Roses Workshop

This past Saturday I taught my Roses Bouquet workshop to a fun group of three ladies.   This group of students are quite advanced/experienced in their quiltmaking skills.   I think I'm correct when I say that Pebble has won several awards in her quiltmaking career.  It was so exciting to hear them tell me that they want to branch out & get creative with the roses technique.    They have several fabulous ideas of what they want to create into a quilt.  I can't wait to see what they come up with.  Of course, we'll have to wait a while before we see their quilts.  We have to remember that creativity can not be rushed & must be allowed to simmer, (like a pot of soup), in order to get great results.   Thank you Linda, Pebble, & Linda for such a fun workshop day!  Below are the photos of their blocks from the workshop.....

You just can't make one rose!

To see photos of  roses bouquet quilts done in various color ways, look under labels-roses or roses workshops. 

                                           

T'was The Summer Before Xmas

Below is a quilt that was in the Festival Gallery of Quilt Art: Town & Country from 2008 thru 2010.  I just got it back from a three year juried world exhibit from Houston.  It's so nice to have it back. 

The idea for this quilt started in 2007, while my husband & I were living at the Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City, Mexico.  We were in the process of repatriating back to the states.  With all our belongings packed, I only had my drawing pad & colored pencils to keep me busy during a whole month's stay at the hotel.  I just kept drawing the characters from the 12 days of Xmas in a summer scene.  When it was finally time to board a plane back to the US, I packed my drawings.  Towards the end of this same year I saw a call for entries by the Houston Inter'l Quilt show web site.  I decided to translate my drawings into fabric & then a quilt.  I didn't know if it would be accepted but, I thought I would try anyway.  I was so excited that it was accepted for this exhibit.   This quilt measures 60"w x 72"l.  

I'm thinking of making this quilt into a Christmas scene.  This quilt took a few months to complete but, this time around it should go a little bit faster because the placement for the design is done.  At least I'm hoping it doesn't take as long to make.  In any case, I plan on enjoying the process.  The hunt for the fabric is always exciting.....  

Inspirations

I have been wanting to make a quilt made up of Fall colors for as long as I can remember.  So I thought that a Sun flower would be a good subject to start with but, my sun flower quilt below looks more like Summer than Fall.  I'm merely drawn to certain colors.   

So I looked through quilting magazines to see if any fall colors would inspire me to start on a small fall quilt.  While I did see many beautiful fall quilts I instead noticed this new book by Joen Wolfrom called "Adventures In Design".  As the cover of the book states, it is definitely the ultimate visual guide.  If you're looking for something new, this is definitely a book to not only inspire you but will take you through some great exercises.  I think it's a great reference book to have in your quilting library, along with any of the other books that Joen Wolfrom has authored.   For now, I'm going to go through some of the exercises in the book.  The photography is eye candy!

    



Roses Bouquet

I recently heard from my friend Linda Barton who has moved back to the area from Mexico.  We met while we were both living in Mexico a few years ago.   Linda also took my Three's Company Roses Bouquet class I taught in Mexico City, Mexico.  She mentioned that it is still a work in progress & here is the beautiful roses bouquet that Linda created.  Thank you Linda for giving me permission to share this photo with everyone.  I love how Linda chose red, orange & fuschia fabric colors which work so well together.  Linda, you'll have to send me a photo when it is completed.

It is such a thrill to see the bouquets that students create.  They all turn out quite differently.    How can anyone go wrong when working with roses.  The best part is no thorns, no watering, & you can keep them around all year round.   

 

Fabric Postcards

I know it's been too long since my last post & I will certainly try to post more often.  Life has a way of taking over sometimes.   I've been busy trying to tackle a little bit of this, that, & the other.  In any case, one of my guild's latest activities (A Xmas Fabric Postcards Exchange) has been so much fun to make.  I'm now addicted to making these postcards.  Another friend of mine asked me to post them so here they are.  The ones on the left below are made up with only preprinted Xmas fabric & the ones to the right are appliqued & took a little bit more effort but worth it.  My friend Diane warned us that we might become addicted & she was right.  It's nice to finish a quilting project in the same day you start it.  This is a Xmas exchange that will take place next month so I had to concentrate on making these before continuing on with other projects.  I'm happy to write that I'm done.  I'm also thinking of branching out with other celebration themes that happen through out the rest of the year. 

      

Minding My P's & Q's Quilt Shop

This is the wonderful quilt shop where I taught my Roses Bouquet Class.  This shop has a great selection of fabrics & quilting supplies.  The atmosphere is inviting the moment you walk in.  If you're ever in Crossroads, Texas be sure to stop in to this friendly quilt shop.  You won't want to leave.

As you approach the shop, you'll see a wagon with a quilt painted on its canvas cover making it easy to spot the shop.

Below are more pics of Minding My P's & Q's Quilt Shop.  Fabrics are organized so nicely you can't help but feel as if you're standing inside a box of crayons.    Photo on the right displays a variety of patterns by Watercolor Whims kits to choose from and so much more. 

                  

Texas fabric below for the Texas shop hop. 



Below are pictures of students from my classes & the roses they created.  It was exciting to see the various colors they selected for their roses.  I've been told by students that this technique is addictive.  You simply can't just make one rose.  This has certainly been true for me.

These students have a goal to complete their quilts by January 2012 where they'll unveil their results at that month's guild meeting.  So exciting!!  I can hardly wait. 

 

Another bouquet of roses.....

When we go shopping for fabric most quilters migrate towards the strong jewel tones.  These are the colors that call out to us.  We simply don't have enough lights or darks in our fabric collections.  I've made it a point to try and work with lighter colors with my quilts.  You need the lights & then the mediums & finally the darks to make your quilts sparkle.  I took both photos as inspiration for working with light fabrics for my bouquet of roses series.

                                             

The following quilt shows how using a careful blend of lights, mediums & darks can really make all colors sparkle very nicely.  Since this photo was taken I've finished the quilt & it is now a workshop class sample.

Even though I tend to prefer jewel tone fabrics, I do love how these light fabrics worked in this quilt.

For the next two days I'll be teaching this technique at a workshop locally at Minding My P's & Q's quilt shop.  This is a great quilt shop with beautiful fabrics & great class room.  The owner of the shop, Jill (a very nice lady), has created an inviting atmosphere in her shop. I will definitely be shopping there quite often.  As soon as I can I'll post a picture of the covered wagon that sits out in the front of the store.  You can't miss it with it's painted quilt on the canvas cover.  

Multi-Color Bouquet

 A multi color bouquet of roses is a nice change from just having only one color.  My local grocery store will often mark down the bouquets that do not sell after a few days.  Lately, I have seen multi-colors in one bouquet.  From these bouquets, I separate the colors so that I can get at least three vases in different areas of the house.   I really like how the yellow roses have a little orange around the edges.

Here is another color way of the bouquet of roses series that I have made.  This is using the same basic pattern that I posted yesterday.  In this quilt, I've added preprinted flowers & other greenery.  Using a background fabric of leaves gives the appearance of this bouquet sitting outdoors on a table.   I also shaded the vase with a pale blue textile paint & shaded the table with a tan color to indicate a shadow.  It was fun to take this pattern & recreate it with a different color of roses, etc.  

I'll post another bouquet tomorrow.....