Filed under: in my studio
Rowan Blind with Wood Cock cushion and throw
Final Kingairloch blind and cushion…with a distinctly autumnal feel. I love this blind. Rowan trees are everywhere on this island, especially in front gardens as they were thought to bring good luck to the homeowner. We recently had to cut one down that was only just surviving after three quarters had toppled in a storm and the rest was being fed by a half rotten thread of bark. I felt very uneasy at the prospect of death to rowan (obviously dwelling on the possibility of chainsawing all potential future luck into little rayburn sized pieces) but really (she concludes nervously) we were doing it a favour. I do hope the ancestors agree.
Anyhow, the rowan blind has vivid orange berries and shimmers with vitality and maybe it can be a much loved and appreciated memorial to the lost rowan of Ballimackillichan croft.
Rowan blind, not yet laminated or on mechanism
Filed under: latest news | Tags: besdpoke blinds, bespoke interiors, commissions, interesting shades, scottish wild flower, Shades, Tweed, unique blinds
Latest blind for Kingairloch...not laminated or mechanised yet!
I didn’t arrive at the studio until at least 2:30 today. The morning was consumed with an activity sandwich…Bottom slice - important phone call with lawyer. Filling -picking an abundance of out of control mint from the front garden and as many first fall apples as I could find with the intention of making mint jelly and I did make a banana cake. Top slice – meeting and discussing grants with the crofting adviser. I then cycled to the studio in scintillating sunshine, stopped briefly to check up on the children playing in the loch and managed to wriggle out of their pleads for me to swim on the basis that my stretch marks, grubby nickers and torn bra may put them off procreation for life.
Oatmeal fabric finally arrived enabling me to push on with the last three blinds. Davey courier, last seen under a pile of toppled logs has finaly recuperated enough to deliver again. I spotted a slight limp though.
Devil’s-bit scabious. What a bizarre name for a plant. How on earth did it come to acquire such a title? This is a wild flower which peppers our meadows in August. It’s purply blue pom poms float like fat fairies among the green grasses.
I decided this was the plant that would work with the tartan strip which has a bluey, lilac, purple line. The original brief was for pink sea weed or heather, neither of which I could visualize in a blind format so DBS got the job. I’m pleased with it.
The devil's in the detail
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: bespoke cushions, Kingairloch, Marjorie Campbell, nest cushion, nest painting
Nest cushion for Kingairloch
Today was a day of quiet, even paced contemplation and activity in the studio. Sunshine bleached the deck, livened the honeyed scent of meadow sweet and warmed the studio to such an extent that I kept glancing at the iron thinking I must have left it on.
Quest for the day…nest and wood cock cushions and throws for Kingairloch. I had in mind my mother’s beautiful and vaguely remembered approach to nests both in quilts she had made for the grand children and in a painting remembered from when I was still a child. Lets see if I can find it in her website…Ah ha Got it!
Nest by Marjorie Campbell
What a beautiful painting. Now that’s one I wish had never been sold. I would hang it above a simple fireplace on a lime washed cottage wall with nothing else to distract from the quiet, latent energy of the misted sun and three nestled eggs.
Filed under: inspiration | Tags: bespoke blinds, bespoke cushion, Blind, commission blinds, cushion, siskin, textile commission, throw
Back of the siskin panel for a cushion
Sometimes I turn a piece of work over and sigh. There is often something far more intriguing, fresh and frankly interesting about the unintentional back of a bit of embroidery. The back holds the design, but without the occasionally forced colour choices of the front or the cleanliness of the line.I also revel in the random spray of stray threads and I’m often tempted to leave them be. I’m gradually learning not to dismiss embroidery backs…there’s something there for me to learn about – allowing perhaps.
And now for the front.
and here's the whole bang shoot: Throw, blind and cushion for the Kingairloch Estate.
Filed under: in my studio | Tags: bespoke blinds, bespoke design, bog cotton, bog cotton blind, curlew cushion, distinct blinds, felt blinds, Interior designers, roller blinds, wool blinds
Bog Cotton blind, throw and Curlew cushion
Working on a lovely commission at the moment with the wonderful and inventive interior designer Jane Blanchard: Blinds, cushions and throws for a conversion of a steading into a B & B on the Kingairloch Estate. Each of the five rooms to have distinct flavour of local plants and wild life. The image above is my first complete set for the Bog Cotton room…bog cotton blind (yet to be laminated and put on to roller mechanism), curlew cushion and a Kingairloch tweed throw with a couple of tweed balls as a throw in for Jane to play with and do you know what’s so lovely about this job? All my key contacts and the final resting place for the work is a stones throw away from home. Now this, for me, is a rarity but Jane’s in Duror and can run packages down to the ferry for me to pick up on this side and Kingairloch I can see through my binoculars from my study window nestled amongst the statuesque granite hills of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Carbon footprint…minimal.
I just love the whole creating on the spot thing! Beats multiple Tweedies any day and, to be honest, beats the paltry wholesale margins hands down. CALL TO ALL INTERIOR DESIGNER…come and get me, I’m worth it!
La di dah
and another view
