Barnes & Noble

Saturday was great fun! The folks at Barnes & Noble went out of their way to create a festive and creative day for lots of folks. There were folks there from a national sorority who had bookplates to color and create. Then for each bookplate you made they would donate a book to a literacy program and your name would be on the bookplate given. There was a table piled high... I mean really high... with all kinds of 'stuff'. Paper stuff that could be cut up, pasted, painted, colored .... or anything you could think of to make Artist Trading Cards. Ideas and methods were shared along with supplies and give-aways. I was there, too... sharing my quilts and of course showing folks how to bead. A really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was spent finishing up my quilt 'Eyes Skyward'. It felt great to get the piece done... for there is another bringing up the wings... waiting for it's chance as well.

I'm planning to have this piece with me, this coming Friday evening at New Moon Textiles in Pasadena. I'll be there to speak and give a small trunk show. Books & Patterns will also be available. Bobbie from New Moon has a wonderful store and I'm exciting to be going there!

More info to follow.
Looking forward to MORE stitchin' ~Rose

Monday - It's East Bay

It's early Monday morning and I am up and looking foward to another day of teaching for the East Bay Heritage Quilters. Yesterday was a day off, and I had my heart set on some hiking... but it wasn't to be. The rains had come in and rain it did... the entire day. I did not let it stop all activity though, and I jumped in the car and headed up into one of the wonderful regional parks that surround all the bay area cities. The trip up into the hills was definitely wet, but with the overcast, misty skies there was a calm over everything. In many places I stop got out for a bit and even took some photos. A bit of sketching was done from the dry hidey hole of the car. It was like I was being pulled into various scenes and I enjoyed taking in the depth of some of the craggy areas and the small pathways that led through the trees. The heart was willing to brave the wet, but the head took over at a certain point, for it was way too slippery and wet to go wandering about without proper clothing. My little venture had to be enough.

The wonderful place I am staying made the rest of day a delightful get away spot. Warm and welcoming with the fireplace and room to get my hands busy trying out new things. A walk in the rain during the afternoon found me in a lovely yarn store, called the Stash, http://www.stashyarn.com/gallery.php on Solano Aveue. It was so much fun to be among all the color on such a grey day, and I had a great time chatting with several other shoppers. Naturally, I took advantage of all their wool selection, and will be taking home with me a couple of really great reds and a sky blue (all varigated) that will definitely work well in some upcoming quilts.

More of the afternoon and evening was spent sitting in front of the fire and creating yarn sticks. These are something new for me and I had a great time putting them together. You'll definitely be seeing them on some quilts very soon, and today I will enjoy sharing these new little pieces with my workshop attendees and see if anyone elses imagination is sparked by them as well.

Sunday turned out to be a very lovely day... and I am certainly looking foward to getting together with everyone today. A day with embellishment making is always a fun day!

Happily Stitchin' ~Rose

Northern California Quilt Council

It is always a treat to travel up to the Northern California Quilt Council (ncqc) and present to their member guilds' reps. More than anything it's the travelling up and back with my friend and fellow quilt artist Cindy Rinne. She and I have been on the road of quilt artist together since 1996 when we met at the first meeting of Quilts On The Wall: Fiber Artists, www. quiltsonthewall.com; though at that time the group had no name.

We have been travelling to NCQC together for a number of years now, and it really is a great time of catching up, sharing ideas and finding new haunts.

This time was no different, and we went looking for an arts recylcling center in Oakland. It is a favorite place of another of our friends, Joanell. We were equipped with a map and had plenty of time to run our hands through the 4,000 sq ft of stuff. We got there and Cindy started right in at the front of the store. I headed for the back... we both met in the middle at a huge laundy bin filled, brimming over with tie silks. There were traditional patterns and the more fun contemporary designs. There were packages of samples still rolled and unopened and there were BIG, big pieces not even cut up. Everyone stopping by the bin was amazingly willing to help find 'what you're looking for'. There were those that sifted through the pieces at the top, and those like me that dived deep in search of those pieces that may not have seen the light of day.

We had a great time and the prices were not to be beat.

The pictures we took of us inside the store diving for silk did not come out well, but you can see Cindy here as we arrived at our destination. After this we headed to the hotel where we have a great time sharing the facilities with the refinery workers. This hotel certainly takes good care of these guys, and we reap the benefits.

At the meeting the next day we had a great time chatting with everyone, see all the teachers there present. A great time as usual. In a very chance moment we had our photo snapped together.

We then had a fun time having lunch with a group of reps and teacher before heading south. It was a quick trip, but filled with fun, laughter and figuring out just what it is we're going to jump into when we get home....right??!!!

We both agree sewing is what we want to do. A bit of studio time is what we're hoping for.

Look for more about studio time soon. I'm holding out hope! ~R

Road to California

I spent last weekend at the quilt show, Road To California. As usual it was a wonderful weekend filled with great moments. I have been involved and attending this show since 1996, when in my role as president of the Southern California Quilt Council, we helped put together the first of the quilt shows that were to be connected with the quilters retreat Road to California. It's amazing to see how Carolyn has grown this show, and how everything works so well and continues to just get better.

At this time of year it's really fun to walk through the show and take in the festive feeling as friends meet, entrants have their photos taken in front of their quilts, and folks shop for all that is new and wonderful. And, shop they did!

