Tag: Inspiration

New Star Block from Flickr


New Star Block
Originally uploaded by kirbyloulou

I saw this block about 2 weeks ago and have not been able to get it out of my mind. With the many, many blocks in the DS pool, I wasn’t able to find it again either. I was really glad to come across it today. Love the pointy corners.

Remember to Look Up


After Thanksgiving, I took my cousin, who was visiting from Arizona, and a bunch of other kids downtown to look at the recently Christmas lights. In a recently renovated mall, I followed the strings of lights with my eyes up to the ceiling and was rewarded with this view.


This is a floor at the Westin St. Francis.


This is the corner of the mosaic work. I would love to use this as a design for the border of a quilt. I think it would probably have to be machine appliqued.

Here is some carpet at the Grand Hyatt. I like the way the spirals curl around each other as well as the way they are echoed with some additional curves a few inches away. Definitely inspiration for a quilting design.

Perhaps My Favorite Color is Really Blue??

I have, as you know, been thinking about turquoise A LOT lately. I have, at the same I think about colors in and for quilts, been thinking about what color to paint my bedroom. So far I have been leaning towards some type of periwinkle. Truly I am actually thinking of painting my bedroom the same color TFQ painted her bedroom. Partially, because it is a very restful color and partially because the decision is already made.

Yesterday, however, all that changed. I am thinking that all the trouble I have had for years identifying my very favorite color is because I haven’t wanted to acknowledge that my favorite color is blue. I am still not willing to acknowledge the humble blue as my favorite color, but progress on self improvement is always slow.

copyright Anna Maria 2008
copyright Anna Maria 2008

When I saw this picture on Anna Maria Horner’s blog yesterday, it occurred to me that I need to rethink my thoughts on color. I like the whole look that Anna Maria has created here. And part of the issue for me is the whole look. I can just plop that lovely (if a bit dark) blue onto my bedroom walls and call it good. However, there is a look here and I will be disappointed if I don’t do something about the rest of the parts. I would have to think about what could realistically translate from here into my bedroom.

Anyway, Anna Maria has a bunch of photos of her Houston booth so go take a look. All the photos I saw on her blog are wonderful. Sigh. I have a ways to go in that department.

Any suggestions on dealing with a look, especially on a budget, are welcome.

Holiday Spirit?

Aren’t these cupcakes gorgeous? I delighted in the artistry the bakers exhibited and it made me think of the human need to create. Some of us make quilts, some knit or crochet; some people create with wood, glass or metal. I think all of us have an innate need to create. I think these bakers are lucky that they get to create something like this as a job.

What do you create?

New Inspiration Source

I found a link somewhere for a blog of blogs. After adding this blog to the list, I scrolled through the offerings and found a blog for Piece O’Cake. One of the great parts is that they have a show and tell page where they post customer photos. What a great source of inspiration! I am including a few for you for your viewing pleasure.

clipped from www.pieceocake.com

Show & Tell!!!

blog it

I like it that people have chosen different colorways and color combinations.

Inspirational Podcasts

People may wonder how podcasts can be inspirational, but I think they can. I am of the mind that if I am not in front of my sewing machine, I want to find another way to be breathing, thinking, seeing, and listening to quilts or creativity or design.

As you may remember I have been on a Bill Kerr/FunQuilts/Weeks Ringle kick lately, so when TFQ mentioned that Weeks had been interviewed on the Craft Sanity podcast, I had to go and look it up. After a lot of drama with the iPod, I was finally able to listen to it and a couple of other Craft Sanity episodes this morning.

Weeks Ringle talks (CraftSanity episode #41) about having a business that is craft/art related and how it works with her life balance. She comes to this discussion from her background and the bio of her life. It is great to get perspective on how she came to where she is now.

I had also downloaded a couple of others. One I listened to was with Rhonda Simmons (CraftSanity episode #31), a Vancouver artist with a website called AlteredEverything.com. She is taking the Art-o-Mat idea to Canada, calling it Outsider Art in a Box and she also does bodycasting.

I couldn’t stop, so I also started listening to the podcast Jennifer recorded with Anna Maria Horner. WOW! I am going to start reading her blog, I think.

The interviews that Jennifer does are quite long and in depth, which offers a very satisfying podcast listening experience.

Spiral Creations

We had show and tell at the CQFA meeting. Linda always shares with something interesting and this meeting was no exception. She showed Sea Glass III.

This piece is about 8″x10″ and is gorgeous! I adore it. It comes out of a lot of work that Linda does. She is always working and moving forward in her art. I admire her greatly. You can see more about this piece on Linda’s blog.

The people at Always Quilting were quite impressed with our machine quilting skills even though none of us had really ever driven a longarm. I think it was because, like Linda, we all have a little bit of practice machine quilting. I also think a lot of us doodle consistently.