‘my love for you’ is a delightful blog by Meighan O’Toole which highlights & spotlights creative people through their images, podcasts and interviews. Along with great design inspiration it is all told through a wonderful personal voice.
Check it out! my love for you
Filed under art, Blogging, design, graphic trends, pattern design, This Week's Blog I Dig
And the winner of a free subscription to The Sewing Cottage IS….. #10, Martina of Sunshine-quilting! Out of Switzerland no less. Love the internet!
Well, Tokyo Rococo is hitting stores and its fantastic seeing the projects people are making with it. And I got strike offs last week on the next collection, Cafe Jazz, which should be out late second quarter, AND word has it that my third collection (shhh!) with Andover Fabrics is getting a great preliminary response so we should be seeing that later in the year. So what next?
Well, I am also working on some potential licenses in other product areas, starting to make plans for exhibiting at Surtex in May, and of course, design design design! And so…I am close to completing a large new collection. This one has the word “tree” in the working title, though it may not be in the final rendition. Its not full of tree designs but it is tree inspired. So with trees on the brain, here are some everyday tree inspirations shots. And, as I go off on a family visit, I am inspired by one very special 2 yr old nephew with a middle name of Forest.
Filed under art licensing, color, design, design inspiration, fabric design, fabrics, reference, surface design, textile design
It’s funny how you get from here to there with a design. They all have their own path and evolution. Some are born spontaneously, some are extrapolated, some struggle their way into existence only to be constantly morphed until they find a home. Some expire soon after they are born, others have incredibly long lives.
I’ve been wanting for some time to start a blog series called “Can This Design Be Saved?”. But it is sort of counter-intuitive for people (including myself ) to show designs that don’t work, and even if we show it when it is “saved”, it may not be ready for public viewing. So in lieu of that, I thought I would show the evolution of a design in my now new Design Evolution series. I will probably focus on designs that have been published on product so we can really see at least one possible ending!! If anyone wants to contribute you are welcome!
Today we have a simple, but popular coordinating design in the Tokyo Rococo collection, waves. Its started out as a small little corner painting, where I sat down with blank paper and leftover paints from other projects and just started painting spontaneously. I started out with the multicolored squiggles, and then added the line work to pull it together. Kind of liked it, even the weird palette, and so made a larger version of it.
Fast forward to putting together the Tokyo Rococo collection where I was playing around trying to come up with a small wave pattern to add to the collection, and I started making something vaguely similar, so I retrieved the painted waves, which had yet to serve any purpose. I scanned it in, cleaned up the colors in Photoshop and then put it in Illustrator and put it into repeat and recolored it to the palettes of the collection. Then, Tokyo Rococo was licensed for quilting fabric with Andover Fabrics, Inc., and now we have bolts of finished fabric! It was meant to be.
Voila!
Painting "sketches", win some lose some, but takes no time at all. Don't think, just paint! ©Carol Van Zandt
repainted larger ©Carol Van Zandt
Put into repeat and recolored in Illustrator © Carol Van Zandt
Voila! Now on fabric.
Bolts of the wave pattern of Tokyo Rococo through Andover fabrics ©Carol Van Zandt
Filed under art, design, Design Evolution, design inspiration, fabric design, fabrics, Quilting, reference, surface design, textile design
Oh Yum! Another blog that continuously reviews new and cool art, design and photography. I’m in love. With a great curatorial eye, the art cake delivers a look at latest finds in art and design including cool street art, innovative installation art, and just about every medium you can think of. Its excellent, check it out! http://theartcake.com
street art by Paper Twins, photo source: www.streetela.com, from the art cake
Mixed media art by MyMo, photo source: www.mymonsterworld.com, from the art cake
Photographs by Baldovino Barani, photo source: trendland.net, from the art cake
Filed under design
Well, the new monthly ‘a laughing gate’ giveaway begins. For February we are sponsoring an annual subscription the The Sewing Cottage by Patchwork Posse. You already know I’m a huge fan! Gotta spread the love. Just leave a comment to this post and tell us you are in! Winner will be chosen by randon number generator and announced Friday February 24th. Good Luck!
