Wanna Do List - Heron Pond

Here I continue to try and catch you up on some of the summertime fun things that I have on my 'wanna do' list.

With the everyday following up of this and that in the garden behind us, David and I have wanted to do a little venturing out. Since days here have either been hot, hot, hot (gotta watch those feels like numbers) and filled with rain clouds there have been some fun times. One of these was a trip over into IL to Heron Pond.

 Way off the main road -- turn right at the little church.

 A beautiful day, a nice walk through the woods, though it was surprisingly quiet. This area is smack dab in the middle between several wineries that we have now added to the 'wanna do' list.


Onward,
~Rose

Fall Fun

Happy Friday!
On waking this morning, we find the temp has dropped to 32, but the sun is trying to make it's way through the foggy conditions to welcome the day.

Fall is fast waning -- Nikki, my sweetie girl tuxedo cat, has rediscovered the floor vents. She has her favorites as she keeps nice & toasty warm.

I am pretty glad that David & I made time for a picnic in the park this week -- the leaves will soon be gone, and the cold will not be as welcoming as the clear, crisp air with the sun shining through the fast disappearing colored leaves.

We enjoyed our lunches while watching the local park workers putting up the Christmas light displays throughout the park. These will soon make their annual appearance all lit up and wonderful, but for now they are individual light displays being installed and made ready for the holidays.

I took a few pictures and hope you enjoy our little bit of fall --
but, don't miss out,
I encourage you to take a bit of time
in your own community to enjoy the season.

There's still a couple of days left to get a free Leafy Fun pattern.
Click over and see how to get yours!

OMG .... Halloween in Paducah

It was 4 o'clock, on Halloween nite
--- hardly the witching hour, but I donned my cat ears and makeup and headed to my friends home over on Jefferson St.

I had heard tales of the numbers of trick or treaters that would soon be waiting for  their turn to hold out their bag for treats,
BUT OMG..... what FUN!!!!!

The weather report was not good, storms threatened to be right on top of us during prime time... but the residents of Jefferson held their breath and prepared their stockpiles of candy in hopeful anticipation.

This is not a city sponsored -- or any sponsor event, and the residents call for anyone within shouting range to donate candy for the normally 2000-4000 kids that show up on their doorsteps each year.

I took my post at the top of the steps with another new resident to Paducah, and we had to be pulled away.... it was just too much fun to hear the trick or treats, happy Halloween's and the Thank Yous from more costumed kids than I had ever seen.

On the front porch the lines never really let up...even during a short downpour, until the huge candy trough was ...empty.

It was truly wonderful -- the weather held out almost exactly to 9pm, when the tornado warning sirens sounded, the storms had held back just enough to give away all the candy. Over 1700 costumed kids were given candy on that porch last night -- and yes, there is always someone manning the clicker.

Big thanks to my friends who invited David & I to be part of the fun, and all the other insanely generous folks living in and around Jefferson St ...another grand reason to be happy living here in Paducah.

The fall leaves got blown around quite a bit last night, but my pattern give-away will continue on through Sunday -- grab one while you can!

September Just Kinda of Slid In...

OK, can anyone tell me just what happened to last week?
One day I am writing about visiting Maddie, for the opening of her new store 'SPOOL' and whoosh...this is all a thing of the past.

My week was one filled with so many ups, downs & in betweens...
my new laptop went quite dead - was wisked away and replaced -- and I can happily report to be writing this on it's replacement -WOO Hoo.

The trip to Chattanooga was quite remarkable. My husband and I had never been and we just loved everything that we encountered --- especially Maddie's store. Boy, talk about lucky stitchers!!!

But, enough.... as I sit here sipping tea out of my new BadAss Quilters mug (yes a must have!) I realized it is September and all about FABRIC.

Part of my reason for picking FABRIC as my topic this month is that I am all wrapped up in the planning, choosing and very soon to be cutting and sewing the fabric for my newest book. It is pretty exciting.

Once I have a design in mind I just begin the fabric choosing by first thinking of COLOR. Now we spent a whole month earlier this year chatting about color (click on April posts), but really....
can we ever say enough about the most important part of our quilt making or art making process??

Some pieces actually begin with the color and the design is created to support it.
Color is magic - It plays with our eyes and our emotions.
Blues, cool & soothing; Reds, wild & hot; Yellow can make you feel happy....
and I was once told that Orange (the new black) is the color of conversation.

And, conversation we had --- so much conversation under the orange fabric of "The Gates" --now long gone are the miles of gates of Christo's Central Park installation, but it was a gate keeper who told me that the color was selected so there would be lots of conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

I took these and hundreds more photos over two days back in 2005 -- I flew in from LA and my sister flew in from Seattle --- and we had a grand time walking through the snow to be part of this.

Orange fabric -- kicking off the month of conversation about fabric....

So, how do you begin choosing fabric?
is it color --- or something else?

Venture - 'Life Sure is Funny' - Meet Maddie Kertay

It is a wonderful thing to be a quilter!
I have a great creative life and
I get to meet incredible people-all the time.

