Hints of Spring

Bird song and sunnier days with temps nearing 60.

Buds appearing on trees, hydrangeas and lilacs....

Fresh and green.

I love this time of year!

I decided it was time to indulge in a few bunches of tulips for the cottage.

I am counting my pennies twice, lately, as I save up to buy plants for the gardens and relandscaping, and also to buy house paint, now that I have chosen the color!

But a little indulgence in some "spring", can't hurt either!

Happy First Day of Spring!

I'm sure many of us wish there were more visible signs on spring this year, then just a calendar date!
So here are my spring lilacs from last year, when our warm weather arrived way ahead of schedule and my lilacs were in full bloom at least a month before they normally are.

I can't wait for this year's blooms. I have been keeping a close watch on the budding of the leaves and other signs of spring, around my yard.
It felt wonderful last weekend on a mild day in the low 60's, to be out dead heading hydrangeas and cutting back the roses.
I couldn't help but blow a few kisses at the 16 lilacs in my yard, starting to leaf out!
I will do a big photo shoot of this year's crop, as soon as they arrive.

Most of these lilacs are specialty varieties from
The Hulda Klager Lilac Garden in Washington
I make a trip there every May 1st to buy another plant or two for my yard.

Did you know LilyOake is the ancient English folk name for the lilac?
It's my favorite flower and I thought it was perfect for my business name.

Enjoy!

Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted

It is a warm but rainy day on this Saturday so I decided to play around with a couple pieces of Royal Copenhagen's Blue Fluted Half Lace and some pink tulips I brought home this morning.

They look so lovely together!

Of course, I am just stalling. I really need to be in my studio, working on a campaign logo for a friend who is running for a state senate seat. although I would rather be designing fabrics, I am thrilled to be helping this friend in the first step of an important journey in his life!

Spring projects

With an eye on the weather, hoping for a chance to dash out to the yard and begin cutting back roses, dead-heading hydrangeas and preparing the bed for the vegetable garden, I am keeping as busy as I possibly can be indoors, with my newest designs in

tea towels for my ETSY shop!

Right now I'm sticking to spring styles and colors

because that's where my mind is.  

Flowers, birds, pale clear colors, blues...

I'm sure you'll all understand where I'm coming from!  

In the world of graphic design, I have been taught to design

out of season because wholesale markets are always at

least 6 months ahead of what you're buying for.

But with my ETSY shop, I have the freedom to go with the flow of the season if I want, because its all on my own time.

Here is the link to my ETSY shop where I have a few tea towels for sale, currently. Many more will be added over the next few weekends as I sew on bindings and photograph.

I'm always working on new fabric designs for my 

LilyOake Spoonflower shop too, and will be

featuring hand sewn slip covers made from my

Caroline Bouquet

fabric printed on heavy weight cotton twill, and curtains made

from my Theodora in blueberry blue.

LilyOake on ETSY

LilyOake on Spoonflower

With warmer temps hitting Seattle (upper 50's) and some sun, it's an inspiration to get in the art studio and create.

My newest tea towels are not only great for displaying on hooks or drying off your most beautiful porcelain, they also make wonderful serving tray or bread basket liners,

a pretty cloth for a dresser top

or a napkin or placemat at the table.  

Use one to wrap a special gift for someone 

or convert into an apron or a cushion.

There are so many uses for a pretty tea towel!

LilyOake tea towels are 55% linen/45% cotton and are roughly 17" x 28", depending on how I finish the edges.  They are truly, completely designed by me, (some feature my own paintings, like the blue and white plates), are printed in the USA and finished by hand, by me, in my tiny yet pretty blue & white floral wallpapered art studio,

Let me know what you think and please check out my ETSY shop for new designs, as I am adding them each week.

I'd love to hear how you use your best tea towels!

A sampling of my tea towel designs: