A Patchwork of Inspiration

It's often interesting what can inspire us....
is it an image on Pinterest?

 a fabulous evening silhouette and big green lawn

 a simple humble work table

 beautiful natural elements

 clean and modern spaces with interesting antiques

 whimsy and white

a place to have tea

  a chic and warm restaurant

a simple morning in the garden
filled with sunshine


It's probably all of those things
or
a patchwork of a bit of each

 My inspiration usually comes from the colors and textures
of things that I enjoy looking at

and most often a house and it's architecture
will tell you what needs to be placed inside

But since I'm not sure where or what style exactly our next house will be
I have chosen this little Plein Air Painting as my inspiration
 for a few new furnishings

It has wonderful coral and turquoise hues

as well as yellow, rich greens, terra-cotta and salmon

 The colors of this old Roseville Wisteria vase are similar 

And something about the terra cotta, greens and blues in this glaze 

are so beautiful together

I think this vase dates from 1920-1940

 so those may have been the colors that people really liked 

during California's golden era

 This old basket has wonderful old paint in oyster white with just the right amount of wood peeking through....
beautiful simple color

 Old storage firkins are a beautiful example of how color can become

 more rich and interesting with time

So I purchased a few things to get me started....keeping in mind the colors of the little painting

first up
a clean and calm Ushak rug

Millie...of course is quite pleased with this purchase

I found a few old indigo batik pillows
with blue-green

and cream 

For some of the larger pieces I like the neutral texture of linen in stripes and solids

and maybe some ticking thrown in

These are a fun colors to use as large pillows....
I really like the bright melon and turquoise velvet
colors found again the the painting

And a really unique fabric I purchased is this
Antique Japanese Boro panel

Japanese boro's are folk textiles, 

 pieced together as the fabric became worn 

because cotton was highly prized for it's warmth

The fabrics are all hand loomed, died with indigo

 and stitched together by hand 

randomly... but with great care

this beautiful boro dates to 1800-1850 

the color and texture is really quite amazing 

and I have never used anything like this before

 I love the fact that all of the patches are sewn by hand 

and the textures are both rough and soft

So I need to get started right away 

to furnish a new living room

 and I will be using

 my patchwork of inspiration

see you soon

Batik Fabric

 The vivid colors and the interesting repeat to the patterns 

 make Batik fabric so appealing

It' seems like a we are seeing Batik inspired prints pop up every where,

but mostly used in bedding and pillows like these prints from John Robshaw

Batik fabric has it's roots in Javanese culture using indigo dyes and a wax resist process but most of the fabric we can buy as consumers is hand blocked from India

This is a hand blocked cotton dhurrie rug

The patterns sort of dance across the fabric and 

look vintage and ethnic without trying too hard

Batik works beautifully in a British Colonial inspired room shown here on a wonderful chaise also from John Robshaw

These quilts are interesting and colorful...but I love the toile below

These two rooms were designed by Tom Sheerer using John Robshaw fabric

The printing process is rather labor intensive, starting with wood blocks 

The patterns are carved by  hand 

and then hand blocked with dyes onto the fabric

The fabric shown here is from a company called Saffron Marigold

They sell very reasonably priced bedspreds, quilts and curtains and you can order a nice sized swatch before you decide which pattern to buy

Quilters favor the paraffin crackle or wax resist batiks...a little bit different than the blocked prints but interesting  and very unique

Les Indiennes offers quilts and pillows, as well as fabric,  shown below 

These are so pretty, almost like a vintage french Boutis quilt

Their shawls are gorgeous!

As is the furniture

 Drapinging a scarf or shawl over a chair would add some wonderful color and texture

Or just a simple book on your office desk

And if you don't want it on your furniture...you can wear it on your feet.

I like Batik fabric so much...

hope you like it too

~kelley~