Inspiration in strange places

Today I took a friend on a mystery outing for her birthday. Being short of cash donating time seemed like the best option, and by luck I found out about a free event she would really like. A corvette Stingray cruise at the Ace Cafe. I know it's a bit strange but she loves them, and would have the chance to take pictures so off we went. She was indeed very happy and took plenty of pictures. Strangely (given I have been looking at cars like these for years) inspiration struck. I've come away with not one but three quilt designs from various parts of the cars. I think they are going to be quite abstract but that seems to be something that is attracting me at the moment. I am looking forward to getting them drawn up tomorrow.

From there we went to our local quilt shop. It isn't very local so she can only get there if I take her. It was a fun visit and for once she managed to spend more than me. Even better the support gloves I had been after were half price. What a result. I even managed to restrain my purchases, just what I needed for the next 2 quilts I am working on.

Finally as it was a bit early for dinner we took a quick trip to the RAF museum in Hendon. I love going there to visit the Vulcan, and again it is free. Surprising how much you can do for nothing if you look around. They have been moving things around since the last time I was there so we got to see a lot of things I didn't expect as I hunted for the Vulcan. You wouldn't think they could hide something that big but they had. I've spent a lot of time with this plane over the years, but suddenly it was inspiring. I can see how to render it in fabric. It is just such a fantastic shape, I know I can express it's elegant design. I am hoping that with some thought I will come up with a second design that will capture the feeling I get sitting under it. I feel safe, like a huge bird is protecting me with it's wings. I can't see how to manage that yet and still have it be obvious what it is, but maybe it will come with time. Some kind of nesting Vulcan perhaps. At the museum they also have a Halifax, which has fantastic shapes in the internal structure of it's tail. I've already drawn up the quilt it has given to me.

Wandering around aimlessly we came across a display about in air refueling. It is an interesting image, two planes joined together like that in mid air. For me though the really interesting part was the refueling rig itself. It has a delicate lacy funnel on the end. It reminded me of a chandelier. I am wondering if I could make a sculpture based on it. My final design for the day came from a Wellington, it has the most fantastic structure of spars in it, I can't quite see how it will translate yet, but I know it will. All in all a very productive and enjoyable day. My friend enjoyed meeting the Vulcan and I suspect will now be paying it occasional visits too.