Textile Inspirations Like You Wouldn't Believe!!

As long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by pattern. When I was young I clearly remember sitting in church and when I lost interest in the service and my mind wandered, I imagined that I had a little camera and took snapshots of the patterns in the clothes that people were wearing. 
Last weekend I had my camera with me, and look what great patterns I found!

My husband, daughter, and I took the lovely 2-hour drive up California's scenic coast highway to San Francisco for the annual Tribal & Textile Arts Show. The stuff that is displayed there is top notch and many textile treasures are there for discovery and inspiration. Dealers come from as far away as Turkey, Germany, Austria, Belgium, England and Italy. 

What made browsing the show even more fun, is that I met up with another artist, Robin Stelling, at the show.  Robin and I  first met  because I bought one of her bracelets  from her Etsy shop, CreativeBeadz. I showed it off  in this post a while back. She uses antique textiles, beads and stones to create fabulous jewelry. This was the first time we had met in person.  We also ran into other members of the Santa Cruz Handweavers Guild and Peggy Osterkamp, who has authored several popular books on weaving. Peggy and I exchanged business cards and promised to look each other up on the web. You can read her blog here.

On the trip home, we listened to a favorite band, Tempest. This group really rocks the contemporary Celtic sound. Here is a treat if you have never heard them.