Lucy's year long project-design inspiration

I have created quilts for many years. When I first started quilting -about 12 years ago- I was taught by a fellow teacher the basics; how to cut the fabric with a rotary cutter, how to follow a pattern, how to piece the fabric into a quilt top, the best techniques for pinning and quilting...I went crazy for quilting. Bought tons of fabric, started making quilts for everyone I know, took a part time job at a quilt store, even dabbled in selling my quilts. So now 12 years later I know ALOT about quilts!
For my 50th year project I wanted to push myself in a direction that I don't usually do in my quilt making. For many years now I have been designing my own quilts-not following someone else's pattern-just taking a picture in my head and recreating it with fabric. Most of my designs are modern with lots of circles, bright colors and relatively big images. Which have to be viewed as a whole-over the entire quilt. With this project I want to have LOTS of elements in one piece -so the viewer can look at the whole and gain an overall "Big Idea" BUT the whole will be made up of lots of different small even tiny pieces which when viewed up close tell another more intimate story.
So my next step in the project is to sketch out the quilt. Here are some of the objects  I am going to use in the design process:

The intricate detail of this bug's wing coloring which I found with a friend up in Door County has inspired me to do many layers of brown in part of my quilt design.

One of my favorite author/illustrators who tells amazingly WACKY tales with her wonderfully insightful views-LOVE Maira Kalman! I want my quilt to tell a story.

Example of a quilt in the National Quilt Museum in Paducha, KY- lots of little pieces tell a big story.

Another quilt in the same museum which has a border of about 500 different buttons. I like the idea of having a little more texture, other than just fabric, to the piece.

This quilt has a price tag of $4500. It is in a gallery in Door County-this inspires me to dream BIG!

My design wall which currently holds my 5 year old nephew's twin quilt top in progress- I HAVE to finish this before I can put up the 50th year project!

Next time I write about my project I hope to have images and ideas mapped out on paper...

Lucy