Travels and Quilting

I have been almost all the way across the width of Beautiful America in the last two weeks to celebrate the graduation of two grandchildren, one from Florida State U and the other from Washington State U.  We had such a good time with them and their families.

I find that my interest in quilting has influenced my way of looking at the world.  As we drove those many miles I kept picking out patterns and designs that might have a place in quilting as well as colors created by nature that would look nice in a quilt palette.  I keep a lot of ideas on Pinterest, but there are a ton more in the world around us.

Check out the carpets and upholstery of the places you visit.  People look askance at me as I walk into hotels, theaters, and restaurants and start taking pictures of the carpet.  Some floor coverings are truly beautiful.  This restaurant upholstery has some lovely colors as well as designs.

Upholstery in an Indian restaurant.

Other places from which I draw inspiration are gates and fences.  They come in grids, diamonds, wrought iron curls and scrolls, split rail (interesting triangles), pickets, etc.  Driving across the country I saw lots of variety.

How about a bas relief from Pompeii?  Cobblestones, bricks and walls often provide inspiration.  

Bas Relief from a bathouse in Pompeii, Italy

Cobblestones laid in patterns.  Wall of design.  These also from Pompeii.

I love wind turbines.  They are HUGE as I discovered when we passed a single wing on an elongated semi-truck.  When you look at the standing turbine it is hard to fathom how big they really are.  In some places large forests of turbines sprouted from the flat prairies.  I find them calming in their slow, productive rotation.  One morning they stood tall and white against the pink rising sun anchored in a soft cushion of light ground fog.  So pretty.  Do they relate to quilts?  I don't know, but they are in my mind so may appear in a design somewhere, sometime.  No photos because we always saw them from the Interstate - not a good place to stop.

In a forest of deciduous trees I see stippling in the leaves.  How about making the stipple in the shapes of leaves?  Must try that.  

Leaf Stippling

Long leaf pines remind me of the tight, straight lines that I often use around feathers in my quilting.  The infant trees look like a clump of grass among the tall, straight trunks of older members of their kind.

Long leaf pines

While in Florida we visited Leon Sinks Geological Area, Tallahassee.  Hidden in the beautiful forest were many sinkholes, some dry and some with water.  The most beautiful was so quiet and pretty, and it had circles repeated all over the water surface from tiny fish and insects.  The colors would also make a gorgeous quilt.

Finally, I found McTavishing in the clouds.  They can be a constant source of inspiration and are always changing.

A cloud for McTavishing.

I also noticed along the road huge billboards advertising quilt stores.  We have come a long way in recent years ladies and gents.  I waved to the Handi-Quilter truck as it rumbled by.

Happy stitching this week.