inspiration

Some things that inspire me right now.

photo by YoungJun Koo/I’M KOO

photo by Art Night Austin

photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Click on each photo for source.

garage sale

I’ve heard about finding treasures garage sales, but I’d never experienced anything major. Until…..last week!

I had just dropped off the kids at their schools and had my vente iced nonfat latte in hand. I was driving home when I spotted them sitting out on the driveway of a garage sale. I screeched to a stop and parked. I tried not to sprint over there. My designer’s heart was pounding. Could they be real? Even if they’re not, I’m interested.

There they were: 3 yellow chairs. Chrome bases. Dirty. Fine. I tipped one of them over.

HERMAN MILLER! Be still my heart.

(no way, are you kidding me?) I’LL TAKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There they are: my Eames chairs in a gorgeous yellow. Welcome home chairs!

I bought these chairs from a woman who had received them as a wedding gift in 1954. I told her I would love the chairs and remember her story. She was happy. So am I.

The next day I received the DWR catalog. And here are the current Eames chairs in all of their mid modern glory.

Happy Mother’s Day

My QuiltCon Recap

QuiltCon is over. I am back home and back in my routine.  I learned so much that my head is still spinning. Seeing friends was priceless. I loved my workshop with Rachel Hobson, was inspired by Amy Butler, David Butler, Heather Ross, Yoshiko Jinzenji, Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle, Angela Walters, Kat McTee, Denyse Schmidt, and was thrilled by the exhibition quilts.  I also got to participate in the APQ 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.

I did manage to buy a little fabric and the registration bag was filled with all kinds of great things too. My suitcase definately weighed more coming home.

Beautiful inspiring quilts:

(Quilts 1,2,3 Denyse Schimdt, 4 Yoshiko Jinzenji, 5 Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, 6 Jacquie Gering , 7 Janet McWorkman, 8 Nicole Neblett, 9 Nancy Scott)

wonderful inspiring people:

(Amy Butler, Yoshiko Jinzenji, David Butler, Rachel Hobson, Angela Walters, Denyse Schmidt, Heather Ross)

All photos by Amy Dietrich for Coventry Drive

patchwork bracelets

I bought the book, “Quilt Love: Simple Quilts to Stitch and Treasure,” by Cassandra Ellis a little while ago. I love the book. It gave me a nice boost of fresh inspiration.

Cassandra’s quilts are cheerful and meaningful. There is a really nice assortment of projects in this book.

There are instructions for making a friendship bracelet by hand in the book with these pretty photos below:

I needed to make SOMETHING—and fast! I decided to give the hand sewn bracelets a try.  I used my Mom’s stash of fabrics that she uses for making church banners. Making the bracelets was easy and fun. ( I always think better when I’m doing some hand sewing or knitting. Do you?)

I’ve worn these nonstop since making them. Unfortunately, the fabric doesn’t hold up well and the metallic thread is unpredictable. So I took another approach.

I did a variation on Cassandra Ellis‘s idea and made longer bracelets that I can wrap around and around my wrist. And of course, there’s always room for more bracelets on MY arm!

First I made a green bracelet with solids and one print.  Then I made another bracelet using 3 different blue Liberty print scraps. Of course, these bracelets work well with other bracelets too!

And then…. I HAD to make bracelets from left over scraps from a strip I had done for the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild which is being assembled into a quilt.  We used some gorgeous modern Spoonflower prints. You can check out my strip here. These are the bracelets from those scraps below.

Check out http://www.cassandraellis.co.uk/ as well for more about Cassandra Ellis along with some gorgeous photos of her work.

Thank you Cassandra Ellis, for your inspiration!

Photos 1,2, 3 are from the book, ” Quilt Love: Simple Quilts to Stitch and Treasure” by Cassandra Ellis

Photos 4,5,6, & 7 are by Amy Dietrich for coventrydrive.

inspired dressing: quilts

I am inspired by quilts. I especially love Amish quilts.  I love the clean design work and the stunning use of color. And everything can inspire the way I dress. Here’s how a beautiful quilt can inspire a modern girl to get dressed.

I found this stunning quilt on quiltstudy.org.  That’s the comprehensive site of the International Quilt Study Center. It’s a fantastic place to learn and to ooh and ahh over beautiful quilts.

This quilt was done by the Miller sisters in Ohio in 1991. The color, movement, and sheer modern design inspired this outfit.

inspired dressing: quilts by coventrydrive

So I started with the draped t shirt by Alexander Wang (via Moda Operandi) paired with some denim by G-Star and added the all important accessories:  an armload of bracelets by Reminiscence, Givenchy Cat Eye Glasses (via Net-A-Porter) , and metallic flats by Jeffrey Campbell (via Need Supply Co.).  I’m good to go.

Photo Details: Spring is Coming

I enjoy the little glimmers of promise that remind me that spring is just around the corner.

All photos by Amy Dietrich for Coventry Drive

Photo Escapism

There are times when I need to visually escape.  It might be for inspsiration or to get away from the winter grayness or to just recharge. I hope that you can be transported for a moment via these photos.

photos: 1 & 2 Fairy Tales By Nature, 3 OscarPRGirl, 4 Little Brown Pen, 5 From Greenwich, 6  Whorange  7 Poe Ma Bat Soilik, 7  Modern Day Quilts, 8 TrendTablet

love and patchwork

I am compelled to design everything, so I gave myself a challenge. My challenge was to make a quilt top without designing it ahead of time. Yep, improvise.  I had to start out boldly, not knowing where I was going. Oh my. That was hard for me. I started in the middle and worked my way out. I was forced to problem solve at each addition of a row. Relaxing? Not.  But it forced me to think of just one row at a time without designing what would come next. Hah!! A lesson in life? I would say so!

Here is what evolved. I used modern Japanese prints mixed with traditional French prints. I enjoyed the red with the ochre and golds.I never would have planned this combination. I didn’t worry about whether it would work in my bedroom or follow a color scheme in my house or be a pattern that I could replicate.  I just enjoyed each row and the way the fabrics led me along.

When I knew I was finished, I had the unbelievable pleasure of handing it over to a quilting group. I am so honored to have these talented women hand quilt my pieced work.  I told them to do what they felt best and that I wanted to see their stitches. If they quilted this by hand, I wanted to see their work!!! I treasure this.

My quilt and the fabulous women are pictured below. How I wish I could have joined them.  I hear they solve many of life’s problems while quilting. Boy, could I use some of that!

While this was a difficult exercise for me, it taught me to step out boldly and not to worry about the outcome. A direct application to stepping out boldly in life with faith. Easier said than done. So far I am happy with the results.

xo

all photos by Amy Dietrich for Coventry Drive.

Tangerine Orange and The Gates

Pantone announced that the color of the year 2012 is Tangerine Tango. Pantone tries to capture the current feeling and mood of our times into a single color.  To quote Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, ” (Tangerine Tango)…continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.” (From the New York Times)

I have recently been remembering The Gates project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.  I was fortunate to have experienced this stunning installation in Central Park.  The orange fabric moving with the wind was in direct contrast to the blue skies and stark winter in New York City.

Here’s to energy, recharging, and moving forward.

All photos by AmyDietrich

You may view more of my photos of The Gates here.