An extremely Exotic location

Exotic cushions has fallen on it's feet again!

Really? where?

 In there?

 Woah...




Yes, I've been blessed again with friends and sisters in high places and have found myself on my feet at Montsalvat, the artists colony in Eltham, Victoria, Australia.

Sue (my sister) and I had an open studio recently to show our wares.

Here are some photos of the surroundings I'm lucky enough to find myself working in.

 Montsalvat was built in the 1930's although it looks much older and much more French.

 There are many fascinating nooks and crannies where artists create beautiful things. Here is David Brown's studio where he makes violins and shakuhachi flutes and is a maker of international reputation and calibre.

 There have been some wonderful yarn bombers here as part of the artists in residence programme.

 I'll keep you informed as to what transpires. For now it's goodnight.

Going, going ....

Exotic cushions is going into a holding pattern for a while as I change my entire life .... It will re-apear with new stock with an even more EXOTIC flavour when I re-locate to the land of OZ. I'll keep you all posted on the facebook page. Meanwhile there are still a few cushions left on the website but they are selling fast.
Much love to all the wonderful people who stop by this little corner of the world wide web.
xxxx

Silk and feathers, cherry blossoms and cranes

For ages now, I've had a spectacular Uchikake, Furisode or wedding kimono hanging over my balustrade. As time goes by I find myself taking these textile treasures for granted which is a good thing as it's the only way I can come to terms with cutting them up! It sometimes takes years to take them enough for granted.

 The embroidery on this one is so incredibly thick that it was REALLY hard to cut.

 I'd saved some beautiful ribbon from my last trip to Australia that I brought out for these cushions. I bought them at an Aladdin's cave of a shop called Jimmy Buttons

 There are some pieces of Florence Broadhurst fabric that my sister sent... they too came out of the stash for these.

 The striped silk around the edges comes from the silk mill in Sudbury

 The beautiful fan in the background is one Richard & I bought when we went to visit our Stepdaughter Maude when she was living in Macau.

 I love the link of the feather print in the perfect colour match to the rest of the cushion.

 ...and I love the amazing Vermilion colour that always lines these beautiful works of Art.

Dive in

A while ago I stumbled upon this absolutely beautiful piece of hand embroidered silk with a peacock surrounded by flowers.Today I had the luxury of not too many curtain jobs on the go to let myself dive into the deep blue silk. I surrounded it with pieces of velvet and silk stripe that give it a fairly tailored look but still somehow feminine. What do you think?

Golden phoenix cushions and ladybirds everywhere!

Ages ago I acquired the most beautiful vintage kimono and today I made it up into cushions and got some up on the website.

I loved the idea of the flaming lights continuing the theme of the fiery birds.
I backed some of them with this wonderful Manuel Canovas fabric that I've been keeping for just such cushions.
Even though I should have been sewing all day, it was so glorious I did goof off this morning to have morning tea with my friend Lizzie for her birthday.
The glorious weather has brought out all the birds and a wealth of flowers. Every year I forget about some flower or other. This year it's Forsythia. It took me ages to figure out what this plant was.
The other thing I always forget about is ladybirds. This year they are absolutely everywhere. I decided to see how many I could count out my back door. One on the back door step.Then one on the back door mat.
Another on the hose beside the back door.
This one I had to save from its watery home.
Lots on the washing.
and the pegs too.
Crikey, ladybirds everywhere. Too many to count.