Wednesday 11 January 2017

Quilting, Politics and Inspiration

     Last week I had a visit with my local M.P. He represents my area federally for those of you in the U.S.A. who may not know what I'm talking about. I was visiting him on behalf of my work to talk to him about proposed changes in legislation that would affect us.  Despite the fact that I had met him before (he shops in our store) I was very nervous about this.

     So what does a quilter do in the morning before she has to meet with her M.P.  She sews of course.  I found making the Stash Bee Hive 3 Bear Paw blocks for Tracy really helped to calm me down.  Deep breathing and meditation was also very useful.



     The meeting went very well and was actually quite interesting.  I had to wait for a while before the meeting and I had quite a bit of time to look at this.



     Of course I asked for a copy and I've had some fun using the flags as inspiration for quilt designs for the 2017 30 quilt design challenge which you can read more about here.
Here are two designs I've come up with so far.



   This is a block design.  There are four of them in the photo and it's pretty much identical toe the Carignan Saliere flag except I changed the crosses from white to yellow.





     This is a full quilt design and it's based roughly on the Bearn flag.

     I've been enjoying the quilt design challenge.  I'm trying to approach it one design at a time, putting my emphasis more on the here and now, rather than the big number.  I'm linking up with Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.  Now she is quite the designer.



12 comments:

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I'm glad that sewing, deep breathing, and meditation all helped calm your nerves before talking with the M.P. And how awesome to find some inspiration out of it, too!

Cathy said...

Anytime I need to calm down, I head straight to the sewing room. Glad the meeting went well and those are some great designs!

Preeti said...

Politics is just an excuse - you really just wanna sew. Before and After.
I know someone else like that :-D
By the way those bear paws belong to a kind and gentle bear. Soft and soothing.
Hugs,
preeti.

Gina said...

I love the designs you've taken from the flags. They are such great inspiration. Well done on coping with the meeting. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it xx

Pamela said...

I like the bear paws. I would have been nervous too.

Eleanor said...

There's nothing quite like sewing to distract, is there?

Love the inspiration you're taking from the flags. Shapes, colour - great work!

Tish Stemple said...

Important meetings always make me nervous too. Glad you were able to relax a bit and even find inspiration before your meeting. A really good reminder that inspiration can be found anywhere.

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

There is always something intimidating before a big meeting isn't there? I think it is human nature to be nervous. I am glad it went well for you. Seeing all the different flags is interesting, I didn't realise Canada had so many flags!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

Who would have thought that flags would be inspiration for designing. That's awesome.

Sandra Walker said...

She sure is quite the designer! I think using flags was brilliant as a jumping off point! I wondered what the story was behind your hint on INnstagram!

Diana @ Red Delicious Life said...

I love that you found some quilty inspiration to help calm your nerves. And all those cool flags, too! So glad that your meeting with the MP went well. If I could handle the cold weather, I'd consider a move to Canada. Our government could learn so much from our next door neighbors if they would just stop talking (or yelling) and start listening and asking questions. I'm not sure I can handle what is in store for our country these next few years and it really scares me.

Nicole said...

If you start using flags as inspiration you'll never run out! Love the Bearn one especially.