Thought for the week.

When you meet someone for the first time, how long does it take them to ask you (or vice versa) what you do for a living. Perhaps next time a little small talk turns up, you could up the stakes and ask 'Who are you?' rather than 'What do you do/Are you interesting enough for me to talk to?'

A little inspiration

If I was allowed to, I'd sit all day with pencil, pad and ruler and draw ideas for quilt designs. On Friday, I managed to spend a couple of hours doing just that - happiness indeed. I have all these little sketches in many pocket books, on the back of receipts and even in the back pages of novels. Often inspiration comes from artists (Richard Long on Friday)or nature, or by looking a quilts of old.

It's fairly clear I'm not a fan of contemporary/traditional quilts. I appreciate the skill level required and the preciseness, but I can't see personal expression and the slight 'wabi sabi' needed for me to find it beautiful. 

I love the original, simple and beautiful quilts from Japan, Africa, Gee Bend and Korea for example. Where you can see the hand of the maker and their emotions are expressed through stitching. Bold and modern but very personal.

Threads

This is the drawing together of threads

A piecing together of the past and the future

A time to stop and consider where you've been

where you're heading.

Leave the baggage on the platfom

Take only the bare essentials:

a smile, integrity and love.

Ed wrote this to go with a quilt I made for someone quite special.

Inspired and inspiring.

Art

Ed and I both love art. We spent most of the weekend 'negotiating' placement... of our respective pieces. I have a fair stash of NZ art (like the Dick Frizzell above). I bought it and carried it on the plane when I came to be with Ed - kind of my gift to us for the start of our lives together. Now it looks down on the dining table in our new/old kitchen and brings much joy. When I went back to see my family last year, we trekked around looking for other pieces that would mean something to both of us. A couple of landscapes, a piece of maori sculpture and of course pottery. I have to say I'm a little chuffed how all of these very kiwi art looks and more importantly feels, in an 1874 house in Peckham Rye. So now I'm looking for just a few more things....

I would like people to be greeted at the front door with this:

 

and when they leave, hopefully they will feel a bit of this:

Available here.

A little inspiration

For a quilt commission I'm working on. Thank you Dosa, Giorgio Morandi, and the mighty Coromandel.

How exciting is this

Recognise this house?

It is of course Charleston.

Guess who's teaching there on the 22nd March?

Ahem, ME.

Numbers are limited, so to book please call 01323 811626.

Oh my god!

Classes

I'm always thrilled when I get a picture from one of my class participants. This morning, I got a few from Jamie. He came to the class on Saturday and has gone and made the whole quilt! How fantastic does this look. He's off and racing onto a quilt for his nephew. I'm just thrilled and it's really made my week.

I'll be teaching somewhere new and very, very special this Spring. Details coming up in the next couple of days. So exciting.

Passions

I love homes - I think that's very clear. But there are three (sub)categories that are my absolute passions (terrible description but have been driving for many,many hours). 

The first - obviously quilts (and by default all textile wonders). 

Then there is paint. I've been pilfering paint charts since Adam was a boy. I constantly find them stuck inside a book or magazine, at the bottom of a hand bag or in a shoe box. I can't and won't stop gazing at them. They are often settled next to me whilst watching the latest Phil & Kirsty, or nestled on the bedside table.... 

I have "laboured" over the selection of colours in this house. 

Taking the colours that I love most (white, black and grey) and applying them with the greatest respect to this 1874 house has been a challenge. Should I have gone with the original chocolate brown, putty et al? I didn't, because in my home, I need the outlines that black gives (we have black doors and radiators), the light that this shade of white bounces around (SAD anyone - I need more light than is probable in a London February. Then grey, because that perfect oyster colour is part Vionnet and part pumice on a NZ beach.

Lastly, but by no means least, ceramics. All food goes on a platter or a bowl here. Sharing and passing around an important ritual in this home. Jugs are used for water, flowers, wine - whatever. All handmade - all with the mark of the maker, and all loved. Many gifts and many more carried back on a plane on my lap. 

We've been dabbling with selling vintage ceramics. It's gone super lovely well. We have sold out. I wondered why and then an email from a store in the States alerted me to the fact that we're in Elle Decoration. Thanks very much. 

 "gone shopping" (with the latest Farrow & Ball chart in my coat pocket)

Thought for the week.

Spending a special day with a very dear friend, we talked about homes (both renovating, both at tricky stages) and whether we were each in the home that would make us truly happy.

Interesting answers. The journey continues.

House love

Fiddling with the website this morning, I came across this photo. I took it when in New Zealand last year. It's a potters shed in the Coromandel and is possibly the loveliest little shed I've seen. It also represents a wonderful couple of days spent with my mum. I think I may have to print and frame.

Our quilts

I think it's great that businesses evolve - kind of finding a rhythm that works on practical and personal levels. 

For me with our quilts, I've realised that I am happiest (and ridiculously lucky) to make commissioned quilts for people. I get to take their memories, their life and their story and turn it into something which will be with them and their family for the rest of their lives.  It represents everything I feel about what home should be - practical, precious and personal.

So that's a long winded way of saying that quilts are now only available by commission. It's not a scary process, but generally is quite emotional. Births, deaths, birthdays, marriages and divorces (a new life if you want a positive spin) have all been commissions. They are all life-changing parts of your life and they should all be celebrated or just remembered with dignity.

I could write a novella on this but I wont. If it's something that you like the sound of, just get in touch. I can send or chat to you about everything you need to know.

Happiness is

Tiny promises of Spring in our barren garden.

A large order packed off to Liberty.

   

The new/old sofa back. It's just glorious.

A dog who likes to watch planes

And lastly, the knowledge that in the not too distant future, it will be warm again and we'll be able to walk in fields with long grass.

Hump day

If yesterday was a dull day of sanding  and painting ceilings (oh my neck), then today at least is a day of contrasts. 

A swift walk to the local DIY store early this morning uncovered gold – or silver.  Crown silver light bulbs – bulbs that look like they have been dipped in molten metal. They give out the most lovely light, which in turn makes me ridiculously happy - good all round I say. Now no longer produced and running on very short stocks at my local store (I'll never reveal who they are). The purchase felt vaguely illegal, but the happiness of their lovely light will outweigh the niggling sense of not being particularly environmentally friendly. I've recycled work tops and used low voc paint. Am I redeemed?

Back to painting for most of the day, but our old/new sofa should come home this afternoon which means one room may almost be done. When I say almost, I’m ignoring the mammoth job of stripping the windows – why do people paint over windows, gluing them shut? In a big city, you need any air you can get and the biggest windows here are firmly sealed. They are also covered in hideous plastic film. I’m not even going to start on the need for LIGHT. Goethe has that covered.

A brief sojourn into the studio to keep working on a particular commission – 6 quilts, then into town hopefully (I am eternally optimistic on timing) to uncover the perfect fabric for lampshades in the living room. If all comes together, then of course time for a drink  with E before we descend underground (I hate the tube on so many levels).

The day will be interspersed with patting the dogs, marveling at how quickly Darcy is growing and staring at the garden – planning. How can I cross Sissinghurst with Charleston, in just under 50 feet...

Oh and there is a lovely chicken that needs to go in the oven...

Image from Sissinghurst in the summer