You Can Take the Girl Away from her Quilts...

During my kids' winter break, we somehow managed to string together a couple of days without hockey practices or robotics or orthodontist appointments and we jumped at the chance to visit Boston.  Our goal was to leave everything behind -- including quilting -- but walking around Boston on a gorgeously warm day, I still manged to see quilts everywhere.

I saw this design painted on a stall in Downtown Crossing and thought of Amish quilts...

I saw this brick pattern on the sidewalk near the Boston Public Library and thought of square-in-a-square blocks...

I found this mosaic outside The Cheesecake Factory and thought of orange peel blocks (and of course cheesecake, but I kept on walking)...

And I saw this garland hanging in 10,000 Villages and thought of appliquéd flowers...

And then there were the colors.

This is the back of a rug I saw and the picture's not much to look at, but something about the colors grabbed my interest.

Back at home, I uploaded it into Play Craft's Palette Builder and after playing around for a bit, here's what I got...

Three gorgeous color palettes and all because the coral flower caught my eye.

Here's a necklace I found and although it's not exactly my style, the colorful tropical palette called to me.

I uploaded the necklace picture into the Palette Builder and discovered the lighter side of tropical...

And the darker side, hmmm almost jewel tones...

And finally, my favorite...

Shades of scarlet and green with an orangey-yellow thrown in for contrast.  Yum!

Finally I saw these darling little birds.  I love them both for their shapes (think an abstract appliqué pattern) and their soft, springy colors.

Here are two different versions of this quiet, restful palette -- I really love the butter yellow in both...

And here's a monochromatic green palette taken from the bird on the left...

So much color!  Can you tell I'm longing for Spring?!

And by the way, keep your phones handy -- you never know where the inspiration for your next project might come from!

Why I Love Fall

We have been enjoying unbelievable weather in New Hampshire.  Day after day of warm sun and sparkling blue skies.  The foliage is at its peak and the air smells sweet and spicy.  Every morning when I drive my son to school I'm amazed and inspired by autumn's spectacular show.  So this morning I grabbed my camera on the way out the door, hoping to capture some of the sights I'm blessed to see each day.  Here are a few...

Fall.  Need I say more?