Tiles of Santa Fe!

I love tile patterns, but I think you know that! The first thing I did when landing at the airport in Albuquerque was to take pics of the southwestern designs of the tiles in the ladies rest room.

Last night, after being dropped off at my hotel in Santa Fe, and discovering that the hotel had a complimentary shuttle at my service, I hitched a ride back down to the Plaza area so that I could walk around and capture more images! I had tiles on the brain, and I found a lot more to whet my appetite!

Tiles are not just on walls….they are in entrance ways on the floor…and you have to be sure to open your eyes and look around you or you just might miss some interesting ones along the way!

That amost happened with this one --- it was tucked behind a closed door to a shop!

Don't you think that it almost has a Frank Lloyd Wright feel to it?

Isn’t this cool? I love the positive/negative almost 3-D look! And those square in a square units in each arrow? VERY nice!

Look at these gorgeous tiles on this staircase! Isn’t it beautiful? I loved the weathered woods of the banisters and other details mixed with the tiles as well.

A couple of stairwells had a flying geese look to them……from this one…to this one:

It’s just a quilter’s delight to walk around and see these details! Come on, admit it --- they’d have you plotting and planning and smiling too! I also loved the colors of the painted accents here and there….this bright blue is wonderful! I also loved the turquoise, and the periwinkle against the color of the adobe buildings.

Lots of blue and yellow! HAPPY COLORS!

I loved the border at the top of this one….I’m imagining a kitchen wall all tiled with these….what a happy place that would make!

This wall had some renegade orphan tiles down in the bottom corner! Of course, I love that cheddar-y gold….and cobalt blue? Bring it on!

These solid blue tiles were accented with a vine-y curly-que border! Pretty!

These crisp white tiles are just accented here and there with floral and bird tiles. Do you see how the border is the same flower motif, only smaller? Think how this could work in planning quilt borders too! Changing the scale of the design can add interest!

How about some chile peppers around a round entrance? CUTE!

This door really caught my eye with the tile pictures on either side……I wonder what these old tiles could say if they could talk? How many people have they seen come and go…and that shade of the blue door? LOVE IT! Here’s some close ups of the side panels:

Love the star looking block medallions, and the dotted circles that frame them!

Do you see the little spacer tiles that are added to the top and bottom of the center tile image? Don't we sometimes do that when trying to make pieced blocks fit around a printed panel?

These tiles are such works of art, and they really inspire me in so many ways!

First off..how many of you stopped to think that they are all hand painted? And though they somewhat look identical to each other, in fact, each one has its own imperfections making it unique amongst all the others? For instance, look at the starry ones above. Even the dots surrounding the center motifs are not exactly spaced. Some centers might be a bit OFF center….but yet when displayed together they create a beautiful whole that is far better than the sum of its individual parts.

Can we apply this to our quilting? Absolutely! STOP worrying that this seam or that one is a thread width '”OFF!” It’s not about the imperfections in ONE block by itself that a quilt should be judged or even viewed by. The quilt top needs to be viewed as a whole, from about 6 feet away in order to fully appreciate what each individual block does in playing its part in this symphony of fabric, color, contrast and design.

Hand crafted does not, will not ever mean PERFECTION. The pursuit of excellence is worthy, the pursuit of perfection is INSANE. IMPOSSIBLE…..

I prefer hand crafted over ANYTHING that is computer driven perfect, dye cut identical in every way.

And to me it’s the individual differences that I see block to block to block that remind me of how we as individuals make up such a beautiful whole. Why should a quilt be so perfect that it resembles an army of robots marching in formation, but with no soul?

Relax! Do the best you can, but allow yourself the little differences that make our creations as individual as we are.

Find beauty and creativity everywhere you can, and by all means, if you can get to Santa Fe, DO IT! You will be INSPIRED!