Windows of Inspiration

I am back in North Carolina slowly adjusting to this lovely pace, and finding something new to inspire me.  My bluebirds are in the backyard and the weather is beautiful.

The first week back, my daughter Ashley and the boys joined us to enjoy the area and some fun spots, which I will share on Nesting in North Carolina soon.

The eyes of tiny faces always give me hope, and being with the people I love fills my spirit.  Here is James Taylor singing In Carolina in My Mind,  with beautiful scenes of the Blue Ridge mountains.

As you can imagine, once Ashley, Sarah and the boys left, my heart needed a bit of time to adjust.  Sarah flew in to help Ashley with the drive back.   Although I will be home for the holidays, I wanted to think of something here that I can enjoy and find inspirational.  Something different than I might find back home.

Fabric always inspires me.  So my first stop was a visit to the most wonderful fabric shop.  The Little General.

The Little General is located in Reynolda Village.  I was inspired as soon as I saw her beautiful sign with shabby chic bunting.  You know how much I love bunting!

Gina writes a blog and owns the most gorgeous fabric shop.

Gina and I shared some contacts and inspirational books and magazines.  I love her Facebook page.

She is such a kindred spirit.  I bought this gorgeous book on Cath Kidson.

Gina showed me some gorgeous fabrics and told me about a friend of hers, Bonnie Christine who also teaches classes for Adobe Illustrator.  Here is a quilt that Gina made using one of Bonnie's fabric collections.

Bonnie's blog, Going Home To Roost is filled with inspiration.  I remembered seeing her on Spoonflower's instagram, sharing her lovely animal masks.  I purchased a few of her videos for tips on Adobe Illustrator on her Etsy Shop.  Again, I am so impressed by her clever designs and wonderful blog.

Bonnie is having a giveaway, which ends October 27th.  You just have to leave a comment, like her on Facebook or share her giveaway.  The fabric collection WINGED, shown on Gina's quilt above.  Bonnie is giving away 10 yards, 10 pieces of fabric in the colorway of your choice.

All in all, I think that being able to nest in North Carolina again, gives me an opportunity to take a breath of fresh ideas from the windows of inspiration here.

Wherever your travels take you today, I hope that you find oodles of inspiration.

A Tisket, A Tasket Inspiration

This is the song that serenaded me as I created a new fabric collection.  There are a few changes in the words, but here's a version that is surely the "bees knees!"

Oh my, Polka Dots...
Speaking of "the bees knees", it all started with this design, which I am calling The Bees Knees Egg.

Here is the entire fabric collection, on the way to Spoonflower.  I should have the samples back in two weeks.  I can't wait to see them.

"A Tisket, A Tasket

A green and yellow basket

I wrote a letter to my love

And on the way I dropped it,

I dropped it,

I dropped it,

And on the way I dropped it.

A little boy he picked it up and put it in his pocket"

An Elephant named Lily

It all began one day when I found a watercolor painting I had done of pink Day Lilies.  I went to work with my digital paintbox and created a pattern.

I created Lily and that was only the beginning...

Suddenly design ideas were dancing all around, until finally there were fifteen designs in my collection.

When the fabric arrived I was so thrilled.  Here are the swatches that I photographed for a sampler listing.

Now I am in the process of adding each design to my Etsy shop.  Three listings down and a sampler listing...thirteen more listings to go.

I thought I would also share a video I like that Spoonflower created for a recent entry they did for Small Business.  It shows how the fabric is made and gives you a fun look into their operation.

Well, back to the drawing board with An Elephant named Lily.  Don't you just love Carlie Simon?

Don't forget today is Pink Saturday and Bev from How Sweet The Sound has lots of pink inspiration.

Jelly Roll Fabric Inspirations

I have been teaching myself all about patterns, fabric and how to piece them together to help me design better. You see, I am on a quest to learn all about what people might do with patterns, fabric and something called Jelly Rolls.

Amy Butler Fabrics Jelly Roll on Imagine Fabric on etsy


"A jelly roll is a roll of forty fabrics cut in 2 1/2 " wide  strips cut across the width of the fabric. All patterns assumed that fabric will be at lease 42 inches wide.   Moda introduced Jelly Rolls to showcase new fabric ranges.   How inspirational to have 2 1/2 inch wide strips of each fabric  wrapped up so deliciously!"

From Jelly Roll Iinspirations by Pam and Nicky Lintott

Here is a book I found to put on my Christmas wish list, called Jelly Roll Inspirations by Pam Lintott. Another book is Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts.

I had to find out more about Pam Lintott, author of several books on Jelly Roll quilts.  Turns out that she lives in the UK and has a blog and web site called The Quilt Room.

Here is a link to her many books on Quilting and her latest book called More Layer Cake Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts, written by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

and Oh, if that weren't charming enough...


"Pam has been running the Quilt room since 1981.  She started the shop above her husband's bookshop in Dorking." She lives in Dorking, Surrey in the UK. and is now working alongside her daughter Nicky.

Here is a video of Pam sharing some bits about Jelly Roll Quilts.

The music for this post is by Hans Zimmer and is from a favorite movie The Holiday.  Why you ask?  Well, the character Iris, lived in Surrey, and when I was reading all about Pam Lintot, I kept hearing this music play in my head.  I kept envisioning that amazing little cottage from the movie.

Back on topic.  Honestly when I am on an inspiration trail I often get off track.  I am in love with her books.  No marketing here, I promise, I just love them.  Aren't these Jelly Rolls the cutest?

From the gorgeous blog called Simplify and a Jelly Roll featuring her gorgeous fabrics

I would love to design fabric that will inspire quilters to sew their magic.  Jelly Rolls, I just love the idea of them.  Oh, and there are Charm Quilts, but I'll save that until next time.

Jelly Rolls, Hans Zimmer music,  and dreams of fabric patterns.  Seems to me, I am well on my way towards some designing inspiration.

Now if that isn't enough pattern inspiration, Moda has this A-dorable web site called Moda Bake Shop, and they list dozens and dozens of blogs and sites they feature to surely inspire.

The Moda Bakeshop, has Fat Quarter Bundles, Charm Packs, Dessert Rolls, Honey Buns, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Scrap bags.  I truly love this delightful presentation of delicious Moda Fabrics..  By the way, it is pronounced (Bey-kuh-ree), how cute is that?

HAVE A LOVELY DAY