January Aurifil Designer of the Month, Roseann Kermes

Hi I’m Pat Sloan, the Aurifil Designer of the Month coordinator. For 2012 we have a whole new set of exciting designers bringing you blocks of adorable stitchery each month!

I’d like to introduce you to our January Aurifil Designer, a super clever and crafty gal who loves to makes things… plus she owns an adorable shop…. Roseann Kermes! I’m lucky to have known Roseann for many years and have even had  a chance to see her ‘famous’ hideout… it’s to die for!  Plus Roseann is a frequent guest on my radio show bringing you all the latest gossip.. I mean ‘news’ from the industry!

Listen Jan 16 when Roseann makes another appearance on the show to dish quilts! Shows are here http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/radio/index.html

Remember to post your photo at our Flickr folder of a project given by one of the Aurifil Designers of the month (see tab on right for all the profiles). One quilter EACH MONTH will win a prize of Aurifil thread! Just post a photo of your completed block. Everyone in the Flickr folder is in the running! We have a new folder for the 2012 projects

Flickr folder –www.flickr.com/groups/2012_aurifil_featured_designerofthemonth/

Let’s get to know Roseann…….

When did you first start to do embroidery or stitching? Where did you learn ….class, family, online?

Embroidery has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Pillowcases with the pretty girls holding umbrellas and crocheted trim along the edge, stamped linens and floss kits in a work basket, days of the week dishtowels in the kitchen … grandmas, mom, sisters, aunts and cousins who stitched!

I’m self-taught and learned to stitch from books. I really wasn’t interested in it growing up, other than to admire it, but taught myself when I served in the US Army. Wearing olive drab uniforms during the day, I’d jazz up my shirts and blue jeans when I got home at night! It was kind of the fad then and was fun to do. My mom sent me floss, hoops, needles, and the Coats & Clark embroidery pamphlet when she found I was searching for supplies.

What is your Favorite go-to stitch?

I use the backstitch … a lot! It’s so versatile. I love the primitive backstitch too … the one where you leave a few threads between stitches. It has an old fashioned look to it … plus you don’t have to be so careful of how even your stitches are! Lazy Daisies are another favorite and so are French Knots. They are great for filling in an area and almost look like punch needle if you put them close enough.

Did you work at another career prior to this … what was it?

Oh my gosh … I have had so many ‘careers’. I learned how to type and write in the military … how to display and run a store working at Bath and Body Works … how to teach people to make things as an instructor at Reed’s Fabrics. I began Rosebud’s Cottage eighteen years ago, first as a design company, then as a retail store. So many of the things I’ve done have prepared me for another phase of my life! I’ve seen the quilting and craft industry evolve and change, and each phase is so exciting. I’ve been totally immersed in this industry for almost twenty years and it has always been interesting, educational and fun.

I continue to design for publication, the gift industry, and for my store. I’m a writer for trade magazines and speak professionally about the quilting and crafting industry, as well as on social media issues. Being a geeky girl, I also freelance for companies who need help with their social media programs.

What does your studio look like? 

Four years ago, I decided I needed a place to ‘work’. I couldn’t seem to find the right spot at home, and it was impossible to carve out space at the store. I hunted around White Bear Lake until I finally found the perfect place for my workshop …. or the Hideout, as I like to call it. A secluded courtyard makes it feel truly like I’m getting away. And when I want to clear my head I’m only a block from the lake. I’m also a block from Rosebud’s Cottage so it makes going back and forth to the store really easy.

I’ve organized the workshop so that I can work on a variety of different things at the same time. One area I primarily use for stitching. Another is for die cutting. I have a sewing area as well as a place to rotary cut. All of my quilt and craft books are there, plus there’s a separate area for office work. I have that hidden a bit because who likes to ruin the creative karma with too much business stuff!

It’s not all about wool and fabric and thread in my world … I also love paper and glue equally! I try to have all of it available at my fingertips and my design walls hold a mix of ideas. You never know how they’ll blend together!

I love the Hideout. I think about it when I’m not there … it helps me when things aren’t going so well … or when they’re going great!  Sometimes if friends are in town, we’ll gather and goof around with all my toys.  It’s total inspiration the second you walk through the door. I crave creativity when things have been too wild and this is where I go. Everyone should have a hideout!

What is your favorite storage tip or place?