This year I had a great time showing my new quilt patterns as the 'stunt quilter' in Natalie Barnes booth, Beyond the Reef. We worked really hard but had an absolute blast cutting fabric, helping with color selections and meeting so many people from all over the country. There's always a lot of laughter in Natalie's booth and this year was no exception. Thank you Natalie... and of course my cohorts Vickie, Barb & Lisa. There is a photo of the five of us, but by the time I got my camera out only Natalie and The Vixter were holding down the fort.


The quilts were great this year as well, and it was the opening venue for Noble Elements: Spring Forward. This is a group of quilters who have been exhibiting together for a number of years, and this is the first of our new series of quilts that will thematically cover Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter. My plan is have these pieces be a place for my ravens to appear, and my quilt this year is called, It's in the Air. It's always fun to see how the theme is interpeted and this year was no different.



On Sunday I was in Eileen Alber's booth, The Quilters Studio signing books. Sunday is the quiet day at Road. It starts out very low key... (probably due to the party fun happening on Saturday night) but by noon it is hopping. I had a great time. It was fun to talk with so many people and be able to sign copies of my new book. One woman stood in front of the table where I sat and said to her friends, "this is the magical book", and when I told her I was the author she was so excited. I just had to have my picture taken with her, and want to thank Debra for her wonderful description of my book.

A great time was had by all, and by Sunday I was contentedly tired. As I left I took a last quick tour to see everyone enjoying the festival atmosphere and soak up that feeling to recall and enjoy another day.

Now I'm off to northern California to present at council.
~Rose

Shopping For Fabric

As the shopping season is upon us, I find myself in the middle of getting a couple of projects completed for early exhibits in 2009. Hard to believe we are soooo close to the start of new year. On Wed. I found myself in need of some 'color'. Colors in order to make my projects work, so I called a friend and made a plan to do a fast run up to the fabric district in Downtown LA.

For a number of years I have shared my shopping haunts in this area of Los Angeles through a map on my website, http://www.rosehughes.com/ ; but, this time I thought it would be fun to take some photos. The first photo is of the street signs on the corner of Maple & 9th, for most of my favorite stores are there between 8th & 9th.

It's a wonderful, wild street filled with lots and lots of stores full of fabric, so you can spend a lot of time wandering. As the picture shows your centrally located to several markets as well. I thought it fun that I capture the walk & green light. A good indicator. GO, GO, GO.

LA seems to have put in a new parking system. Most of the meters that let you come in for a quick hour rather inexpensively have been changed to a pay system that now costs $3 per hour. (guess they have to get their money somehow). There's plenty of lot choices as well, but if you are planning to go to Michael Levines they validate for an hour with a $20 purchase. They are also right there in the are of Maple & 9th.

My mission was several colors of dupioni silks and for that I headed straight for Fabrics & Fabrics at 403 E. 9th Street.

Even though the whole week had been wet and cold, the sun came out on this morning and everything was bright and fairly warm. A perfect day for wandering about. The guys at Fabrics & Fabrics are all very nice and are there to help you pull out all the rolls of color from the huge collections on the wall. They were even nice enough to let me take a couple of photos inside.

Hope you all get a chance to check it out sometime! ~Rose

More Open Studio Fun

My open studio this year was great fun, and many of the quilt artists with quilts in my recently published book showed up on Saturday for a fun afternoon with lots of signature swapping. The champagne flowed and conversation turned to the swapping of techniques recently tried out (afterall most of us are quilters), and tales of exhibition trials & tribulations. I wouldn't say we figured out anything of great significance but we had a nice time chatting about it all.

All the while I shared my new work and new series of patterns for everyone, and books and pens were passed around as people introduced themselves as Trish, page...., or Betsy, page.....

Trish & David delighted us all with the new pieces they were turning in for the upcoming travelling exhibit Seasons: Spring. Others shared and swapped a few shopping favorites that included http://www.beadwrangler.com/ that was touted to be THE place to buy jean thread, beads or 16wt pearl cotton.

Later in the day we snapped a couple of shots of the 'folks' in the book and others while they were cutting and pasting and having fun creating their own bookmarks at the worktable.

When everyone left the brownies were all gone but there was a drop of champagne left to help me get through the clean-up...

All in all a day filled with friends, fun and lots of sharing.
Happy Holidays to you all! ~Rose

Thanksgiving is Coming

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. You can tell around my house since mom flew in yesterday. Talk has turned to recipes and shopping lists, but mom knew before she came that she would be helping me in the studio as well this week. Between commission pieces, my new pattern samples and exhibition deadlines I have several projects underway… not to mention my ‘for myself’ piece based on the desert sketches just made.

Mom dove right in yesterday and has me working to keep up this Saturday morning. I’ve been selecting fabric with the hope that I can pull everything together for 'eyes skyward' to keeping moving along.

If not I can always make a quick stop in Downtown LA to buy any ‘needed’ fabric on my way to meet up with the family by http://www.olvera-street.com/ . I am looking forward to winding my way through the shops on Olvera Street. I’ll be searching out interesting embellishments, and I'll be sure to share anything I find with you here later on.

My upcoming interview with Kimberly Wulfert on http://womenonquilts.blogspot.com is all set and ready to for December 3rd. I'm looking forward to chatting with Kim, whom I've known for a long, long quilterly time, but what I like best is that anyone can participate and ask their own questions 'live'.

Wish me luck with my shopping adventures. ~Rose