{Inspiration} Color Wednesday…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on January 31, 2013 in book, scarves, textiles, vera neumann, Vera The Art and Life of an Icon | No Comments

Historically, I tend to immerse myself in tons of inspirational research in January- I’m an information sponge. A few Januarys ago, I discovered Vera Neumann by way of a fun thrift store score of a handful of Vera scarves. Since then, I’ve purchased the beautiful book, Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon which I’ve been pouring through all month. My mini collection of Vera scarves have been within reach for an occasional juggle to admire. It’s been rainy and dark day here in the Northwest lately so Sayer & I rediscovered the power of color & the joy of floating fabric.

“Color sings to me. Color is such a marvelous way of expressing emotion. We have so many problems in this world: color just brings a little bit of joy into our lives.” -Vera Neumann

Nothing like reading about an inspiring designer, surrounding myself in color & juggling beautiful scarves to clear my head.

I’m in the middle of sorting out some new projects & getting sort of bogged down with details. I hope to get back to a regular blogging schedule soon- I miss it…

In the meantime, hope you are enjoying your week & that January treated you well!

{Fabric Friday} Wonderful Textile Archive

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on November 12, 2011 in andrea aranow, Fabric Friday, textile archive, textiles, video | No Comments

Andrea Aranow Textile Archive from Aaron Rayburn on Vimeo.

I learned about Andrea Aranow’s textile archive last week on the FORTPORT blog. It’s such a great project & truly amazing collection – I felt the need to share it with my fellow textile enthusiasts. Pop on by to read the article if you have a chance- it’s a great blog as well. Can you imagine having all of your fabrics organized & archived like that? Well, maybe you already do- but I don’t & I’m in awe. Happy Fabric Friday! I’ll be doing some sewing this weekend. Will you?

Also, a big thanks to the men & women that have & continue to serve our country. Happy Veteran’s Day!

{via here}

{Fabric Friday} cut out & keep…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on June 10, 2011 in Fabric Friday, Heather Moore, papercut, Skinnylaminx, textile designer, textiles | 6 Comments

Last November, I posted about my love of Skinny laminx textiles here. So, it will be no surprise that I was excited to discover that Heather Moore (aka Skinnylaminx) designed a new line of organic fabrics for Cloud9 that debuted this April.

“Cut Out & Keep ~ The first in our Designer Series for 2011 features South African surface and product designer, Heather Moore who works under the brand name Skinny laMinx . Cut Out & Keep is a striking collection of 8 prints based on her paper-cut designs. This is the first range of fabrics of this type for Heather and we’re really excited about this collaboration.” -Cloud9

You can purchase these directly from Cloud9 or from here. Aren’t they nice? I particularly love them in the stacks that Heather photographed for her blog.

I’ve been pondering these fabrics for awhile now- thinking of using some in a new mobile. I just can’t seem to make a decision, although I may be close. Do you have a favorite? Happy Fabric Friday! Any plans to sew or create this weekend?

{Fabric Friday} cut out & keep…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on June 10, 2011 in Fabric Friday, Heather Moore, papercut, Skinnylaminx, textile designer, textiles, Uncategorized | No Comments

Last November, I posted about my love of Skinny laminx textiles here. So, it will be no surprise that I was excited to discover that Heather Moore (aka Skinnylaminx) designed a new line of organic fabrics for Cloud9 that debuted this April.

“Cut Out & Keep ~ The first in our Designer Series for 2011 features South African surface and product designer, Heather Moore who works under the brand name Skinny laMinx . Cut Out & Keep is a striking collection of 8 prints based on her paper-cut designs. This is the first range of fabrics of this type for Heather and we’re really excited about this collaboration.” -Cloud9

You can purchase these directly from Cloud9 or from here. Aren’t they nice? I particularly love them in the stacks that Heather photographed for her blog.

I’ve been pondering these fabrics for awhile now- thinking of using some in a new mobile. I just can’t seem to make a decision, although I may be close. Do you have a favorite? Happy Fabric Friday! Any plans to sew or create this weekend?

