Quilty Inspiration from Bali
November 5, 2025
Hi!
I hope you’ve had a great week. I’ve just very recently returned from a quick trip to Bali (which is a 6 hour flight from where we live), and aside from doing plenty of touristy things (and shopping!), I fell in love with the artwork and design that is just EVERYWHERE there, and I wanted to share some of it with you this week, just to further illustrate that quilty inspiration can be found in all sorts of different places.
So here goes:
Balinese doors are super ornate – carved and often painted or gilded, and the detail is mind-blowing.
As is the detail on the huge variety of carved stone statues….
Look at those stone flowers. Applique inspiration anyone??
There’s a lot of different floral carvings, and this panel below was one of my favourite. This, I will definitely be doing something with!
We found this hut in the Bali Bird Park. It was built as an example of very early style huts, built without nails – just clever joins with the wood.
And look at the detail on the walls…..
Even parts of the paved areas – (some on footpaths/sidewalks, and others in public walkway areas) had beautiful designs. Some simple,
…and others more complex.
We visited a department store equivalent, and this was on one of the outside building pillars –
Inside, is often stunning too. This carved wooden pillar was in our hotel, and again, was carved with amazingly detailed leaves and flowers.
To me, this bricked side of a main road just says ‘quilt’… (and yes – that was me snapping photos out of the window of a moving car 🙂 )
As you move around, take note of nature too. I had never seen a lotus flower or plants like this in real life before, and these simple shapes would be lovely appliqued or pieced in a quilt project.
Washed up coral pieces on a beach…
Bali is renowned for it’s gorgeous batik fabrics (Hoffman batiks are made here), and on a great recommendation from a comment on facebook, I tracked down this shop in Denpasar.
The owner and his daughter were both lovely and super helpful, and their range of batik fabrics was brilliant. They specialise in quilting fabric, and aside from yardage, they also stock a range of jelly rolls and FQ packs. You’ll find them here (below), but if you find yourself in Bali, it’s well worth visiting them.
As of last week, I paid $4AUD/metre (approx. $2.50USD) for yardage, and jelly rolls were $12 ($8US) each! Yes – my bags coming home were considerably heavier than when I went, but I couldn’t not stock up while I was there.
Best of all, I met a couple of lovely local quilters in that shop too, and I do really appreciate how this one shared interest of quilt-making can bring us all together, regardless of language or country. We had a lovely time comparing fabrics together!
I came home feeling inspired, and grateful. Our quilty world is a wonderful one, and if you keep your eyes open as you travel through your world, there’s no limit to the inspiration you’ll find.
Enjoy your week! (I’m off to find a new hidey hole to stash all my new batik fabric 🙂 )
7 responses to “Quilty Inspiration from Bali”
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Ah, Bali. My parents used to take a trip every year in the early part of the year. Caribbean islands, Galapagos, Africa . . . and then Bali. That was the last trip they took together (in the early 1980s) because, in my mother’s words, “How could any other trip top Bali?” I have photos that she and my father took, while on their trip to Bali.
I found out later, when I was cleaning out her apartment, that she had considered moving to Bali, but decided against it, because all her trusted doctors were in Baltimore, Maryland.
I am sure she bought some fabric there, but I don’t know what became of it.
Wow! That’s great that they travelled so much. It is cheap and beautiful there, but the traffic was pretty crazy, and it was very humid (the wet season’s about to start). I would definitely go back again – the people are lovely, and the food is amazing!
Hi Jody, what a wonderful trip for you. Thanks for sharing such inspiration in your photos. My designing mind is busy thinking through ideas. I did much the same when we spent 9 weeks in Europe a few years ago now. I think I called my file ” A Quilter’s Eye” I’m loving your Christmas runner sew along but have to put it on hold while I finish a current project.
This brings back many memories of my brief time in Bali back in the late 90s. We also visited the bird park and found places to shop. Most of my time however, was spent in Jakarta visiting my widowed sister-in-law and locked in her house to avoid riots because it happened to be the very time that Suharto was forced out of office. I always wanted to make a shirt that said I went to Indonesia and all I got was a revolution. It was a bittersweet time because we had to leave in a hurry to try to make it back to North Dakota before my mother died.
I am sorry – that sounds all very dramatic and stressful. If you can, it’s worth a trip back to Bali – I’m sure you’ll find it much more relaxing this time….
It sounds as though you came home filled with inspiration AND some pretties to create with. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
i have been to bali 3 times doing a WACKY JACKY tour and like you came back with plenty of fabrics beads lace etc etc and the food was great and like you said the people so friendly x bernie