Please share some of your sources of quilt-making inspiration. I'll be giving a guild presentation next week and I'd like to hand out a long list of ideas. I'll post the list here too.
I get lots of quilt ideas in the shower. And I love to browse through my quilt books, especially the state quilt survey books and the old Quilt Engagement Calendars compiled by Cyril I. Nelson.
16 comments:
i start with an idea or theme and then try to figure out to relate that into quilting/piecing. whether in color or design.
i have been known to ask perfect strangers in stores if i can take a picture of their clothing cause it was inspirational. my husband always seem to disappear when this happens :)
I let the quilt 'talk' to me, of course I'm speaking of a finished quilt. I find that's where I get the quilting ideas from, books, magazines too.
flickr
The Selvage Blog! I get lots of ideas from other people's blogs. Books. photographs. Workshops. Trunk shows. Quilt shows.
I get ideas from blogs I read, including yours. A great one is Nellie's Needles, another is the 12x12 group for art quilt ideas. But mostly I'm a book-learner and book collector and get ideas from both quilting magazines and the many books written by quilters sharing their techniques and inspirations. Quilt shows are another source, I take photos and go back to remember what I really liked about them.
I get lots of ideas in the shower too! When I walk on our trail that is nearby there are no distractions and I feel like it clears my head to let some good ideas in.
In the past, I would have said "books, magazines, calendars, etc..." now I'd have to say that most of my ideas come from blogs, websites, and of course, Pinterest.
I seem to always have inspiration as I'm trying to fall asleep. If it's really distracting, I'll get up and do a quick sketch, but many times when I take a look at what I've sketched, I can't "see" it in my mind like I could when I drew it. Definitely the internet has been a huge source of inspiration for me. I'm working on a quilt right now that was inspired by an antique velvet quilt I saw on the site of an auction company. Pinterest has been great for finding new things, as has Flickr.
I do get a lot of ideas from blogs and the internet. But sometimes, when I have left over quilt blocks, I like to try to design something that is different. It just makes it fun to use a block differently then how the pattern was designed.
I get a lot of ideas from the internet, but I also like to let the fabric guide my ideas. When I love a fabric I buy it for no reason other than to have it. I don't let the patterns that call for specific fabrics hinder me either. I go with what I feel is right. Oh, and my latest inspiration for a quilt in my sketchbook actually came from a chart at physical therapy.
Design information - from reading blogs and quilting sites. Color inspiration is usually from wild color palettes or nature. The feel of the quilt - from the recipient. I almost always make quilts for a specific person, so the overall combinations of the above are specific to the person. an example is I am currently working on my third tulip quilt and this one even though some of the fabrics are identical to the first one I made is very different. It is simpler, The first had a label that was the whole quilt back was machine embroidered with the child's name, this will be subtler and it will have more hand work since the recipient's mom will love that. The binding will be very different and again will match the mom's likes. The first also matched the mother's wants for her baby. Always inspiration from the relationship with the recipient. If it is a charity quilt I try to imagine what would make the recipient happy.
There is so much inspiration out there on line, in print and even just in observation of nature, that I sometimes have difficulty narrowing it down and getting started on a project. That is why I think I am having so much fun doing my sew alongs and BOM's...all the thinking is done for me I just have to choose fabrics and sew. That is not to say I don't have many projects of my own design going on. I like to have projects in different stages, that way I can work on whatever the spirit moves me towards that
day ie.....chain piecing, hand binding, applique,cutting....(I have basket of scraps that need cutting and sorting,) or piecing. It's all fun.
Happy Sewing
I get color inspiration by subscribing to the blog Design Seeds: http://design-seeds.com/
I get inspired by looking at photos of old quilts, especially the utilitarian quilts of the 1930's and quilts made by African Americans. The "make-do" spirit is what excites me.
I look at architecture, rug & textile patterns from the world. Older design magazines. Vintage and modern mixes. Google image search is always a good starting point for any one idea.
I get inspiration from many places. I often find myself saying " That would make a great quilt!" Most often, carpets in the hotels in Las Vegas for some reason???? Sometimes it is from patterns in clothing also!
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