I’m so happy to be a stop on the blog hop for my friend Mandy Liens’ luscious new book, Wanderlust Quilts.
Mandy and I met a couple of years ago at Quilt Market, and I was privileged to see a few sneaks of these quilts while she was working on them. I loved seeing how she interpreted the things that fascinate her through quilting.
This is a really interesting book, full of inspiration to create work from the world around you. Mandy’s background in classical archeology is evident in the projects, but it’s her love of classical art that shines through. It’s great to see a book that’s as much about making your OWN ideas as it is about making the projects offered.
I recently returned from a trip to Europe and, in my wanderings, found a few things that could definitely inspire a wanderlust quilt or two:
These are the columns on the front of the Basilica of St. Denis in Paris, France. Each column and base was carved with a different repeating pattern. I could imagine making a row-by-row based quilt that uses these carved textures as starting points for the design.
It’s also easy to see that many of the motifs we use in quilting have been in the design canon for centuries – this building was mostly finished in the 1200s! Check out the double wedding rings on the third column from the left!
Below is another image that gave me some more quilty inspiration. This one is a tiled mosaic bench from Gaudi’s Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain.
I see applique, border prints, piecework, and prairie points!
It you’d like to own a signed copy of this sweet book, go here to purchase it directly from Mandy (and if you want to know how the profit slices on a book, read here).
I am always inspired by color. I choose a palette that’s been buzzing around in my head and then find a pattern that works with it. If I see a pattern I like, it doesn’t gel in my head until the color choice comes to me. Thanks for the chance to win this book!
Ah my favourite city Barcelona, so much inspiration there, I was inspired to make a quilt 2 years ago after visiting the Sagrada Familia Basilica. This book looks like it would help with finding inspiration in some of my other photos.
My last non-quilty inspiration was a drain cover in Belize!
My favorite inspiration is St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, Italy. The marble floors had beautiful quilt-like patterns.
A late night/early morning talk with my sister, whom I had not seen in over a decade, in her living room… the feeling of that special time in my memory spoke to a floral print whose colors make up the palette of the quilt I made for her.
A visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater has me itching to make something angular and flowing, with colors of trees and water.
I find tile work with its geometry and colors inspiring . Love old bathrooms. Also mcmenamins restaurants with its randomness
I designed a quilt pattern based on the tile pattern in the bathrooms at a local gym. I am always looking at tile floors for ideas that translate to quilts. Thanks for introducing me to a new quilter and a new book, would enjoy winning if I am lucky.
The patterns created by the early morning sun coming through the lattice woodwork ceiling over the sky light in the chapel at the Trappist monastery in Lafayette, OR. I’ve taken a lot of pictures and know it would make a fantastic quilt but haven’t quite figured it out yet!
It looks to be a great book! I’ve been inspired by the wheat blowing in the wind along side the road and the color of a tree outside my window as it changes color in the fall.:)
My current favorite for inspiration is internet based airpano.com The panorama views are amazing.
This looks such a great book!
Inspiration is everywhere – from the moment I step outside my front door!
The light play on the foothills around here is one of my most favorite quilt inspirations.
I find inspiration from plant life and insects, especially from extreme closeup photography of them. This book is definitely a first of it’s kind in how the quilt designs were determined, very interesting! Ann in NC
I love tile work. I know that’s a really common one, but I was so inspired by the tile mosaics and frescoes in Italy a few months back, I just wanted to come back home and sew! 🙂
Tile work inspires me. It can be bathroom tile or the tile floors in hotels. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book.
Flooring of all sorts!!!
I get lots of inspiration from architectural elements, whether old or modern. Thanks for the giveaway!
I have found a lot of inspiration in nature or alot of architecture structures.
Old things in nature inspire me. Logs lying on the ground with mushrooms “blooming” on their sides. Bare tree trunks standing in a marshy bog. Things like that.
Nature and architecture can provide unlimited sources for size, shape and color. Oh Guadi!!! I jUst returned from walking the Camino in Spain. In Astorga, Gaudi has an amazing building, the Palacio Episcopal with trims and tiles and Windows that would make amazing quilt inspirations! I took so many pics! While I anticipated exercise physically and spiritually, I was very thrilled at the development of my observational skills…walking gives you time to observe!
Mosaic tile floors inspire me to make quilts.
I am most inspired by public art I see around the world.