7 inspired by: neon.

Every now and then there seems to be a theme within the things that I'm making, wearing, buying, and decorating with.  For awhile now I feel like a lot of things around me are following a current trend that I never thought I'd get behind: neon.

Maybe it's because I'm craving a serious dose of color (it is white and colorless around here in February) but honestly I pieced together that quilt and pincushion last year sometime.  I agree that sometimes neon can hurt the eyes a bit, but when paired with crisp whites, calming grays, and more pastel versions of the neon shades, or grounded with a deep purple or coral they are so pretty to me!

I think my obsession with neon started with this quilt.  I've had it basted for a long time now, just need to quilt and bind it!

I found neon hanging on my wall, on my fingernails, and in my sewing and office supplies.

 In a pincushion I made (there are a few in my shop), Cosmo floss, and some twine.

I bought this twine at Home Depot of all places, and plan to make a few bracelets with it for Valentine's gifts.

I found this wooden "D" at Walmart recently, and painted it to add a pop of color to our living room shelves.  I found the scarves I've used as a backdrop here while thrifting this week.  I think I'm going to frame them and hang them in our guest room!

I think it's pretty safe to say that neon is everywhere in our house at the moment!  Good thing we have a lot of gray walls to break up all the brightness.  What about you?  Have you jumped on the neon bandwagon?

2 lovely inspiration: maira kalman quote.

Maybe it's the engineer in me, but I'm kind of in love with this quote from Maira Kalman.

via sfgirlbybay

In fact, her entire blog for the New York Times "And the Pursuit of Happiness" is kind of awesome.  I'll have to buy a copy of the book for The White House when it comes out next month.

I hope you all have a nice weekend!  I may or may not have to work all weekend and won't find out until the end of the day tomorrow.  Sad face.  Deadlines are no fun.

3 lovely inspiration: Rio De Janeiro.

These buildings in Rio de Janeiro that were painted by the Firmeza Foundation have given me yet another idea for a quilt!  I love the use of all the bright colors.

Wouldn't a quilt using bright solids that fan out in all directions look cool?  I'm thinking yes.  

So many quilt ideas...so little time!  Read more about this project here.

7 lovely inspiration: color scheme designer.

Color is one thing I love to experiment with.  It inspires me in so many ways!  If you struggle with putting color schemes together or can't find a color card that sparks your creatitivity, you should test out this color scheme designer.

Via Creature Comforts

I'm loving this purple and pink scheme.

What other tools do you use to choose colors?

0 lovely inspiration: couch to quilt.

Here's another idea for a quilt pattern, found on a couch at the Neocon design conference.

Wouldn't it be cool to replicate this fabric design as a quilt?  I'm loving the color scheme as well.

Here's a design that could translate into the actual quilting, something other than the stippling seen on so many quilts these days. 

Photos via Design Milk

I have never actually tried stippling yet myself, but I plan to soon.  I might have to try this design as well, it looks like it would be fun!

9 intimidation and a little inspiration.

I don't know what it is about making clothes that intimidates me so much, but I am terrified of trying to make something that fits me.  Lately I've been thinking that I should try making some clothes for myself.  I really want to make a dress.  I have quite a few weddings to attend this summer and I think it would be fun to make a dress or two to wear to them.  I am completely clueless when it comes to sewing clothes so this should be interesting.  I'm undecided as to whether or not I use a pattern, but if I don't, I think I might be able to handle something like this dress from Anthropologie, maybe in chiffon rather than gauze to make it a little dressier.

I like the fact that it's shirred in the back which means a little wiggle room for me when it comes to fitting.  I would be really sad to spend time making a dress that didn't fit!

Any tips on sewing clothing and/or dresses?  Have you seen any cute ones lately that I should use for inspiration or know of a pattern that you think I should use?  Do tell.

1 lovely inspiration: sewing kit.

Is this not the cutest sewing kit you have ever seen?  It's from Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe's Usuals collection.

via

I think it would be pretty simple to make something like this and would be a great gift for anyone who sews.  Anyone have any go-to sources for leather?  I'm loving the white inside the kit!

3 lovely inspiration: color cards.

I like to do things backwards sometimes and choose a color palette for things before I have a design in mind.  I won't have a clue what type of project I am going to start, but I will already know which colors I want to use for it.  One of my best sources of color inspiration is The Inspired Bride.  Yes, it's a wedding blog and I'm already married.  But it's one of the few wedding blogs left in my reader because it focuses on design as much as it does on weddings.  Maddy puts together gorgeous color cards that are just waiting to be translated into a project.  Here are a few that I have saved in my inspiration folder.

All color cards from The Inspired Bride

This last one is my absolute favorite.  The colors are just so rich and beautiful.  It must be meant to be since her inspiration picture is a presser foot!  Now if only I could figure out the perfect project to use it on...

6 lovely inspiration: pixel rug.

Wouldn't the design of this Pixel rug from Tufted make an amazing quilt pattern?  

Found via Design Milk

I find myself looking for potential quilt patterns everywhere lately.  It's a disease.

3 lovely inspiration: j.crew color palette.

As I was looking through the latest J.Crew magazine catalog today I came across this page and was instantly inspired.  

The color scheme shown in the belts on the left side of the page is so beautiful!  I think it would be a wonderful palette for a spring quilt!  I ripped out the page and plan to refer back to it very soon.

3 lovely inspiration: papercutting film

Papercutting is one of those things that I will never be capable of outside of using my Cricut, which I don't think really counts.  This stop motion animation video is one of the most amazing things I've seen in awhile.  I can't even imagine how long it would take to make something like this!

Video via CRAFT and All About Papercutting.

3 lovely inspiration: winter white holiday gift wrap.

Have you seen the gift wrapping ideas that Summer of Grey Likes Weddings posted on Style Me Pretty today? All of the layers of textures and shades of white and cream have me wishing I had time to re-wrap all of our Christmas gifts. Not that I would actually do it... but I'm definitely putting these in the file for next year's holiday wrapping inspiration.

There's even a tutorial to make the DIY fabric pom in the center picture.  And Summer posted a tutorial for the DIY wine wrap on her blog as well. 

What a great way to give an old sweater a new life!