My favorite tip is “a place for everything and everything in its place”! Group commonly used items together so that you don’t have to go searching for them. Buy wire baskets so you can see what’s inside. Go through your things often so you know what you have. Clean up regularly before it gets overwhelming.

How do you fill your soul?  What I mean by this is – what makes you SO HAPPY that you know that if you do this you are experiencing a little ‘Heaven on Earth’.

Any time I get a chance to make something … or take a great class … or travel someplace and see knew things … that does it for me!

How do your ideas develop? Do you sketch, doodle, put ideas on a mood board?

I don’t draw but I can see what I want to do in my head and then use skills I’ve acquired to make it happen. Sometimes I’ll find a poem or song in a vintage book and let that be the starting point. I also get caught up in the name of quilt blocks and that often leads me in a direction. I’m also a component builder … I like to take shapes and put them together to see what develops. I cut them from cardstock or wool and then just mess around until something starts to work. A lot of my stitched pieces began as shapes. I traced around them when I was happy with the layout. Nothing ever turns out exactly the way I thought it would … that’s the fun of it!

What are your Aurifil  ‘go to’ thread colors?

Those turquoise colors make my heart beat fast! I also love the guacamole greens, deep rosy pinks, and those beautiful primitive colors. I have a special place in my heart for the Lana wool threads! They are so beautiful … I’d love to own every color!! They’re beautiful on the hand dyed wool I work with so much.

What is your favorite stitching tool?

Do pincushions count? I have so many of them.

Those and scissors!

If you could train with, or work with, or follow one person for a day, who would it be and why?

I would love to hang out for a few days with Tim Holtz. He’s a mixed media artist who uses lots of vintage components in his work … inks, rubber stamps, die cuts, metal, fabric, and paper. I love that grungy look and would love to learn all of his tricks!

Do you travel to teach? And if so, how often and what types of groups? Guilds, stores, retreats, big shows? Is there a schedule on your blog or website?

I’ll get in the car and go teach … give me a call! I go to guilds to speak on quilting and teach projects, or sometimes they’ll come to me and we’ll do something in my classroom. Lately, stores in the upper Midwest will contract with me to come teach classes at their store. I find it so rewarding to get together with all of these creative people. I learn as much as I teach!

Favorite Expression –  Faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust! Tinkerbell

Dream Vacation spot – NYC … I never get sick of it … or maybe London or Disneyland … Portland and Seattle … the Grand Canyon … northern Minnesota … or those interesting small towns you find all over America! I love to travel!!

The Color you have always LOVED – Red. Teal. Yellow. Purple. Deep orange. Dark pink. Oh heck … give me the whole rainbow!!

************** THE PATTERN/The Giveaway ******************

Was is the inspiration for your Design?

I have a vintage tin for Snowbird Floor Cleaner and I’ve always loved the look of it … it’s teal blue and creamy white with a pretty bird on it. It had the feel I wanted for my January block and was the inspiration for it. Here in Minnesota, we have lots of people who are ‘snowbirds’ as they flock to warm weather locations for the Winter. I wanted them to remember what they left behind!

12 Wt Aurifil Threads Used in Roseann’s project

• 2260 – red
• 2692 – Black
• 2975 – dark gold
• 4182 – turquoise
• 4663 – variegated turquoise
• 4671 – variegated brown
• 5006 – lt turquoise

CLICK HERE to download the Aurifil jan project SNOWBIRD

Looking for Aurifil 12 wt?  There is store list HERE and Roseann is selling kits for all the designer months. Email or call  her from her website HERE

We would also love for you to ask your Local Quilt shop to carry Aurifil thread!

See Roseann’s behind the scenes on making her block CLICK HERE

Visit Roseann at her Blog http://www.rosebudscottage.typepad.com/

Her Website http://www.rosebuds-cottage.com/

Bari J. is one of our Designers this year, and she has a website called “We Love French Knots” with loads of stitchery inspiration! If you need to freshen up your stitching skills, she has a series of videos http://www.welovefrenchknots.com/stitch-videos.html

EACH MONTH we will pick one random winner that has made one a stitchery block.. that person will receive a special Aurifil thread prize!

You can make ANY of the 2012 blocks to be in the running (and we hope you make them all!)

Share your photos at our Flickr Folder… we can’t WAIT to see what you do!

www.flickr.com/groups/2012_aurifil_featured_designerofthemonth/
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