Italian Inspiration

Have you ever seen (or given or received)  one of those tourist t-shirts that say something like, My Parents Went ___ And All's I Got Was This Dumb T-shirt.... Well, my tale may not be as bad as all that, but recently my sister and her husband went for three weeks to Italy. What everyone at home got was wonderful tales of what they did, what they and of course what they ate! One of the last places they visited was Perugia and these were the photos that turned up in my email for that day. Of all the pictures they have shared so far these are my favorites.

One of them is screaming at me to 'make it into a quilt'.
Can you guess which one?

Heart Rock #1

This little treasure was found while wondering on the beach last week along the No.CA coast. I was lucky enough to be invited to present and teach for the Pacific Piecemakers of Gualala, CA and boy what a time we all had. They meet in the fabulous Gualala Art Center which if you are traveling in the area, it is a must see.

Anyways, this is hopefully only the first of many heart shaped rocks that I will find along the way as I travel to so many fun and beautiful places.

I posted an album of pictures of the coastal drive, the steep walk down to the beach and even a few of the flowers found along the way. These are out on my FaceBook 'like' page, so I hope you click over and check out the rest.

Tomorrow I am off again to a wonderful place. Asilomar -- on the beach in Pacific Grove, CA -- there I'll be teaching for Empty Spools Seminars -- can hardly wait. And, maybe there will be a new heart shape rock found along the way.  Be well!

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

Traveling North - East Bay Heritage Quilters

Friday was the start of my journey north and my visit with East Bay Heritage Quilters. It began early, early for anyone living in the LA area knows that it's usually a good idea to try and get out of the basin before the real traffic settles in for the day. It was a lovely drive, and the snow through the grapevine was beautiful in the light of early morning. It was the best of all trips, uneventful.

I did stop along the way to try and find Collete at Sew Many Quilts in Tracy, CA. www.sewmanyquiltsca.com It was a fun little venturing off and though I found the store, Colette was off at a show this weekend. I did find an incredible bead store in Tracy and it didn't take long for me to find some terrific (have to have) beads that I can use on my two in process projects.

I was able to get both my commission piece and the 'eyes skyward' piece to the hand work stage before I started my travels and I am having fun collecting things along the way to help with the embellishments.

This takes me even more forward with the day, for after I arrived in Berkeley, Karen from EBHQ came by to pick me up and show me around town. The first place we went to was the LACIS Museum of Lace and Textiles. I don't know what I expected but what I found was incredible. There were displays in this wonderful space to keep one busy for days, and the sections of tools (to purchase), books and supplies is like none other that I have seen in one place for 'us' all... and there is something there for all of us lovers of textiles.... not just the lace folks. I was overwhelmed and had to remind my self to close my mouth, for all was just jaw dropping.

The magager, Erin, is an absolute delight, and she and each of her staff were incredibly knowledgable and friendly. If your going through the east bay area I would definitely put this on your list of must sees. Their storefront(s) are at 2982 Adeline St. Berkeley, and they do have a website; www.LacisMuseum.org that I'm going to check out soon. (no pictures this time, but I'll try to do better).

After that Karen took me to the ACCI Gallery, www.accigallery.com , where they're having a contemporary doll show, Who's your baby? It was an exciting and varied exhibit and a lot of fun to see the work of many old friends. It's up through March 22nd, so if you're about that area I do suggest that you check it out.

Today is my first day of workshops for the guild. It's a Double Quilt Applique Workshop http://rosehughes.com/DQApplique.htm and I'm looking foward to it. I'll try to get photos out here soon.

~Happily stitching, 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

Traveling & Teaching in Arizona

My recent travels to Arizona were spent sharing my new book with everyone at the Bernina Connection in Phoenix, and to teach workshops on Fast-Piece Applique and 10 Different Ways to Embellish.

The drive from LA to Phoenix was quiet and the desert that lay between these cities can seem desolate, but the fact that I had tons of ideas swirling around in my head continues to support my belief that creative possibility is everywhere.

Along the trip I began to see for the first time the mountainous desert hills in a new way. Ridge after ridge seemed to appear like faces looking skyward. Welcoming the warm breezes that made everything look dry... withering almost. The quick sketches I jotted down on the journey have already turned into a new design. The colors of the desert jumped out at me as well, (looking mostly like very dark chocolate). I am looking forward to selecting just the right fabrics to go in it.

An earlier trip along I-10 last spring introduced me to those watchers and at the time one in particular became the inspiration for the piece here.

I-10 Watcher (copywrite 2008)

My hostess in AZ (Sandee) was amazing and I will be forever grateful for the wonderful time I had with her. Not to mention the incredible Italian food she cooked up!

The workshop attendees were great as well. Everyone walked out of FPA with their quilts underway and I am looking forward to sharing some of these with you in the near future. In the second workshop everyone got to try their hand at lots of different ways to embellish their quilts. Sharing with each other was not only fun but enlightening as well, for everyone brings a little bit of themselves to each embellishment type.

Laura and Julie
playing
with lots on ways to embellish

The trip across the desert was lots of fun, and my own sketchbook has several new pages of ideas, and I'm looking forward to getting into the studio and trying them out. ~Rose

When passing through Phoenix don't miss stopping by the Bernina Connection. For info on the store go to:

http://berninaconnection.com/

For info on my lateset book (Dream Landscapes: Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Applique) go to:
http://rosehughes.com/