Potted Vintage

My Nana was very keen on the humble geranium so I have inherited quite a few plants in a variety of colours. This photo-shoot from the UK magazine Country Homes & Interiors shows just how lovely the geranium can be when potted up into vintage containers. 

Visit the House to Home website here.

Heal's Fabric Design

Over on the always inspiring Heal's Reveals blog you can find a little give-away of the newly released V&A Pattern Book 'Heal's', which I blogged about here a wee while ago. 

One of the designs featured in the book has recently been re-worked by Heal's into a new bed linen collection. The vividly coloured 'Indian Summer' pattern was designed by Jyoti Bhomik for Heal's in 1966, and has now been re-worked with intricate embroidery on a fresh white cotton ground. I love the eye-catching colour combination of turquoise, lime, orange and hot pink.

This is the original fabric design for Heal's by Jyoti Bhomik, spotted on the wonderful design blog Fabulous Vintage.

Pictured above are the updated versions of Jyoti Bhomik's design for Heal's, re-coloured for a contemporary audience. 

And here is the retro inspired bed linen design embroidered onto crisp white cotton.

Washing up, 50's style

Whilst packing for my move to the country 6 weeks ago I came to the realisation that I have a bit of a 'thing' for patterned tea towels. Two boxes worth in fact! 

These new tea towels featuring textile designs from the 40's and 50's from the V&A Museum would fit in perfectly with my collection of vintage designs too....

 V&A 'Houses' Tea Towel

'Houses' was originally designed as a furnishing fabric by Joy Jarvis in 1950, and was manufactured by  Gerald Holtom Ltd, London.

 V&A 'Mugs' Tea Towel

This design is based on 'Full Measure' by Kenneth Rowntree, manufactured by Edinburgh Weavers in 1957.

V&A 'Vases' Tea Towel

Based on 'Urne', a furnishing fabric designed by Pansa Studios, and manufactured by Sanderson Fabrics in 1955.

V&A 'Fishes' Tea Towel

Based on a furnishing fabric design by Rhona Park under the instruction of the Central School of Art and Design, London, 1951.

V&A 'Fishermen' Tea Towel

'The Fishermen' furnishing textile was designed in 1956 by Keith Vaughan for Edinburgh Weavers.

V&A 'Harvest' Tea Towel

This design is based on a textile repeat by John Drummond, a student at the Central School of Art and Design in 1948.

Blossoms and Kimonos from Designers Guild

kimono blossom printed fabric - heather

kimono blossom printed fabric - heather

Once again the latest collection of printed fabrics from Designers Guild has managed to well and truly tempt my pattern tastebuds. I love the fresh, painterly designs that take inspiration from traditional Japanese kimonos and spring blossoms. A pair of floaty curtains in the delicate Kimono Blossom heather colourway would go quite nicely in my bedroom.....

kimono blossom - heather

kimono blossom - delft

kimono blossom - delft

hayashi - indigo

madame butterfly 

digitally printed on a linen ground

amala - heather

Take a look at the many wonderful new fabric and wallpaper collections (including some fabulous Christian Lacroix designs) for Spring Summer here:

Designers Guild

A strong dose of colour

Once again, the new fabric and wallpaper collection entitled 'Colour for Living' from the UK company Sanderson features a vast selection of beautiful (and colourful) designs that are bound to become design classics. I really admire the collection for the manner in which it gently references historical design for a contemporary market. 

St Ives - a wallpaper and fabric design featuring the hilly streetscapes of this renowned artistic hotspot, carved into lino in a naive style .

 This Rainforest fabric design reminds me of the Austrian / Swedish modernist designer Josef Frank. I love the blue colourway.

The linen textures of this Block Leaf design hark back to the pared-down and graceful 1950's patterns designed by Lucienne Day.

 

Another of my favourite designs from this collection is Bellflower -  I love the Atelier Martine / Dufy influence. 

You can view the entire collection of fabrics and wallpapers from Sanderson's Colour for Living range here.

New Pattern Books from the V&A

I really need to stop reading those Amazon UK emails with the heading 'Recommended for You'..... The latest collection of V&A Pattern books are due for release in April 2012, and I am looking forward to receiving these always excellent pattern reference books in my mailbox.

Sanderson by Mary Schoeser showcases the vibrant wallpapers and fabrics produced during the 1950's through to the 1970's by the highly regarded British manufacturer.

 Heal's by Mary Schoeser showcases the wide range of contemporary fabrics offered by this retail institution around the mid-twentieth century.

Liberty & Co by Anna Buruma charts the development of the legendary company through their innovative textile designs.

Modern British Designers by Samantha Erin Safer traces the past 50 years of innovation and creative genius in British design. Designers featured include Zandra Rhodes, Terence Conran and Shirley Craven.

 The V&A Pattern Box Set IV published April 2012 by V&A Publishing

New Year, New Fabric

It is too hot for doing very much at all today, so apart from watching a bit of cricket and a quick trip to the art shop, I have happily spent the afternoon doing a little bit of internet research. And now it looks like I will be heading to my favourite fabric shop here in Melbourne - (Amitie Textiles) to pick up a few of these fantastic SS/2012 Art Fabrics from Liberty.

First up is Ellie Ruth, an eye catching design featuring Bizzy Lizzies, first created in 1961.

Meandering Chrysanthemums is an archive design from 1966, reworked by the English textile design icon Zandra Rhodes for 2012.

Howell's Ladders is another archival design from the 1950's, selected by Production Designer and Art Director Michael Howells. I love this subtle colourway in a typical 1950's palette.

This 50's folk design Emily Bowyer was selected by Anna Buruma, in-house Archivist at Liberty Fabrics and curator at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. 

The polka dot floral design Clarricoates is loosely inspired by an archival print from 1965.

Fitzgerald is an all-over meadow floral design inspired by Liberty Prints from the 1930's.

Amy Hurrell is a vintage stylised floral design inspired by an undated artwork from the Liberty Archive.

 Glaister was inspired by a traditional trailing rose design from the 19th Century, elegantly brought into the 21st Century with a combination of pen and ink drawing and a background created from a watercolour painting of string.

Last but not least is this quirky conversational design Elevenses, which was inspired from a trip by the Liberty Art Fabrics team to Glencot House in Somerset. I love the painterly feel of the background - a favourite design!

There are many more designs to take a look at - you can view the entire new season of Liberty Art Fabrics here.