles seem to be the focus.... Dots, balls, bubblegum... seeing spots everywhere! I would love to see some of the things that have caught your eye this month!

Back to stitchin, and having a blast!
~Rose

More Seeing & Collecting

Hi All-
It has been a fun week with lots of meeting with this person and that and sharing and catching up.




It has included birthday celebrations and visits with mom, having fun with the play group... trying out the new Texture Magic product from Superior Threads (more, definitely more on this to follow), working night & day to finish up my Whether You Think You Can or You Can't, You're Right quilt for submission into an exhibition opportunity for Quilts On The Wall, fitting in time to work on chapter 3 of my NEW BOOK (more, definitely more on this also will follow), and the all the other stuff that happens. It is in the part where all that other stuff happens that I had found some wonderful and fun images to share with you know. I think you get that I have been looking for texture and pattern in all things around me right now, but I was just hanging out at the mall, waiting for my husband to finish up getting his eyeglasses that I ran into an intriguing sight. Not one or two, or three but a whole big rack of giant gumball dispensers filled with large, colorful stuff... which of course had me gleefully enjoying the mall outing. There were pink ones, and red ones, round ones and funky shaped ones as well, but I really loved the purple ones and of course the GREENS. And just as my mind was finishing up the focus on the colorful shapes creating wonderful patterns, I notices how the silver plate and knobs of the gumball machines themselves were a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Happy Mother's Day!
Happily Stitching & Collecting,
~Rose

No BUTTs About It

Birthday week started out with a family outing to the LA Zoo. If you have never been, it is a wonderful place, not small, though there's lots of hills. We therefore, ordered up one of those electric scooters for mom and she had a blast running circles around us all.

We thought it might be a quiet day... Monday, at the zoo, but as we arrived we saw close to 20 school buses... obviously lots of folks taking in the sights, sounds and oh, yes... smells of the zoo on this beautiful day in LA.

Once through the front gates it seemed liked all the swarms of kids headed off to parts unknown, and we ran only into packs of them at various points along the path. You'd see a gathering of purple, bright apple green, yellow or red tee shirts hanging about the exhibits then they would vanish again.

In the spirit of
Being an Explorer of the World I had decided to collect pictures that day of texture and pattern. It gave me another way to check out the zoo dwellers and as it turned out the visitors, too. The photos I am sharing with you here are just a few. It turned out that in my search for the texture and pattern of things I took a bunch of butt shots. Meerkats, zebras, giraffes.... well, you can see for yourself.

Happily Stitchin'
~Rose

Collectors All

It's been a busy week and filled with family visits and preparations for a bunch of May birthdays. My brother visited and everyone converged happily for dinner at my place last night. Adding to a collection of 'funny moments while playing cards' was the skunk that obviously was surprised by a local cat. I mention it as part of a collection because while waiting at the local B&N, I ran across a book called How To Be An Explorer of the World Portable Life Museum. What an unexpected delight it is. Artists are by nature collectors. Visual artist friends have homes filled with not only art, but little treasures of all types.
In my house my absolutely favorite collection (and there are many, many) is the Zuni fetishes. All ravens, and all with their own little perches that I have made for them all over the years. Like any good collection the first one sets the tone. My first Zuni raven fetish came as a gift from my boss at the time (Steve). I know he knew how ravens had invaded my life, and this small exquisite perfectly carved bird (from jet) had found it's true home. I on the other hand had no idea just how many different small little ravens there could be out there. This collection stands now at 24.... and I'm sure there will be more added.

In this new book by Keri Smith she shares her belief in the need for us all to play, explore and become collectors of 'things'. They may be a collections of sounds heard while sitting quietly, or things you see on a morning walk. I believe that as we explore and collect we are expressing our curiosity and embracing play.

What do you collect? I'd love to hear about your collections, and what got them started?

Happily Stitching
~Rose