The Sewing Cottage is a new online magazine that contains at least four original projects by Patchwork Posse including a quick stitch pattern. You will be thrilled with the unique and fun projects!
So excited! Patchwork Posse ‘s March issue of The Sewing Cottage has some great projects using Tokyo Rococo: the oh-so-cute Momma’s Little Helper Set, and the gorgeous Rococo Garden Quilt. Lots of other cool patterns too, like a quick stitch pattern butterfly and a fantastic and colorful block of the month “Foxie Adventures”, and a great discussion on irons among other things. Thoroughly original and prolific, Patchwork Posse is always making unique projects with great patterns. Stay tuned, I am such a huge fan I am going to sponsor a free subscription!
Check it out!
Momma’s Helper Kitchen Set
Rococo Gardens Quilt
Filed under design, DIY, fabric design, fabrics, pattern design, Quilting, sewing, surface design, textile design
My husband had some time to kill on a business trip last week and called me from Tokyo’s Narita airport chatting about things Japanese. We still miss Japan even though its now been many years since we lived there. He said there was the most amazing origami display, and so I said to take photos for me for the blog! Well, he only had an iphone camera, so forgive the quality, but enjoy the content! He kept himself amused between connections and I love seeing things through his eyes. And here I share it with you!
Hermes Scarf
Origami Display
Origami Display
Off the iphone I thought it was Narita, but this is from the Audi exhibit at CES in Las Vegas. Still cool, though?
OK, after the fact I find out this is not from Narita, but rather The Saint Regis Lobby ceiling in Shanghai
Awwww...that says it all
Filed under art, Craft, design inspiration, Japanese textiles, photography, reference, surface design, textile design, Uncategorized
Weekday carnival (love the name), a blog by finnish photographer and designer Riika Kantinkoski, is clean and modern and covers everything from photography and design to fashion and everyday life. Photographs are yummy, large, and well composed. Many of the items on the blog are designed and produced and sold in her design shop RK Designs, started just in December 2011 after three years of blogging!
Check it out! weekday carnival
Tokyo Rococo Update
Well, what do Iznik and Tokyo Rococo have in common? Not much really except that I have a bit to share about both! First of all Tokyo Rococo has started to ship into stores!! Inquiring minds have been wanting to know when and where, and to find an independent quilt store near you that carries Andover Fabrics, you can just put in your phone area code here. However not all stores that carry Andover will carry every collection of Andover. As I learn more about who will have it and where, I will add to the Fabric Projects page (where more projects and patterns are soon to come!). In the meantime equilter.com has both colorways, fabric.com and amazon.com have the blue colorway. Pink Chalk Fabrics is planning on carrying the collection as is Quilt Haus in New Braunfels, TX. And…word has it that strike-offs are on the way for the next collection….
Iznik
By now, you may now I have a bit of a collection of surface design and textile books. Well I am here to share my latest splurge , Iznik, The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics by Walter B. Denny, published by Thames &Hudson. I fell in love with this at the museum store at the de Young Museum in San francisco. Its big–13″x10″x1″ with 239 glossy pages with tons of photos and wonderful information and history.
Check it out!
Plate with small white flowers, ca. 1545-1550. Musee National de la Renaissance, Etouen. Plate with foliate rim, ca. 1535-1540, Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon.
Plate with chintamani motif, ca. 1580-1585, Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon. Tile with chintamani motif, ca. 1565-1570, Formerly in the Yanni Petsopoulos collection, London. Tile with Chintamani motif, ca. 1550, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Interior view of footed bowl with hatayi decoration, ca. 1545-1550. British Museum, London.
Plates with foliate rim, ca. 1570-1575. Musee National de la Renaissance, Ecouen.