Back in May at Quilt Market, while hangin' with buds at GenQ I met one self-proclaimed Bad-Ass Quilter, aka Maddie Kertay! Her infectious spirit was evident right then & there and just continues to bubble over moment to moment.

Kelly & Maddie at Quilt Market

Since that meeting and acquiring my own Bad-Ass quilter pin, I have watched Maddie's new brick& mortar store  SPOOL become a reality via FaceBook. It has been fun to watch everything be pulled together - Maddie makes you feel quite at home & it is with great pleasure that I get to share a bit about her with you now ---

and, of course get the word out that..
SPOOL is opening next week!!!  On, Saturday - Sept 7th

This week, in the middle of everything else, Maddie answered a few questions about her own quilting adventure -- and the SPOOL venture, too.
So, in her own words & pictures....

When did your quilting journey begin?

While I had made the occasional baby blanket/quilt over the years I was mostly sewing for my kids and my house- 3 years ago I was bitten by the quilt bug when looking online for something else and ran into Tall Grass Prarie.. I decided that I needed to make a king sized wonky log cabin..
and then I needed to quilt it myself ( yes I am crazy).. So I did .. and free motioned the whole damn thing. I used such bad form body wise that my shoulders we around my ears for days afterwards and I then decided I needed a long arm.. 1 quilt +1month = Longarm ( again.. crazy)

After that I was picked as part of the Handi Quilter ad campaign.. Then with some experience I was quilting for others and an opportunity came my way from a company.. but it had strings.. one of them being I had to stop posting " controversial" topics.. well F-that.. and thus I wrote the rant that started the BAQS. - life sure is funny.

Do you have a BIG quilting dream?

My BIG dream would be to see quilting and quilters to be less divisive, play nice and play together .. each respecting each other and the work they are called to. I am doing my best on this front with the BAQS and now SPOOL.

Why Spool? the name?
& Why now?

Funny really.. I am usually very good at naming things.. from babies to pets.. but the store name took a while. I chose SPOOL since I want a simple modern name but also easy to Identify with sewing and quilting.. I mean EVERYONE knows what a spool of thread is. Oddly I had another name I  really loved but in the end rejected it because so many people - even quilters had no idea what it meant.. I was SELVAGE ( American spelling).. alas.. no go.

As to why now... that was a big surprise to all of us and HUGE props go to  my husband for being SO supportive. The largest quilt store in the area was closing due to retirement- it did not turn out to be a good option to buy it due to not being close enough to where I live so with a bit of talking we dived in as a family.... again.. to my husband.. YOU ROCK!!!!

the plan

the family pitching in to help

late-nite planning sessions

shelving going up

 boxes being opened & shelves being filled

 

 

awning is up!

coffee is brewing

 Join Maddie!

I can hardly wait -- and oh, yes I plan to drive down from Paducah to be there -
it's pretty exciting to be close enough to see it all happen!

Adrift in a Sea of Glass - Garden totem tutorial

Back in June I took a short 3 hour workshop from
Val Pollard at Ephemera Paducah.

It was called Garden Totems, and since (having just moved in to a house with an established garden) there was not really going to be any planting this year I thought why not!?! Well, just like that 3-hour tour they took on Gilligan's Island, I found myself in a sea of glass -- for I was hooked.

The process starts by finding no longer loved glassware and dishes, gathering some basic supplies and casting off. The dishes can almost be any kind, but a couple of things to keep in mind when prowling through yardsales and thrift stores:

you need glass & ceramic things of various sizes
colored glass is wonderful,
but don't discount all that cut clear glass
having a flat surface is easier than a carved surface
plates work great to help between sections
and don't forget all those fun finds for toppers

Once you've got your own sea of glass you'll want to wash everything up before using.
Then get some rubbing alcohol and clear silicone(graded for outdoor use) and you're ready to go.

Playing with how things will stack is the next order of business, but once you start gluing you'll want to glue pairs together -- then the pairs -- then the sections. I like to give a couple of hours between section gluing.

Things to keep in mind as you glue:
put enough of the silicone around the edge to form a seal
and plates up will gather and hold water vs plates down will whisk water away

Here are some photos of a couple of my totems in process, followed by some fun toppers:

Be warned -- it can be addictive!
Enjoy.... and send big thanks to Val for letting me share.

Back to Stitching
~Rose

Venturing via Computer

Earlier this week I was asked to share things that inspired me, and to identify styles that I liked. I sort of interpreted this to be asking....

"What makes your heart sing?"
what colors, designs, artists, fabrics..... you get the idea.

Well, I started writing myself notes and got to thinking how to find examples...hmmm?

Then last night it hit me --- time for a Pinterest Hop!
If you have only started following me recently then you may not know what I am talking about so I'm linking to previous hops on SHAPE and COLOR here.
The first pin that I clicked on to repin took me to someone's Things I Love board, so I felt I was on the right track.
That first one was a quote
illustrated by Mara Girling:

The hop began in earnest when I came
across this design by Rene Beauclair --

that led me to Sonia Delauney --

and by the time I found
Eloise Renout I knew I love asymmetry --

I had a grand time venturing this morning, and highly recommend asking yourself...
'what makes your heart sing', then taking a Pinterest Hop of your own.

Enjoy!
~Rose