“Take Time to Smell the Roses” is a phrase I have used regularly for years.   This came about partly through teaching time management to executive assistants many years ago, which included taking personal time to enjoy things they liked to do.  This was reinforced later as it was a phrase used by my colleagues in the breast cancer support group, when many of us were in the women’s breast cancer dragon boat team.

The rose images on the quilt are photographs taken by my husband of a rose in our garden, “Just Joey”.  The photo was printed on to TAP paper (Transfer Artists Paper) from Photoshop and then painted with fabric paint. Oil pastels were also used as highlights.  I also experimented with printing lettering onto a sheet of silk organza.  The lettering behind the large rose was scanned into the computer, and mirror imaged in Photoshop before printing on TAP paper

The background fabrics are commercial fabrics.  I designed this quilt completely before commencing construction, but when it was finished I decided I needed to add the three leaves.   Some of the leaves have a small amount of oil pastel as well.