What Inspired Designer Hearts

I am always asked in class or a lecture "Where did you get your ideas to design your quilts?" My answer is quite easy. I always have my eyes opened to the small details when I go anywhere. Having my camera by my side at all times, I can easily click a picture of something that may inspire me. "Designer Hearts" came from the endless balconies and iron scroll works that I saw in Europe. This one particular design seemed to be quite popular anywhere I went. Since I am a HUGE lover of bias tape, I knew that the designs I saw would lend well to bias tape, or as I like to call it "bended Bias" patterns. I love Bias tape so much that I even wrote a whole quilt book (Bended Bias to Applique) on different way to use it to achieve pretty additions to your applique without it looking like stained glass. So make sure that when you go somewhere, keep your head tilted upwards, you just may see a beautiful scroll work balcony that will call for a quilt to be made!!
~Linda

Inspired by Windmills

I am always inspired by everyplace I go, and always have my camera in hand. I am so fortunate that I get to travel to some wonderful places in this world from being an International Quilt Instructor. But this time, in the pictures that I posted, I was in Germany with my parents. It was their 50th anniversary and with all the frequent flyer miles that I have racked up, I thought I would bring them to Paris, France, Germany, and Italy. You see, I am a first generation American with parents from Europe, so I get to go to Europe often to see my families there. My dad (from Northern Germany) was brought up with windmills all around where he lived. This is one of them, and I loved how the surrounding homes would have windmill designs bricked right into their homes. Makes wonderful quilt designs, huh? Thought you would think that! So...I am working on a new quilt lecture that will incorporate designs that are all around us everywhere we go. Feel free to use these 2 windmill designs in a quilt block and send me a picture (linda@lindampoole.com).....you just may have your quilt block in my next lecture! Cool, huh?
So, tell your friends to see this design and join in!!!

Needing a Color Fix Today

I am going to take a gamble and think that I am not the only one that gets a little tired of the winter? I do love the winter, but it has some tiny drawbacks...now notice I did say the word "tiny". I am a person that NEEDS color in her life. I can find it anywhere really....magazines, blogs, fabric....but I cherish the colors that Mother Nature gives to us and just lately the skies have been so grey, the daylight ends much to quickly for me and I think I will just chalk this up to some Winter Blues! I love my camera and it goes everywhere with me when I travel or just go outside. I also love taking pictures of juicy colors that I find. This picture I took in Venice, Italy. I loved how they arranged this window and I started to think of how easy a quilt could be made from this. All I would need to do is dye some white gloves and applique them down. Has anyone ever made a quilt with real gloves?? Would love to hear if you have! ~Linda

Can Wintery Ice inspire us?

Can the winter inspire our art and quilts? Here in Milford, PA, I woke up to everything ice encrusted. The trees seem to weigh heavy bowing towards the ground. It was not an easy morning to walk a brand new puppy who looks at you with those big eyes saying "why, why can't we just stay inside?". Hm....well now little Zoie, let's ask your bladder that same question! The colors of this morning were indeed no rainbow to say the least. What was amazing, was looking through my camera lens,focusing in close to the icy branches. I could see myself, my very own reflection! So if you had to give "ice" a color, what would it be? I thought I would post a small quilt top I did last winter that was inspired by the winter season. It is the goddess honoring snow. This was a challenge I posted to my yahoo list and some wonderful creations were made that month of January.

Feeling that creative energy again

I am feeling the urge to create today. It must be the lack of sun outside, the greyness that is all around me on a cold, bone chilling wintry morning. I can feel that creative energy right down to my fingertips just waiting to release something wonderful. I get that feeling quite often, don't you? And when I do, I have the need to make something right there and then, at the very moment it takes over. What you see in this picture was one of those days the quilting muse infused energy into me and screamed for something to be produced and out of me came this little 8.5" x 11" quiltlet. I gave much thought to who I was. I knew that I wanted to used my hand and show my energies. I used Paris map fabric in the hand to show that I am an avid traveler. Each orb entwined in the creative energy (bias tape) shows just a touch of who I am. I am a night owl and there you see the moon. I couldn't live if I wasn't owned by a pet, so I knew that the paw print fabric was perfect, and who can create without music?? So what do you do when the quilting bug bites you hard???

Happy New Year everyone! Can you believe it is already 2009? Where has the past year gone? I guess it's time to pull out the old paper and pencil (yes pencil, you can erase with it) and start writing some goals down. Have you done that yet? My goals never seem to change, I just get a little wiser on how to achieve them. I sincerely believe that making my goals achievable and taking baby steps to accomplish them are the way to go. I remember a time when my goals were so big that they overwhelmed me and I never got anything done. Been there?

2009 is my year to learn some of the things that I have always wanted to.
And my list is:

• To learn more than I know about my Bernina sewing machine. It has all the bells and whistles, and I want to hear them as my machine happily hums away while I quilt.
• To learn more of the stitches and fun things the Bernina feet do.
• To to be proficient in CorelDraw and will be taking a class as of tomorrow.
• To learn how to update my website better and feel confident in doing so.
• To finish turning my year of sketches into applique designs (um...that's only a mere 40 to50 of them !)
• To organize my time and scheduling better so that I can have a little me time at the end of the day (and that means a warm bubblebath)
• To once again devote some time to charitable organization via my quilting (I took 2008 off)
• To continue motivating others with an "I can do this" attitude.
• To continue traveling to guilds to teach applique and be the best instructor I can be for them.
• To continue writing
• To create a new and inspiring lecture
• To eat healthier (I know this is almost on everyone's list, but this is hard when traveling so much)
• To read a novel a month (I am an avid reader, but haven't found time to read much in '08)
• To reconnect with old friends
• To continue writing in my daily journal (What? You don't have one?)
• To bring a smile to someone's face every single day

That is just a tiny little snippet of my 2009 goals. Have you written yours down? If you did, remember to revisit it one year from now and see how far you have come. You may just suprise yourself.

And my hearfelt thanks......
To all my good friends who have always been there for me through my day to day life happenings. Those that have been my lifetime friends, I treasure you more than you could imagine. To my newer friends, I am so glad you came into my life....we have many adventures ahead. To my friends overseas, if I had a James Bondish boat that could propel me over the oceans, life would be so much the richer to spend time with you. To those that have passed in and out of my life, thank you for all I have learned from you and perhaps another time our paths may cross and friendships resume. Loving thanks goes to my parents who love me unconditionally as I do them.Without them, I would not be who I am today.

Happy Brand New Year All..............may you find all you are looking for....in love, happiness and in the motivation to create to your hearts content!
~Linda