Adding Color to My Living Room

I am a blue and white person through and through!
I usually add color to my rooms with flowers (whether fresh or faux) and accessories.
I know pillows are accessories too but I had always chosen blue and white pillows too, not wanting too much alternate color changing the mood of the beach blue rooms I was creating.
But now in a smaller home with white slip covered furniture, and a need to find homes/new uses for several pillows I pulled from my ETSY store stock, I decided to use them in my own living room.

I'm so glad I did!
They added a new life to the room and actually enhances the blue and white I already had going on.
Now I realize the full potential pillows can make in a room!
I think the burst of color through my floral pillows (even though my color ways are pastels) can bring a sense of romanticism to the room.

The pillows are in linen cotton canvas in the pattern ROSEWITHA on peony pink, aqua, or basil stripes.  Its a favorite look of mine, flowers with stripes.

I also experimented with one yard samples of other patterns, tossed over the back of a chair.
Harald Check in peony and Bridal Suite in buttercup.
Both lovely and possible choices for future slip covers!!

Fall is For Knitting!

Now that the temps are dropping, I turn my attention back to knitting.
I put it away in warmer months because there's so much other stuff to do outside AND who wants a ball of hot, wool yarn in their lap?  lol

There's nothing more relaxing for me right now, in between office work and house projects, then to sit for 30 minutes in the sun on a quiet Sunday morning and just knit.

Here is a current new project, color coordinated with one of my pillows I designed.  I didn't plan that, it just happened.  hahaha
The pattern's name is ELVIE in blueberry, printed here on the eco canvas.

ELVIE in blueberry, on eco canvas

Pillow Heaven!

What a fun and productive weekend I had!
It was full of music, lilacs, sleeping kitties, Seattle rain and the hum of my sewing machine in my studio as I took full advantage of the last few days to round out my collection of handmade pillows for my up-coming studio tour on Saturday, April 30th and Sunday, May 1st.
I'm one of 11 studios participating in Arts North Studio Tours as studio #2, LilyOake.

I'll have 2 talented guest artists in my dining room as well.  One a pet portraitist in pen and ink and the other a watercolorist.

And I'll be in my small studio with my fabric and wallpaper designs.

One of my favorite things to make with my own fabrics are pillows because they're an easy and inexpensive way to change a room's decor without a huge commitment.  You can add some style and color/pattern to any room by tossing one or two on a sofa or in a chair.

I have found everyone loves the 16" x 26" pillow size - just seems comfortable!  Its the golden rectangle of pillows, I think!
So I made several more this weekend.  Fillers are duck-filled and the backs are thick, soft, white cotton with a simple foldover closure for easy removal to toss in the washer.

I staged these on one of my dining chairs made with my May's Rose pattern on linen cotton canvas, sewn into a slipcover.
And with the clock I've been working on now for 2 months, all completed, I am so excited for the first day of the tour!

Enjoy the images and I'd love to hear from you!  The pillows will end up in my ETSY shop next week, so folks out of town will have a chance to order.
But if you don't see what you want, I have over 600 designs in my Spoonflower shop, LilyOake, where you can either order the fabric yourself or see what I have to offer and commission me to sew up pillows, curtains, table linens, etc., for your home.

I don't know if the clock will sell but if it doesn't, it already has a place in my heart and in my home!

May Day Roses on aqua

May Day Roses on basil stripe

Interior of clock is decoupaged in paper designed by Lilyoake

Hand painted clock in Swedish Gustavian style

Isolde on sorbet pink stripe linen cotton canvas pillow

Saint Elfswythe on sorbet, linen cotton canvas pillow

Elvie in blueberry on eco canvas

Hand painted clock case inspired by 18th C Swedish Gustavian style furniture

Rosewitha on blueberry

Handpainted Swedish Gustavian-inspired clock

Rosewitha on basil stripe

Rosewitha on blueberry stripe

Gold leafed ormolus and trim on Swedish Gustavian-inspired clock case

Isolde on sorbet stripe, linen cotton canvas pillow

Rosewitha on aqua stripe linen cotton canvas pillow

Inside of clock decoupaged with Saint Colette June Roses in blueberry paper

Rosewitha on basil stripe linen cotton canvas

Rosewitha on blueberry stripe linen cotton canvas

Rosewitha on peony stripe linen cotton canvas

LilyOake linen cotton canvas pillows in aqua

Rosewitha Stripes on aqua linen cotton canvas

Linen cotton canvas pillows by LilyOake in both peony and sorbet pinks

Rosewitha on peony stripe

Rosewitha on peony stripe linen cotton canvas

Linen cotton canvas pillows by LilyOake

Rosewitha on blueberry stripe linen cotton canvas

Countdown to the Studio Tour Weekend

Its fast approaching!  I thought I'd load up this entry with photos and not much text because since I updated my iMac to the newest operating system, blogger isn't working properly...EEK.

So the pictures will have to speak for themselves.  They are all the projects I have going for the tour next week.  If you live in North Seattle, please stop by to see me and my 2 guest artists.  It should be a very busy weekend, with Mother's Day the next weekend after that.   I'll have many wonderful soft furnishings for sale, made from my fabric designs.

ARTS NORTH STUDIO TOUR.
(look it up online - sorry I can't post the link, the blogger hiccups won't let me!)

My favorites so far are the rectangle duck-filled pillows and the clock - OMG, the clock!

Nearly complete, the Swedish Gustavian style painted clock has decoupage interior

I love the gilded ormolus.  I used real gold leaf (not a wax or paint)

The paper I decoupaged with is my own design: Saint Colette June Roses in blueberry.

Gilding ormolus

My lovely mantel after the wall was papered with my own design

Lilacs from my own yard look and smell so wonderful!

My wallpaper is "Jane's Rose Bouquet" in blueberry blue.  Available on Spoonflower through my own shop, LilyOake.

Just finished pairing and trimming it up.  Time to rehang the sconces.

While mama was busy at her sewing machine, her two boys were cuddling in front of the heater.  This makes me smile.

Lampshades - covered in cotton poplin!

I had my own watercolor paintings printed on linen cotton fabric, for framing.