By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador
I haven’t had numerous opportunities to travel abroad but my daughter and her family live in Hong Kong, so I come here once or twice a year because, well, grandchildren.
Hong Kong is a beautiful place with a great deal of variety in every way. There are so many different types of people, and buildings, and landscapes, and cultures—it goes on and on.
I take a lot of photos when I visit because every time I turn around, I’m gobsmacked by something fascinating. I thought it might be fun to show you some Hong Kong photos that can inspire your machine quilting.
Some may even inspire whole quilt designs. Try opening your mind to the possibilities as you enjoy them.
This lion (?) and the next few photos are from the Tin Hau Temple not far from where my kids live in Repulse Bay.
Some of the statues are covered in colorful tiles. A typhoon in the fall of 2018 damaged the area extensively and these photos were taken soon after.
I expect that the tile will be repaired eventually. Many tourists visit the area and it’s interesting to observe the reverence with which they bow and pray.
From what I can tell, this guy is the central piece of the Temple area. He is huge. I love the greenish-yellow with the aqua and gray. I need to go back and take more close-up photos.
The colors and whimsy of the Tin Hau Temple inspire me, and I imagine a quilt will eventually happen. But there are concrete figures on which I find shapes for machine quilting inspiration.
Like many of the creatures, this one has parts from different real-life animals combined.
But take a look at his body. Wouldn’t those double lines of shell shapes be glorious as machine quilting?
The mythical horses are among my favorites. Look more closely.
I see four different machine quilting ideas without even looking very hard. If you see any idea, let me know in the comments. Maybe we will see different things?!
I love this one. Look at the detail below, rich with inspiring shapes.
It used to frustrate me when people would ask quilters or artists where they find inspiration, and the answer would always be, “Inspiration is everywhere. I just look around.” I did not understand this at all.
Its lovely curve appeals to me.
But in the past few years, I have learned to look. Everything around us has shape, and color, and line, and repetition, and style.
Even if something has no color, that is a color(less) scheme. Even simple repeating straight lines are something, and they can become something in your quilts.
While you are learning to look, it’s valuable to spend time just observing. Plan a date with yourself and go to some specific place.
Observe the colors, shapes, lines, things that repeat. What piques your interest? What do you find compelling?
What is lovely, and what is detestable? Storing away these ideas helps build your cache of inspiration so you can pull from it when you want to.
World travel is wonderful but if that’s not on your agenda, you can do this wherever you are. When I return home the first week of May, I’ll do a post showing how I find inspiration on the farm where I live, near a town of 236 people in the middle of nowhere.
It’s true.
Inspiration is everywhere. You just need to look.
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