{Fabric Friday} quinnknits…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on May 20, 2011 in Fabric Friday, Jess Quinn, spoonflower, stuffed sculpture, textiles, vintage illustrations | 8 Comments

I first learned about Jess Quinn’s textile creations via Kickcan & Conkers. I was so drawn in by her quirky & unique style. The legs of some of her characters reminded me of the artwork of my old roommate in grad school- which gave me a nostalgic smile. I’ve been following the twisted yarn blog ever since.

While I’m particularly fond of the quinnknits stuffed sculptures, the illustrations are gorgeous too. Excitingly enough, I just learned that Jess has been experimenting with Spoonflower lately!

I know I’ve mentioned this many times before, but this is a process that I’m particularly intrigued with – I love the idea of merging illustrations & textiles. I have had hopes to experiment with this process using my thread drawings, sometime in the near future. When I have a window of time open up (whenever that may be). Here are some examples of the fabrics that may be popping up in the quinnknits etsy shop soon. Aren’t they cool? Happy Fabric Friday everyone!

{Fabric Friday} quinnknits…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on May 20, 2011 in Fabric Friday, Jess Quinn, spoonflower, stuffed sculpture, textiles, vintage illustrations | No Comments

I first learned about Jess Quinn’s textile creations via Kickcan & Conkers. I was so drawn in by her quirky & unique style. The legs of some of her characters reminded me of the artwork of my old roommate in grad school- which gave me a nostalgic smile. I’ve been following the twisted yarn blog ever since.

While I’m particularly fond of the quinnknits stuffed sculptures, the illustrations are gorgeous too. Excitingly enough, I just learned that Jess has been experimenting with Spoonflower lately!

I know I’ve mentioned this many times before, but this is a process that I’m particularly intrigued with – I love the idea of merging illustrations & textiles. I have had hopes to experiment with this process using my thread drawings, sometime in the near future. When I have a window of time open up (whenever that may be). Here are some examples of the fabrics that may be popping up in the quinnknits etsy shop soon. Aren’t they cool? Happy Fabric Friday everyone!

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on February 11, 2011 in 60's, emilio pucci, Fabric Friday, textile designer, textiles, vintage | No Comments

{source}

My first memory of discovering Emilio Pucci designs was about 15 years ago when I lived in NYC. There was this really wonderful vintage clothing shop a few blocks from my school/studio. Every now and then I would stop by to browse & play dress up. This store had a lot of high end designers from the 50’s – 70’s and I remember being particularly taken with the bold & colorful designs of Emilio Pucci. One of the bizarre facts that I just learned, is that Pucci’s first clothing designs were for the Reed College skiing team- in 1935 he received a skiing scholarship from Reed College and later received his MA in social science. It just strikes me really interesting that someone born in Florence, Italy to a noble family, would end up in a small college in Portland, Oregon. I won’t go into his whole history, but this fact was one I found particularly notable. Needless to say, he was known for his bright & bold textiles and his designs have been sought after by quite a range of woman like Marilyn Monroe (she was been buried in one of his dresses), Jackie Kennedy, & Madonna.

{source}

{source here & here}

{source}

I’m really enjoying my textile design history tangent that I have been on lately. I had to include that hilarious helmet design. You know, I live in the rainy NW & something like that just might be the answer to these grey rain filled days. I think I could totally pull that off at the local grocery store, don’t you? Happy Fabric Friday! Do you have a favorite textile designer?

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on February 11, 2011 in 60's, emilio pucci, Fabric Friday, textile designer, textiles, Uncategorized, vintage | No Comments

{source}

My first memory of discovering Emilio Pucci designs was about 15 years ago when I lived in NYC. There was this really wonderful vintage clothing shop a few blocks from my school/studio. Every now and then I would stop by to browse & play dress up. This store had a lot of high end designers from the 50’s – 70’s and I remember being particularly taken with the bold & colorful designs of Emilio Pucci. One of the bizarre facts that I just learned, is that Pucci’s first clothing designs were for the Reed College skiing team- in 1935 he received a skiing scholarship from Reed College and later received his MA in social science. It just strikes me really interesting that someone born in Florence, Italy to a noble family, would end up in a small college in Portland, Oregon. I won’t go into his whole history, but this fact was one I found particularly notable. Needless to say, he was known for his bright & bold textiles and his designs have been sought after by quite a range of woman like Marilyn Monroe (she was been buried in one of his dresses), Jackie Kennedy, & Madonna.

