Wednesday 19 August 2009

Some Pictures of Inspiration (looking at my feet)

Sylvia asked if I find a lot of inspiration when I travel. Admittedly, most of the travel I do is "fly in - teach a course - find a quilting store - fly out", but there is still time to see some interesting stuff! I have also had the chance to visit a country or two on vacation...

I think I will start with interesting sidewalks. Yes, I do take pictures of the ground if I find it interesting. I also feel sorry for the people who travel with me! But when you think about it, tiles and stones can achieve similar patterns to quilters...

Somewhere in Amsterdam. Cobblestone streets seem to use this pattern a lot (we also have some in Cambridge). It always amazes me that they can make so much curvature, but they are still using blocks! I think we definitely need a quilt pattern based on this.

Same idea, still Amsterdam (I think), larger blocks.


Outside a train station in another small town in Holland. I love how they just used a small squiggle to give such a strong impression of water. Again, we could do that with quilting, couldn't we?



In the gardens of a castle (or ruin of a castle, which is now a city park) in Tavira, Portugal:
I took a picture of this one because it gives the impression of a star, but isn't any of the traditional star shapes. To be honest, the pattern was made of tape and I think it was by some workmen fixing the place up rather than anything mysterious or ancient...

Finally, the ground outside a subway station in Tokyo. I was surprised that I have never seen a Drunkard's Path laid out like this!



Next post I will look up a bit.

Kirsten

3 comments:

  1. Hi Kirsten,
    I was intrigued with your photos of illusionary curves created by straight lines. Have you ever seen the work of Margaret Miller, Blockbender Quilts? She developed a technique using any patchwork block. Unfortunately, I can only find 1 image to share. I have seen works of Margaret's with more pronounced effects.
    http://www.millerquilts.com/workshops/samp-angleplay.html

    Doris

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  2. What fantastic motion! I knew someone must have done it!

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  3. Not only can you find piecing patterns in these walkways... I believe you can find quilting designs also!!! LOVELY! Perhaps I should look down more myself! :-)

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