Book 2-Photo Shoot

Two days were spent working with Brent Kane the photographer at Martingale Publishing last week in Seattle. He is amazing to work with. So much experience and a studio that any photographer would find very comfortable to work in. Though the pix of him here does not show him at the camera it does show him at one of his incredibly organized tool drawers. I do love organization, and Brent has it together.

Day one we spent working with Karen from marketing who was the hand model for the book. There was definitely fun times and laughter happening in the studio that day, but it didn't stop the work from moving right along. Day two was spent on materials set up shots and a day where Brent's background shines through.

Only the quilts themselves remain to be shot. Phew!!! Fun as always, and a treat to be up in the Martingale offices where everyone is just wonderful to work with.

Think this will catch me up with Seattle....
on to the next...
stitching & stitching
~Rose

More Seattle Adventures

Am off this morning to help hang an upcoming exhibit for Quilts on the Wall: Fiber Artists. Jeanette Kelly is curating this for our group and I know she has worked long and hard to get this all pulled together. I'm looking forward to seeing it all in place.... But, in the meantime I wanted to share a few more of my Seattle moments. First off is getting a chance to meet Vickie Swann who had sent a pix of a quilt she had made from my book. Turned out she lives in Tacoma and was able to ferry over to Vashon and spend the day with my when I presented to Vashon Island Quilters. The photo was taken in the amazing quilt store there in Vashon. Over 6,000 bolts of fabric! and yarn, too! The last two pixs are from my visit to Shipwreck Beads. A bit south of Seattle, very close to Olympia but SOOOOO worth the drive. Just be prepared to spend some time for the place is huge, and the folks that work there are incredibly helpful. It a family owned business, and wouldn't you know it but I ran into one of them right off the bat. The bag of beads purchased there was the heaviest thing in my suitcase as I headed home. Better run. ~Rose

Martingale in Stitches

This next posting is being taken a bit out of order from how it happened last week in Seattle. We actually had the workshop at Martingale on Saturday... and it was about the last thing on my trip before heading home. But, when the mail came in yesterday there was a book & letter from my friends up there telling me that my book Dream Landscapes: Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Applique just went into another printing.... yeah, the third! So many of the folks that help and have helped make that first book a reality were there in the workshop, I couldn't resist going a bit out of order... They all had a fun day... hope you enjoy seeing them all in action!
~Rose

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Cable Ready

After writing the post on my arrival in Seattle I let the fact that I had left my camera cable at home, and the fact that no card reader readily available could read my card, be a sign. I went along having a wonderful time, snapping photos and just collecting them for my return. Well, the trip home yesterday went fine and I have been downloading photos all morning.

I'm going to just start out slowly.... My week in Seattle was filled with the color of fall, visiting a local store/guild out on Vashon Island, a couple of incredibly fun & busy days spent with Brent out at Martingale Publishing as HE shot the photos for my new book coming out in Spring. Then there was time spent shopping at the largest bead shop in the country - Shipwreck Beads - and lastly at a workshop held at Martingale.

But, I said slowly... so today is just one of my favorite fall color shots and a snap from the upper deck of the SS Issaquah - one of the regular ferries on the Vashon - Fauntleroy route from West Seattle. I'll write more as the week progresses. Now it's back to life & work at home.

Soon to be stitchin - in earnest!
~Rose

(couldn't help myself - threw in a pix of another ferry passing by - this is a color photo folks)

Frazzled No More

The craziness of getting everything ready to hit the road is behind me now, and whatever has been forgotten just is (afraid this includes the cable to download pix from my camera). The best part of letting this go is being able to sit here looking out at the sun coming up over Puget Sound on this quiet Sunday morning while typing this message. So far my trip has been filled with quiet times and fun times taking in some local fun. Since the missing cable makes it impossible for the moment to share some of the great fall photos I've been taking I am sharing the photo of a recent commission based on this very view of the Cascades. The roses in that garden that inspired the piece have all been cut back but with the quilt they are never far out of mind. Wishing you all a delightful Sunday! ~Rose

Sharing More

I'm feeling a bit frazzled today... wondering which way is up, for so much is happening. I wish I could be joining my quilts in the fun places they will be this weekend. One in Houston, as part of the Detours special exhibit at International Quilt Festival. Or the one in Santa Clara, as part of the Noble Seasons special exhibit at Pacific International Quilt Festival. I will definitely miss being in either place...