{source}

{source here & here}

{source}

I’m really enjoying my textile design history tangent that I have been on lately. I had to include that hilarious helmet design. You know, I live in the rainy NW & something like that just might be the answer to these grey rain filled days. I think I could totally pull that off at the local grocery store, don’t you? Happy Fabric Friday! Do you have a favorite textile designer?

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on February 11, 2011 in 60's, emilio pucci, Fabric Friday, textile designer, textiles, Uncategorized, vintage | 4 Comments

{source}

My first memory of discovering Emilio Pucci designs was about 15 years ago when I lived in NYC. There was this really wonderful vintage clothing shop a few blocks from my school/studio. Every now and then I would stop by to browse & play dress up. This store had a lot of high end designers from the 50’s – 70’s and I remember being particularly taken with the bold & colorful designs of Emilio Pucci. One of the bizarre facts that I just learned, is that Pucci’s first clothing designs were for the Reed College skiing team- in 1935 he received a skiing scholarship from Reed College and later received his MA in social science. It just strikes me really interesting that someone born in Florence, Italy to a noble family, would end up in a small college in Portland, Oregon. I won’t go into his whole history, but this fact was one I found particularly notable. Needless to say, he was known for his bright & bold textiles and his designs have been sought after by quite a range of woman like Marilyn Monroe (she was been buried in one of his dresses), Jackie Kennedy, & Madonna.

{source}

{source here & here}

{source}

I’m really enjoying my textile design history tangent that I have been on lately. I had to include that hilarious helmet design. You know, I live in the rainy NW & something like that just might be the answer to these grey rain filled days. I think I could totally pull that off at the local grocery store, don’t you? Happy Fabric Friday! Do you have a favorite textile designer?

{Fabric Friday} Lucienne Day…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on January 29, 2011 in Fabric Friday, Lucienne Day, mid-century modern, textiles | 14 Comments

{Lucienne Day, Image Courtesy Robin Day via Dwell Magazine}

If you haven’t guessed already, I love researching & learning new things. My latest research obsession is learning more about the British textile designer, Lucienne Day. I often discover things when I’m too busy to really sink my teeth into researching, only to discover them again later- when the timing is right. That’s the case with Lucienne Day. She died last year around this time – which received quite a bit of press. There was an article in Dwell Magazine called, “Britain’s Mid-Century Female Designers” that caught my attention last year. I remember reading it, getting excited, then putting my magazine on the towering stack of Dwell Mags in my studio. I never followed up on the research until this week when I repeatedly found her name pop on my search for vintage fabrics & made that connection. I’m such a huge fan of Ray and Charles Eames and Lucienne Day & her husband Robin are sort of like the British equivalent. While I do love Ray Eames’ textile designs, I think I’m drawn to Lucienne’s designs more….

Miscellany (detail), 1952

Isosceles, 1955 & Forest 1959

Jack Sprat Glass Towel (detail) , 1950 & Apollo, 1950

Calyx, 1951

Rig, 1952 & Strata, 1952

I’ve always enjoyed reading about creative couples throughout art/design history. I find it interesting to see how they inspire, influence, & nurture each others creative journey. I suppose that’s why I married another artist. I also devour information about women artists & designers that paved the way for me to be doing what I’m doing today. I’m sure this won’t be the last you will hear about Lucienne Day from me- this is just an introduction, as my research has really just begun. I actually have the exhibit catalog from “Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain” on order- can’t wait to get it into my hands. Happy Fabric Friday! Hope you have a weekend full of cool discoveries….

{Inspiration} Color Wednesday…

{Fabric Friday} Wonderful Textile Archive

{Fabric Friday} cut out & keep…

{Fabric Friday} cut out & keep…

{Fabric Friday} quinnknits…

{Fabric Friday} quinnknits…

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

{Fabric Friday} Emilio Pucci…

{Fabric Friday} Lucienne Day…

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter

Categories

Follow us on Twitter