Chatterbox Quilts Chitchat

Hi everyone:

Happy Civic Holiday to all my Canadian friends! Hope you enjoyed your long week-end and beautiful summer weather.

Now that I'm back from vacation I've been going through the photos we took and looking for quilt inspiration. 

Hootie enjoying a rest while in Orlando

I can't go anywhere without noticing designs or colours that I think would make great quilt designs. While this causes great annoyance for my children – not another quilt idea! – I find it adds an extra element to our vacations. Will I see something that inspires me? Surprisingly enough, the answer is always an emphatic "yes!"

Compass on the cobblestones in Hogsmeade
This was a spot that could be activated with the special wands you could purchase there

While driving in Orlando, I noticed these hexagon shapes on the side of some of the overpasses. Was the designer a quilter or just fascinated with geometric shapes? I think you know the answer!

Hexagons on an underpass in Orlando

Geometrics were also prevalent in the Morocco pavilion in Disney's Epcot Centre. Lots of intricate mosaics and beautiful colours. While I'm not really a fan of English paper piecing, I could certainly see lots of design possibilities for this technique in any of these photos.

Fountain in the Morocco pavilion at Epcot

Mosaic detail on fountain at Epcot

More mosaic detail around the fountain

I found lots of ideas for colour combinations, even at the Kennedy Space Centre. There was a Saturn 5 rocket suspended in one of the buildings and I thought that the combination of grey, aqua, white, red and a splash of yellow (never want too much yellow!) would be great in a modern quilt design.

Lots of colours around the Saturn 5 rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre

The colours in this photo in the Africa section of Disney's Animal Kingdom were so lush and brilliant; I loved the contrast of the yellow flowers on the tree with the blue sky and the cream of the adjacent building.

Would love one of these trees in my backyard!

Apart from the colours and shapes that I discovered on our trip, there were also some quilty, stitchy items such as the tape measure cat in the window in Hogsmeade in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, 

Tape measure cat in Hogsmeade shop
Sorry about the quality; I had to press my camera
against the window to avoid the glare

the vintage sewing machine (apparently even Wizards have to do some sewing from time to time), also in Hogsmeade, 

Tailor's shop in Hogsmeade

and the patchwork placemats in the Moroccan section of Disney's Epcot Centre.

Some of the textiles for sale in the Morocco pavilion

Have you noticed any quilt inspirations when you've been on vacation? Please share them in the comments below.