But, I am excited to be packing up to head on up to Seattle. There I will be working on the photography for my second book with the wonderful staff at Martingale Publishing. I also will be having a trunkshow & book signing at the Vashon Island Quilt Guild. This is one I am especially looking forward to. Vashon is one of my homes away from home.... and my room with a view facing the Sound is one that I am always grateful to visit.

So, better pull this together....
Wanted to share one more student's work. This piece is by Kathleen Russeth, and she attended a recent workshop in Rocklin, CA. She has a wonderful blog of her own so make sure you read her own story by clicking here.

I'm off ----
~Rose

Fall = Orange

Fall is all about ORANGE. If your lucky enough to have some beautiful fall foliage right now I hope you take advantage and get out there and enjoy it! This amazing walk through the trees was shown on a Canon photography site.

Finding Orange in Taos

Morning All- It is such a please to wake up and find lovely photos sent on to me for sharing. This morning jo Griffith forwarded on this celebration of the color orange that she found in the Taos Vacation Guide which then sent her off in search of more photography of Geraint Smith. The photos on his site and incredible no matter what color you are in search of, and I encourage you to read his biography for his love of place can be heard and felt in his words. Happy Sunday! ~Rose

Sharing Life in Color: Orange

I put the call out for orange and I have heard from many of you that have pulled out a sketchpad and started your own color books.... with ORANGE being the lead off. This is always fun and always informative.

Then a recent student of mine -- Marge Nichols shared the National Geographic photography site that sorts by COLOR.

WOW... you'll really want to take a few minutes to check out all the incredible photos & of course the capturing of wonderful color.

Enjoy the search and don't forget to share!
Thanks Marge.
~Rose

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I've never been the best at following instructions, but joining in the Bloggers Quilt Festival was too tantalizing not to try. So here goes... Insert Quilt & tell it's story.

The quilt pictured here is called Eyes Skyward, and was made this year.
All of my landscape pieces have stories, for each tells of a time and place where I stopped to take special notice of some wonderful (sometimes only to me) happening. I love to go off on roads leading up into the hills, camera in hands, ready to stop and go wandering in one direction or another. Never having been a desert gal I have to admit that my wandering nature is somewhat curtailed when there is a possibility of things like scorpions. So, you can imagine my wonder at finding that simply driving the freeway between Los Angeles and Phoenix brought hill upon hill that looked to my eyes as faces.

Each reclining beauty lay upon the desert looking skyward.

It made me feel very different about these desert wanderings, and I spent a lot of fun hours finding beads that felt and looked like the jagged hills and natural stones that helped set the tone for each of the faces as the sun was setting and turning everything a rich chocolate brown.

hope this all works
~Rose

Student Work - Rocklin, CA

I do love to get photos from students so they can be shared. In my workshops the participants are usually developing their own designs as well as learning how to execute them using Fast-Piece Applique. It is fast and fun, and each person's work is so different! Today the piece I am showcasing is from Lynda Pike. It is lovely and since she is already a wonderful artist I am pleased she choice to add my construction methods to her own 'bag of tools'.

Hope you enjoy her class piece, but click on the links to go off and see Lynda's Website & Lynda's Blog.

Happy Stitchin!
~Rose

Discover - Orange

While clicking here & there over the last couple of weeks I was inspired to pull out my color book and go off and RE-discover ORANGE. Hearing 'selecting fabrics' and then heading for the grocery store where there is SO MUCH orange on display set my little orange heart a'twitter. The hunt was on... and since my last orange search there is so much more to find on the web. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself.

I typed in orange on the fabric selector on Robert Kaufman's Fabrics and it came back with 14 pages of orange fabrics to pick from.

At Fire Mountain Gems there were 594 listings for orange beads. It was pretty hard to pick favorites, but just thinking of all the possibilities made it FUN!

Then, while Twittering (yes, I have joined in!), I found a link to Carolyn Saxby's blog ---

You have to check out her postings on RUST! If you couldn't find orange in your own wanderings then Carolyn will set you on a new track.

Finding Orange out there? Send me photos or links... love to find more and share them.

Happy Discovery!
~Rose

What the Studio Looks Like Now!

When all the students moved on my projects hit the tables & walls once again. Here's this morning's view.
Only thing missing is me, and I'm headed in there now!

Double-Quilt Weekend

The Double-Quilt Weekend Workshop was a lot of fun. Jumping right in the group was cutting and pasting, and working up some interesting positive/negative designs. We then used those designs to become pathways to the designing, stitching of some fun quilts. Our little group was great and I hope you enjoy seeing them in action! ~Rose

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