This past week, I was so super excited to be hosting the sparks (palette choices/inspiration) for our Quilt Design a Day Facebook group. I decide early on that, I would show and inspire the group participants by using photos from my travels over the years. I had such a blast and was amazed at the designs (make sure you come over and take a look – or even add your own design).

26 April: San Francisco
First up, is Coppola’s Sentinel Building in San Francisco. I love the variations of the copper – those teals!!

I actually based this design on the top of the middle building but I rotated and tilted the design. This seemed to give it much better balance.

27 April: New York High Line
This is one of my favorite spots and photos that I took while visiting New York High Line. Of course, it has one of my favorite color palettes; blue, grey and orange.

I had so many ideas for this one and decide to play around with lines that could possibly be done with improv techniques.

28 April: Washington DC
This was taken in Winter. I love the starkness of the color palette.


My design kind of happened by accident. I  accidentally moved pieces off the design worksheet and couldn’t delete them, these landed up being the best part of the design…the left hand side. I love the difference between the darker palette in the right with the starkness of the white panel on the left.

29 April: Venice, Italy (St. Marks Basilica)
I really love neutral palettes, so I decided to challenge the group with a couple of palettes.

The diamonds and the crosses on the side of the building fascinated me. I really liked the repetition options.

29 April: Venice, Italy (Grand Canal + Rialto Bridge)
To be fair to those who don’t like neutrals I also included a brighter palette, but I did not do a design for this one.

30 April: Sintra, Lisbon (Castle of Moors)
Lisbon is one of my favorite cities in the world. This castle has amazing tiles and architectural features. The castle itself has amazing gardens.

I loved the spikes and that gold in this palette, LOVE.

30 April: Lisbon (Coastal Village)
Like I mentioned, I love Lisbon. This photo speaks words about why I love it!!

01 May: Rome, Italy (Coliseum)
This photo was taken by my husband. The illumination of the Coliseum provides an amazing color palette.

I loved the architectural arches, and the top lines of the Coliseum. I really enjoyed this palette.

02 May: Paris, France (Musee d’Orsay)
The glass roof of the old railroad station of Musee d’Orsay has amazing shades of greens.

I did two designs, one more structured that was based on the floor space.

and one that is more adhoc, improv based. I think this is my favorite of the two.

So several of these are on my make list: NY High Line, Sintra Lisbon (Castle of Moors) and Rome Italy (Coliseum) are among my favorites!!

Please Note: If you would like to make or use one of my designs, please email me (ml_wilkie(at)hotmail(dot)com) or leave a comment below. I am happy to talk with you on options and provide the relevant measurements etc. or have you test out a pattern. Also, if you use one of my designs, please use the following text to credit me the design: “Designed by Michelle Wilkie @ Factotum of Arts”.