Time away and quilt ideas

A lot of fun getting away and seeing different things and catching up with good friends.  But quilting is never very far from my my mind and the fields and flowers of Scotland and the tulip fields outside of Amsterdam were wonderful inspiration.  In Scotland every town and farm had masses of daffodils in bloom on the roadside; nodding in the breeze and declaring that Spring was here.  The hills rising out of the valleys were rich blocks of various greens bordered by the rock walls.  The fields were full of sheep and their tiny lambs; like dots on the hillside.  Home.

The gardens at Keukenhof outside of Amsterdam were fantastic and so beautifully landscaped.  Lots of fun pictures.  Now comes the hard part - finding time to create some art quilts of my memories.   From the plane going into Schiphol, you could see there were strips and strips of colour below us.  A strip quilt comes to mind with lots of French knots; lots and lots.

Some lovely landscaping with the magnolias out

 This view was from the gardens into nearby tulips fields.  Now imagine that from the air; acres and acres of neat rows of colour.  The vibrancy of the colours were stunning.  Massed blocks of reds, purples, yellows, whites and blues.

Fields of colour everywhere

Before that though it has been a busy time; getting ready to go away and then recovering from the trip and a cold generously bestowed by a seatmate on my return flight.  Two weeks lost to coughs and sniffles.  No quilting inspiration there.  But it did allow some time to mull over potential projects and possible quilt designs.  There is always some good to be found.

I did manage to finish a quilt belonging to a client that I hated to give up.  Stitch in the ditch was challenging but with lovely results and the feathers just added to the look.  Have a look at the beautiful job the maker did on creating the quilt.   Fresh off the frame.

The back looks wonderful too.   The design translated to the back beautifully.

On to the next one which has a simple meandering on a beautiful traditional quilt.  So much fun making quilts have personality.  Each stage of a quilt from beautiful fabrics through to the quilting makes the quilt come alive.  It is a partnership between the maker and the quilter.   

A pile of fabrics and a pattern become a beautiful gift like this one above.