Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

President’s Blocks, Part 2

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

In case you missed Part 1, you’ll want to catch up by reading President’s Blocks, 32 Years Late. I have an idea for reinventing blocks I received from guild members more than 30 years ago.

The blocks are 9″ (give or take) Nine Patches in ’90s blues and muslin, with signatures in ink or embroidery. I have about 40. I’ve decided to create blocks like the one above by slicing the Nine Patches 1/4″ to the side of the diagonal center and joining them with a big red triangle.

Greetings from Hong Kong

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Quilt Lifestyle

I haven’t often had the opportunity to travel, but when your daughter and her family move to the other side of the world, you do it. I’m visiting Holly, her husband Dustin, and my only grandchildren—two precious little boys aged 2 and 6.

It feels like there is quilt inspiration around every corner. In the airport, I spotted this cover on Wired magazine. I see a quilt, don’t you?!

Machine Quilting Inspiration

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas

Over the weekend I saw a lot of machine quilting that challenged me to improve my skills and start working on the tops I have finished. You know how that is? You love to piece them, but your machine quilting is less than perfect and it’s hard to figure out what to quilt on them. So the pile of unquilted tops grows.

Here are some of the quilts that inspired me. They were done by Handi Quilter educators on longarm machines, which I do not have, but that doesn’t matter. It’s entirely possible to quilt beautifully on a home sewing machine. My quilting doesn’t have to be of show quality to be just fine.

Feed Your Creativity

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve discovered that creativity needs to be fed. Creativity has an appetite. It can be more voracious at some times than others, but we shouldn’t ignore its need to be nurtured.

Show and Tell can feed your creativity. This is Karen with her 365 finish at my retreat last fall.

Here’s an example: You attend a quilt show or a guild meeting with show and tell. You see some quilts you love and you snap photos to help you remember. You’re inspired to start on something new or get back to something you put aside—all because you gave your creativity a hearty meal. Sound familiar?

I recently discovered a new source of quilty “nourishment” I want to share with you. It’s a website called Issuu where magazines and books on assorted topics are published. You can look at them for nothing. It’s totally free. Here’s one example (click near the center to make it full screen, click escape to return to normal view):

 

 

When you put “quilt” into the search field, interesting things pop up. Take a peek at the British magazine Quilt Now.

 

Search “quilts” and you get a completely different set of publications. “Quilting” yields yet another batch. I love being able to peruse the pages with no commitment. I don’t have to buy or subscribe or give out my email. I just get to enjoy!

Some of the fabric companies publish their lookbooks on Issuu. It’s a way to see what’s coming soon to local quilt shops. I’ve been enjoying catalogs from Riley Blake. There is so much variety.

 

 

At the back of the lookbook are quilt pattern ideas from the designers, which are intended to show how the fabrics can be used effectively. There’s a lot to learn about color and value in those pages.

Pop over to issuu.com when you want to browse something quilty.

A few tips:

  • Search quilt, quilts, and quilting for different results
  • Click at the bottom right corner of the viewing pane to maximize to fullscreen
  • Click your escape button to return to normal view
  • Search for your other interests, too e.g. gardening, design, decor, vintage, history

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Scrap Quilt Inspiration

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve been inspired by some over-the-top quilts recently and I’d like to share them with you. My local guild met this week and the show-and-tell lasted for an hour. I asked for permission to show you some of the quilts my friends made.

Carol started this Four Patch/work quilt during the Olympics when Temecula Quilt Co. offered the pattern for free.

This quilt was made by Carol, who started it during the Olympics when Temecula Quilt Co. offered the pattern as a freebie.

Inspired by Vintage Quilts

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in How-tos and Ideas

My small quilt group issued a half-square quilt challenge earlier this year. The rules were pretty simple: The finished quilt should be about 24″ x 24″ and feature mainly half-square triangles. If you’re a new to quilting, that’s a commonly-used shape and it looks like this:

A square is cut in half on the diagonal, and the two resulting triangles are called half-square triangles, often abbreviated as HST.