Quiet end to the week...

The rains have kept us all hopping over puddles and ducking for cover now for a few days; it did not stop us from taking in the Quilt Week shows, exhibits and shopping opportunities. Yesterday after finishing up our final swing through the quilt show we decided to head out into the country to another quilt show -- ok, you can stop laughing... Marian, KY was holding their local shows and also a self guided tour through the Amish community there.

We had a blast driving over rolling hills stopping in for a greenhouse hop here, baked goods and jams there and of course quilts. Hope you are finding time where every you are today to enjoy the day and it is filled with joyful enterprise, even if like me that means resting up a bit and giving my umbrella some time to dry out.

enjoy the pictures....

 

 

yesterday's romp made it possible
to get a yummy start to today

Color? Just stop in!

The world in springtime is a wonderfully colorful place, and nowhere this week was this probably more true than here in Paducah. The dogwoods are in full bloom and being shown off all through town, but they are a just a tease for all the quilt happenings.

Quilts can be found in the big AQS Quilt Week show, but if this is not enough there are literally more quilt exhibits and more vendors in almost every nook, corner and show size facility (and there is a bunch).
Having color in mind while wandering this week I could not help but enjoy the up-close and in person chance to see soooooo many quilts -- But, it was while wandering through the vendors at the Rotary Club Quilt Show that I found my favorite. While far from new, it was the Cherrywood Fabric booth where I found I just wanted to stand there and soak in the color and amazing use of that color.

I just had to ask if I could take a few pictures to share with you their line of solid fabrics
solid yes, flat looking NOOOO
each color is rich in intensity, and depth -- they seem to glow.
When asked if I could share, they said YES...WooHoo, so I hope you enjoy all the color!

I fell in love with a pack of 'new colors' that just seemed to call my name while I was there, and it wasn't 'til I got home that I understood why.....Why? they are the colors in my head from my recent trip to the Caribbean. Yummy yellows, oranges, greens and of course a couple Caribbean blues. The island houses quilt that has been brewing in my mind might be a bit closer to reality with this packet of fun....

But not today - today I'll be demo'ng how to make Woolies and signing books.

11-1 at Ephemera Paducah -- 333 N. Ninth Street, Paducah, KY.

2-4 at Quilting Books Unlimited --120 Market House Square, aka South 2nd Street next to KIRCHHOFF'S BAKERY&DELI

Color - What color says healthy?

I tried to tempt you with a couple of TRY it# ideas yesterday;
a mission to pay close attention to color.

I thought I was headed to the grocery store, but ended up taking full advantage of an amazingly sunny day and headed to Giant City State Park in IL. Got a call from family wanted to know if meeting up there was a possibility -- and happily it was.

It was a great day to pay attention once again to green...so I did.
BUT, shopping was still on the to-do list, so off I went this morning.

What color do you think of when I say 'healthy'?

This came to mind as I picked up a bit of yellow, orange, red and a bit of red-violet from the produce department -- green, too of course -- several shades; then in the dairy aisle there were a considerable array of shades of yellow-orange to orange found amongst the cheese.

After the produce section though most of the color is found in the packaging.

As I picked up my soy milk -- wrapped in blue & white.
Greek Yoghurt in green & white...
Crackers in brown & white.
A brief glance down the soda & candy aisle one will find lots of color happening - enticing.....

Colors have an impact on human moods,thoughts, emotions and even buying choices it seems.

More on that later this week.
But again, what color would you call healthy?

Color is How You SEE it! Sunday Fill'r Up

It is a beautiful spring day here -
and there is just so many things changing visually around me that it seemed that the best thing to chat about today would be SEEING.

After all, all art is about 'seeing' first.
Seeing, describing, analyzing, and interpreting.

So, as you go about your day today --
to the park, or in the yard, or even the grocery store I'd like to encourage you to take your color journal and document what you see.

TRY IT #1 -In the park or your yard --
Find a tree, and sit back and take a close look.
Note its shape, then note its parts -
leaves, trunk
what is the role of color here?
what colors do you see?
are there areas of dark - light - changes - reflections?

TRY IT #2 - If you're like me and have to head to the grocery store --
how about bring your color journal and listing out all the different colors you find.
Can you find 10?
25?
more?

It doesn't take a lot of time to 'see' a bit more, a bit differently,
but, it can really help build your color muscles.

