An Eye on Spring 2016

   With visions of sugar plums and Christmas happenings still in our heads and on our schedules, the holiday is still going on around us. But I also need to take into consideration that the world of design must grind on behind the scenes!
   In order to have the fabrics, designs and looks ready for the public, when they are actually ready for them, these things must be planned out and finalized months ahead of time - most times way out of step with the actual season!
   It can sometimes be difficult - I have had to play Christmas music in May, to put me in the mood to design for the Xmas season, when I'd rather be picking lily of the valley and smelling my lilacs!

   So to, now, with Christmas parties still to attend, I am sneaking off to my computer to continue work on my new spring designs!

   Here is a teaser of what spring brings - fresh florals and sweet pastels.
And of course, my "blueberry blue" color way, which is in the same family as Pantone's 2016 color choice "serenity".

And a saying: 
Some people look for a beautiful place.
Others make a place beautiful.

I do hope I can be that person, helping you make your home beautiful, with my fabrics and wallpapers.

"Faded Rococo Roses" in blueberry, printed on linen cotton canvas

"Swedish Summer" in blueberry, on cotton poplin

All my fabrics can be found HERE, in my shop LilyOake, on Spoonflower.

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!

Springspiration

On this, our first day of spring, I gathered some pretty images I had pinned on Pinterest and made a collage, paired with a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson ~ enjoy!!

I'm thinking "Curtains"

I think the year is upon me to dress up my windows. I have a set of lovely, old cotton Shabby Chic curtains in British Rose in my bedroom and a glorious set of blue/white toile cotton curtains in my family room.

But the library, family room, kitchen, spare bedroom and studio have something make-shift and not-so-attractive covering them and I am tired of it! I just got the new "Country Curtains" catalog in the mail and am drooling over some of their new patterns.


Do check them out online - they have well made curtains and I have ordered many times from them and they are great to work with! All the toile curtains and bedding in my house came from them. I especially love the new Apple Blossoms curtains in a linen/cotton mix. The pink is very appealing but my cottage is all blue & white so I sent for a free swatch of the blue version - but that pink keeps calling to me because its so fresh and feminine! I was thinking of using this pattern in the living room where I currently have those inexpensive sheer panels from IKEA on each picture window - not enough privacy!! I need lace panels under the living room curtains so I thought the Balmoral Lace in white would work best.

Country Curtains also sells rods that allow for a double layer of curtains. For the library, which will have blue/white ticking stripe wallpaper up soon, I thought the Sophia pattern in a soft floral toile on white would work best in there. The room faces south and west to the backyard and gets loads of beautiful sunlight which gives the small room a great feeling so I wanted to keep the curtains light and airy too. I have it all planned, now all I need is my tax refund! But I do feel this is the year to get some decent curtains up on my windows! Its such a large area, it gets noticed immediately so its important to have them look good - right?

Lilac Time

It's that time of year when my yard turns green and the lilacs open and scent the air.
Growing up in Wisconsin surrounded by lilacs of every shade, it has become my first and foremost most favorite flower.
Did you know lilacs mean "first emotions of love"? For me, it's a very emotional flower, taking me back to my childhood when my Grandma on the farm had huge lilacs around the house and my Mom waited every year for hers to bloom so she could bring in big handfuls to fill the old, pale green vase with them for the dining room table.

It is such a treat to be able to plant, grow and cut my own lilacs now, from my own yard, and bring them into the house. Everything smells so sweet. Even my kitties sit with their tiny noses deep into the bouquets - although I don't kid myself - I think they are more interested in drinking the water.

I have tried to capture my feelings about lilacs in poetry over the years but I have to face the facts - I'm a lousy poet! So I'll let Robert Burns do the talking.

"O were my Love yon lilac fair,
Wi' purple blossoms to the spring.
And I a bird to shelter there,
When wearied on my little wing;
How I wad mourn when it was torn
By autumn wild and winter rude!
But I wad sing on wanton wing
When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd.

Welcome, sister spring!

Welcome my Friends!

I am so excited to begin my new journey into the blogger world.
After reading thousands of blogs from many wonderfully talented people from around the world, I think I'm givin' this a try! I love the idea of sharing ideas and making new friends everywhere with similar interests.

My first entry is short but sweet. With the official start of spring just a few days away, I wish us one and all a very happy season full of the joys of nature and home!