YAY! Studio time!!

Finally a little studio time today! YAY!

 The first layer of sage green glaze is on these for a commissioned set of wine glasses plus some vases.

 Plus all my usual favorite colors are in the works!  The first round of glaze is on these, more tomorrow if I get the chance.

Dinner was zucchini, yellow squash, yellow and purple fingerling potatoes, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and chicken with herbs and pepper.  Then I added Parmesan and sea salt just at the end when it came out of the oven.  Delicious! And perfect for these last days of March that have started with ice on my windshield each morning.  Spring is coming, really it is! 

Now, how many days will it take a single woman to eat all that?  LOL!

Happy Creating,

-Carmen Rose

Playing Catch Up

My computer became seriously ill a while back and I finally took it to the hospital to see if it could be restored.  My genius computer friend worked miracles but warned that next time it does that... will likely be the last time. 

Did you know you shouldn't really watch DVD movies on a laptop?  It tends to overheat and fry bits on the inside.   Well, especially if you have a Yorkie worth of dog hair trapped inside.  I no longer live with my two border collies, so I shouldn't have that problem anymore. 

I've been in the studio making things, sometimes not really even taking the time for photos.  So I hope to catch up here when I get the chance and show you some of the things coming out of Studio Nine these days.

It doesn't seem right to create a post with no photographs, so here's one.  Chocolate chip cookie covered OREO!  Yeah, I had ONE of those for dinner one evening this week.  Mercy, that was delicious!  I had the other one for lunch the following day, thank goodness I only made 2!  Yummm!

Happy Creating,

Carmen Rose

Doors of Opportunity

I'm really behind on posting photos and updates, but one of these days I'll catch up.  For now here are photos of a series of nine fairly small square quilt tops I made recently that I call "Doors of Opportunity." 

Hand dyed cottons, not yet quilted.

Happy Creating,

Carmen Rose

Staunton Virginia

I was really pleased with this article about the town I call home.  It's called "A Foodie Find" and it's an excellent article about the highlights of the area.  If you love food, music and theater, this is a great town!  I love it here!

Freedom Quilt progress plus

Well hello there!

Glad you dropped by!

I was looking at the photo of the quilt I lost in the divorce and found myself comparing it to the one I'm working on to replace it.

Back in the days when I made the double wedding ring, I was stuck using commercial fabrics greatly limited by the color selection available at the time. I went to lots of different stores to find those fabrics and had piece after piece after piece cut at the counter. These days I buy it by the bolt and cut it myself and dye whatever color I want. I must say, this is a VAST improvement. All those prissy little calicos, I did think they were pretty at the time. Tastes change, but my favorite colors have remained the same.  Look how consistent those colors are, the only addition is that delicious mojito mint/lime green!  Yum Yum!

Of course the Freedom Quilt has a little wild thang in it. 

A friend of mine tells me that donkeys and zebras are closely related, that in some places they are called (translated) "Stripey Donkeys."

I guess it's not too hard to see why.  

The only difference is that donkeys can be domesticated, zebras can not.  

They have been

And will always be 

Wild.

He he!

Plus, they don't take themselves too seriously!

I think the wild and not-too-serious zebra is a perfect addition to my Freedom Quilt!

Color remains the one true love of my life, color has never despised or neglected me.  

It's true, color has been gladly faithful all these years and I remain a student of its many wonders. 

The very undomesticated, 

-Carmen Rose

Freedom Quilt, one big square

I'm making progress on the Freedom Quilt! 

The blocks for this part are made, now to sew them together!

Careful not to get them out of order!

and...

Voila!

It's not too serious, 

It has good contrast,

All my favorite colors are in it.

I'm lovin it!

HAPPY creating,

-Carmen Rose

Freedom Quilt, the center squares

Goodness, it DOES take a while to make that many blocks!

I put them on the design wall as I went, making whatever color seemed to be needed.

I got a little bored with that after a while and started sewing strips together.  

Just for a change of pace.

Lots and lots and lots of strips!

(To go with lots and lots and lots of blocks!)

I've finished all the center blocks now, as well as all the blocks for the triangles that come next. 

I'm enjoying this process!

Here's to freedom and the freedom quilt,

-Carmen Rose

Freedom Quilt 8

It has been a while since I showed you the progress of the Freedom Quilt, so here is an update. 

I started a small study for the quilt, a combination of batik and hand dyed fabrics.  I'd been wanting to try the ultra simple log cabin squares and this was an opportunity to try that.  I got it partly finished and realized once more that contrast is a quilt designer's best friend.  Sometimes I forget that and this little project was a very helpful reminder.  Even all those lush colors together start to turn to mud when there are to many of them to close together.  I laid it aside, having learned a lot from the process.

 Next I decided that I wasn't going to use *just* hand dyed fabrics, I wanted to use my very favorite batik.  This happens to be my very favorite batik of all time, it's a Bali batik from Hoffman.  Ages ago I blogged about a pre-cut combination of Hoffman fabrics that I had purchased at Rachel's Quilt Patch (my favorite fabric store.)  That led to an email from the lovely folks at Hoffman and an offer to pick my favorites from their fabric line.  I was THRILLED of course, and before long this delightful confection (along with a few others) showed up on my door step from them.  I was (and am) delighted!!  All my favorite colors are in there, and so it has become the icon of my color scheme for the Freedom Quilt.

 Plus... zebra print!  Ages ago I bought a king sized duvet cover in zebra print, so I'll have all the zebra print I want for years to come!  And a duvet of zebra would be crazy, but a little touch here and there is perfect.  I love zebras, their stripes remind me of finger prints... they are alike in that - each one unique.  God's genius at work in the perfect high contrast organic design.  I love it.

 2.5 inch squares of Hoffman batik, and a small strip of zebra... 

 Then it's time to add the hand dyed fabrics, all cut in 2.5 inch strips.  This is going to be fun!

 

Then I decided that I wanted a contrasting block.  It would have zebra in the middle, a small stripe of hand dyed color, then white.  The small project reminded me that I wanted contrast, and white was exactly what I needed. 

The pieces are coming together, I have about 40 of each of these blocks.

We'll see what happens next!  

Here's to freedom, to beautiful batik and wild zebras!

Happy Creating,

-Carmen Rose

Perking UP!

I started to think about websites recently after I saw someone's redesign of one I'd created a few years back.  (It's HORRIBLE!  LOL!) That reminded me that it had been a while since I updated mine.

So I took a look around, made a few updates...

Changed some colors, added some new photographs...

Perked things up a bit.

THEN I took a look at this blog...
And of course it needed some tweaking as well...

Pop on over and have a look around at my web portfolio.
CarmenRose.com
Then pop back by clicking on "Blog" anywhere on the site.

Let me know what you think!

Happy Creating!
-Carmen Rose