Clothkits are Cool

Do I really need another reason to wish I was British? I LOVE Clothkits! Again, while I may be late on "discovery" I am thrilled to have come across this on the Angry Chicken blog.
Here is an exerpt about Rob Ryan's skirt design Hold Me for Clothkits:
The wonderfully talented Mister Rob creates his magical shadow illustrations by snipping and cutting away. Hours and hours of painstaking work to make something that is just exquisite. This unique design has been created exclusively for Clothkits. Hand silkscreen printed in London.


Clothkits, based in Sussex, was originally set up in 1968 by Anne Kennedy.
Here is the best news of all! They are having a contest for a new design and the deadline for entry is August 1st.
Gentlemen - start your engines!

Artisan Quilts

I may be late to discover Mahar Drygoods, but better late than never! I was doing a search for something else and came across these two amazing artisan quilts they had featured in their gallery on their website. I am inspired!

Storybook Silhouettes a collaboration by Joyce Nichols and Eli Bailey

The Bohemian Forest, a collaboration by Stephanie Dosreis and Eli Bailey

Design Camp 08!

Register now for summer camps!
I am excited to announce we will have design camp at our studio this summer! These camps are open to kids ages 8-14 and there will be 4 sessions. There will be two sessions of DIY design/clothing re-dos, one session of designing for 18" dolls, and one session where you will design and make a garment ala project runway.
Click on the flyer above to get all the details.

Sunbonnet Sue

I was inspired to design an entire new fabric collection and my put together some ideas for a quilt pattern today. I am not a quilter - yet...but I am inspired from the show this past weekend and know I can come up with some cool designs!
Here is what inspires me right now: Sunbonnet Sue, Churn Dash, and the illustrations of Bertha Corbett Melcher. Enjoy!

Tall Textile Designers!

Gee Wiz - these fabric designers are tall! I'm pretty tall, but standing next to Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, and Joel Dewberry I felt like a little kid! Those guys are stuperstars - and so nice! It is cool that they are all here in Portland

Violet from Kung fu Bambini sent me a blog post that Anna Maria Horner the designer of Garden Party wanted a tour of Nike. I introduced myself to her and told her I could work that out for her. Her husband is a runner and really wants to see the grounds. They were super sweet. We talked about Nashville, where they live and they know Katy K from Ranch Dressing.

Star Struck at Fabric 2.0 Party

Its Quilt market here in PDX. Designers from all over the country are here showing there new collections for Freespirit, Michael Miller, Moda...I went to a "meet-n-greet" with Violet from Kung Fu Bambini at Oba in the Pearl Last night and met the coolest designers! When they asked me what I did I told them I was a "wanna-be" I've designed textiles for 15 years, but I've never had a line of fabrics with my name on it. I am telling the universe now - that is what I want!!!

Here is a sneak peak from a new Freespirit Designer Melissa Averinos www.yummygoods.com She had the best business card - it is printed canvas with a totally cute design to make something with. So fun!

I'm off to market now and will post about it tonight.

Star stuck for now...
m

Splashy Florals

One of my lastest obsessions are 1950's polished cotton splashy floral prints. These are so beautiful and lavish looking. I would blow them up to a huge repeat to make them look modern, and not too retro. These make me want to get out my brushes and paint.

Henny Penny Birdcages

My friend Tayna had an idea.
"Lets make birdcages out of tree branches and we can make the bases out of the tree that fell in my yard last year and felt mushrooms and squirrels and owls and birds!"
oh my!
Here are the fruits of our labours which were displayed as centerpieces at an auction and in the store windows at Henny Penny, Tanya's children's clothing store in the Pearl District in NW Portland
www.hennypennykids.com

My First Amy Ruppel!

OMG, I did it! I bought an Amy! I have a big design crush on her - well, so does everyone I know around here!

I met her at the design sponge event at DWR in the Pearl that Violet from Kung Fu Bambini and I went to. I asked Amy to donate a painting for an auction I was working on for Juvenile Diabetes and I vowed that I would save up my money to buy an original.

She said her next thing is to create fabrics. Her background is in screen printing, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Check out her awesome designs on her website here
http://amyruppel.com/

Laundry Studio Prints

They create the most amazing prints at Laundry Design Studio! I was lucky enough to get to work with them on a collection of prints they premiered at PV. They are cutting edge and super talented. Here are some of the prints they feature on their website (none of these are mine though!)

Hula Mula Girls collection

We Love Hula Mula!!! It is the girls collection from the hip design team at Knuckleheads. I designed some cool vintagey prints for them including this mod houndstooth and cute anchor print

baby star debuts little dipper collection

The little dipper apparel line from babystar debuted today on their website. I collaborated with them on these modern designs and am really excited about this new collection.

Check out their collection here
www.babystar.com