Finding Inspiration

I’ve not been posting many projects lately because I am working like a dog on my book. Do dogs work hard? Most dogs I know don’t, but maybe if you’re a sled dog in Alaska or something. Anyway, since I can’t give you many details about the book, I thought I’d share a couple of  things that have been inspiring me lately.

Quilts of Gee’s Bend: I can’t remember what year I first laid eyes on these amazing quilts, but the power that these women put in their work is amazing. I think these quilts speak volumes about the beauty of necessity. Pictured below is Mary Lee Bendolph’s Blocks and Strips of 2002.

mary-lee-bendolph-quilt

Children’s art: As always, I’m influenced and inspired by my children’s art. There’s something about the simplicity and directness in the work of a child that can’t be imitated. My seven-year-old’s apple drawing is pictured below. She was working on a cardboard box, which created those great textural lines.

apple-drawing

Liberty of London: Always an inspiration. And I will definitely be making a trip to Target on March 15 when their new line arrives. Look at this adorable girl’s dress. You can see a few other images on the Oprah website. Thanks to Laura for sending me that link!

liberty-of-london-for-targe

Oh, and one more thing that I wanted to mention. The very talented Kristal of The Rikrak Studio is holding a fun competition called the Handmade Olympics and I was nominated in the category of Favourite Blog with a Handmaking Focus. So I wanted to say thanks to Kristal and to Tara of Scoutie Girl for putting me on the list of finalists. If you’d like to vote for me here, I would be grateful.

handmade-olympics

14 Replies to “Finding Inspiration”

  1. I love the quilts of Gee’s Bend! My daughter and I saw an exhibit of them in Baltimore a few years ago, and we were both blown away. They are so beautiful, and so bold. Thanks for reminding me — I have a poster from that exhibit I’ve been meaning to frame! 🙂

  2. It was a tough thing to vote for, but I did put in my vote for you. Thanks for all you do, putting great stuff out there for us all to gather inspiration from.

  3. Wow, thanks fro putting up the Gees Bends pages. That’s amazing, I would love to read these books and the prints look fantastic.

    Are you aware that there’s going to be a quilting exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England, in March? Liberty of London is involved and is selling special edition fabrics through the Museum shop. The V&A is my favourite museum ever.

  4. Of course I just voted for you!

    It’s funny that I just blogged about my excitement over Liberty of London coming to Target. In a preview picture I saw they are making a bicycle with an iconic floral print on the frame. Oh how I want that bike!

  5. AH! I just got to see a selection of the Gee’s Bend quilts in person- AMAZING. Our local museum is hosting them and I was also lucky enough to listen to a quick lecture with two fo the women from Gee’s Bend (China and Louisianna) Such inspiration from them.

  6. I am honored to be from Alabama where Gee’s Bend is. Thier quilts are lovely. My family & I plan to visit one day soon. It’s not a trip for the faint of heart. Gee’s Bend is completely in the middle of no where.

  7. You really must be working hard. I know for a fact, the dogs up here are in training and are working hard for the Last Great Race on Earth (The Iditarod ~ starts March 06 ). I did cast my vote for you. Great blog. Good luck on your book.

  8. I too just got to see the Gee’s Bend exhibit (last weekend) and it was beautiful! Vanessa and I must live in the same area. 🙂 I’ll go put my vote in now… good luck!

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