Beyond The Garden.....

So the photo below isn't from a garden but beyond the garden.  It's actually the tile from a restaurant that my husband & I visited.  It has great lines for a border.  If you take some of the smaller designs from it & reposition them, you can even use the designs in a block.  On the top part of the photo, you can also see the swag design that we've all seen appliqued in Baltimore Album Quilts.  Oh yes....my Baltimore Album blocks.....sigh.....I still only have the same four or five & haven't made any more progress just yet.   That project will have to sit & wait til I can return to it.  In the meantime, I will enjoy whatever I'm doing.....yes....this includes everday things too......

  

Quilting For Your Borders

What do we really see?  If we're paying attention, the great outdoors is a plethora of quilting designs such as the following photo of a gold butterfly enjoying my hot pink zinnias.  For a quilting design, simply trace the outline of the butterfly image & zinnia & you have a quilting outline for your quilt borders.  So how do you connect each design?  This is where you implement a meandering design of your choice.  So how do you know which design to implement?  You simply have to just try a design.  Practice with pencil & paper first then move on to practice on a small quilt sandwhich if you're apprehensive about trying it.  The point is to just do it.  Get over the hurdle of, "I can't".   Try something out of the ordinary for yourself.  If you make a mistake, no one will know.  If one new skill doesn't work for you, simply move on to a different skill.  Imagine learning a new technique & enjoying the process.......

Quilting Designs From The Garden?

Yes! You can find quilting lines/designs in your garden or anywhere outdoors.  You just have to pay attention to what you see.  Do we really look at what we see?  Not always.  While in my backyard weeding, I stumbled upon a very intricate, interesting design that would look great on a quilt.  A spider web.  I spotted this very small spider right by my climbing mandeville, waiting for lunch to be lured into it's web.  Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to look at what you see....

This spider must have caught lunch because it's no longer there.  Spiders are not my favorite part of a garden but they do make a contribution by existing.  I know many quilters who have quilted spider webs into their quilts & they make for gorgeous artful quilting.