Would love to hear about what you 'see' today.
Enjoy the day!
~Rose

Color Hunting for a Color-ful Friday

It has been a whole week since I've had a chance to write, but it certainly has not been lacking in color.

Here in Kentucky spring is making itself know and each day there is more and more green everywhere. In my own yard the greening is happening fast, and then there are all sorts of spring flowers blooming. Last night we had a storm front move through and bringing water in a big way, so the greening will definitely be continuing.

It makes want more, so I set about taking a little Pinterest hop in search of green to share. I hope you enjoy my finds, but I hope it inspires you to go find some green on your own -- soak it in -- I share with us what you find around you, too!

Happy Friday!

Nature's Color - A Funtastical Colorful Friday

A  few days ago I received a package from a friend and inside there was an incredible crystal.
Since then I have been reading up on crystals and basically researching this and that. Early this morning I typed in Kentucky geology (being so new to the area) and hit search. I found out some fascinating information about the state, and some amazing places close by to check out.

So, I planned my day around an outing to -- Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum in Marion, KY.
Their website looked really inviting, and the sun was shining - spring green calling...
I headed off!

The trip was all one could hope for on a bright, sunny day and then we arrived at the museum.

WOW! What an incredible treat.
The first room we walked in to took my breath away. Cabinets filled, floor to ceiling with amazing examples from not only Kentucky but the world...but, mostly Kentucky. Fluorite - big, small and in more colors than one could imagine. There were specimen displays, yes, but there was also the dark room where slices of fluorite were backlit. Blacklights in a classroom setting when turned on showed how the fluorite
fluoresces. A lot to take in, and color, color, color. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

So worth the trip!

Have a grand weekend....
~Rose

Color Discovery - A forever thing

Color is something that seeps into our souls
and seeps into our art in just the same way.

Of course there is a science of color, for the mere fact that we see color is in fact based in physical science.

There is only color, when there is light.
and, believe it or not but Sir Isaac Newton first studied light refraction and color in the late 1600s.
He is credited for our first color wheel after his experiments of light refracting through prisms produced rainbows of color.

Are you ready for a bit more color discovery on your own?

Find an photo of a scene or piece of artwork that you like.
Glue it onto a page in your color journal....
Look at it carefully and identify and note ALL of the different colors that you can see in your image
Now, using paint, magazines, or fabric find samples of all the various colors you identified and glue them into your journal, too. On-line a good source would be Color Scheme Designer.

Paying attention and seeing color is fun
and all the while it soaks into our souls.
Enjoy the process.

~Rose

Purple - Colorbook Tales or Monday Musing

Good morning everyone!
The birds are waking everyone and I was catching up on Sunday Facebook postings where someone asked me if after putting my own colorbook together, I now liked PURPLE?
Rather than just a big resounding YES, I thought I would share a bit of where my discovery and enjoyment now of purple has shown up in my quilts.

The very first quilt below is one that I show when I give my lecture on color -- I tell them this was my first attempt at using purple. They laugh, saying where's the purple...but you got to start somewhere.

 

There are loads more out on my website gallery --
and, don't forget to look for RED, too... for it also was not a favored color before I started exploring color.

I'll be stitching today -- think I'll pull some PURPLE.

STITCH ON
~Rose

Color - 2 Great New(ish) Tools & A Sunday Guest

While cruisin' I taught one of my favorite classes...
All about COLOR.

We use some basic tools and each participant kick-starts a color journal.
Fun is just part of the learning for the day.

As the day progresses and we share, someone always has a product that I have never heard of.
This time when I shared about InkTense pencils by DeWitt, 
a couple of students shared about Caran d'Ache crayons.
Both of these products are great for paper and fabric and are used directly and once applied a small amount of water is used to permanently adhere the color. As one can imagine the pencils give you a much tighter application, while the crayons are highly blendable.

One of the students that day was Kathy Angel Lee -- 
an art quilter from Maine.

She has used these crayons for a long time
and loves them for creating sunsets.

You'll definitely want to check Kathy's website for even more examples.

And, of course you'll want to check out both the Caran d'Ache crayons, and InkTense Pencils

Hope you enjoyed this little venture into color.
I know I'll be ordering those crayons to give them a try really soon!

Happy Sunday!
~Rose

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