Petite fleur

Petite Fleur is the name of this collection I designed for Makower UK recently and it's inspired by spring meadow flowers. Each print has been designed to co-ordinate with each other and comes in a fresh palette or pinks, blues, greens and yellows which makes it really easy to use in quilting projects or dressmaking projects.

This print is called 'Meadow' and consists of many variations of flowers which include all colours of the collection's palette. It's on a fresh cream background which brings out the colours beautifully.

This design is called 'Posy' and shows clusters of daisy-type flowers on a pink background. The strong background colour adds a strong pop of colour to the collection and is used as a highlight in other designs to tie it in.

This little print is called 'Rose' and consists of loosely-drawn flowers on a light pink background,

This design is called 'Petals' and its loose abstract feel alludes to petal shapes. The inclusion of pink, cream and green on the light blue background helps tie the design to a wider variety of prints in the collection.

Tiny pink and blue stylised flower shapes sit on a fresh cream background in this 'Ditzy' print.

This 'Meadow' design has been created with a dark blue background to add drama to the collection.

The 'Rose' design looks great on a green background.

A sweet 'Vine' print with blue flowers.

This is the same print as the rose design but it's been created as a simple silhouette with cream flowers on a pretty blue background. We called it 'Blossom'.

See how this multi colour 'Rose' version compares to the design above. They are the same design but coloured completely differently.

You can see the whole Petite Fleur collection here.

Bright floral purse

 I'm loving this little purse! It's made from a fabulous floral cotton fabric and comes in a vibrant multi colour palette with a lovely lilac cotton lining.

This is the perfect summer purse and is just the right size for storing makeup in. It's lightly padded and made from 100% cotton so machine washable too.

The bright colour makes it easy to find in your bag.

It's also big enough to use as a travel bag. Store passport and sunnies in it, or use it as a gadget pouch.

This floral purse makes a great birthday gift for someone special.

Shop here.

Fabulous florals

 I'm loving this juicy floral design which comes in a palette of jewel tones on a deep purple background. This floral print is available in my Spoonflower shop on a variety of bedding.

This floral print is available in my Spoonflower shop on a variety of bedding choices such as this purple floral duvet cover which is made of a sateen fabric and comes in three sizes.

It's also available as a floral sheet set.

If a whole sheet set of duvet cover is too much, why not use this print as an accent colour? It looks great as a floral throw pillow.

It also comes on this floral throw blanket, available on a cosy minky fleece or as a luscious velvet fabric.

Deco florals

I recently mentioned a collection I designed for Makower UK which was called Revival and was inspired by the styled florals of the Art Deco period. The collection comes in two colour palettes (one rich and one bright) and this is the richer colour palette which uses reds, rusts, mustard yellow and olive green.

The main design is a floral which incorporates decorative stylised flowers in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. The idea was to have full coverage and to use all the colours of the palette. This version comes on a deep brown background.

Co-ordinates are essential to this group and I wanted to vary the scale and coverage of each. I've included a mini, multi floral, a leaf scatter on a mustard yellow background and a stylised fan design in shades of pink.

This outline floral is highly detailed but the pared down colour palette keeps it subdued.

The main floral also comes on a slate blue background.

The mini floral as also been designed in shades of blue, orange and green. Its complimented by the leaf scatter on a green background and the stylised fan print in shades of mustard yellow and ochre.

Other coordinates include a tonal vine print, away stripe print and a fabulous multi colour tessellation print.

Wedding table linens

Last week's Spoonflower design challenge was called 'Wedding Table Linens' and the design needed to work as a napkin set, tablecloth or table runner adorn the table of the wedding couple's big day. I went for a hand-drawn floral print in shades of pink, peach and yellow on a crisp white background.

It looks great as a tablecloth, paired with blue crockery and pink flowers.

Spoonflower shop

Juicy Japanese floral

A while ago I designed this print for Makower UK as part of a collection called Hikari. I wanted to use bright jewel tone colours for this collection and I'm loving the result. It sits on a luscious purple background and has touches of metallic gold to make it zing.

Look how fabulous it looks on this zipper pouch! Now available in my Etsy store.

It makes the perfect gift for a Japanophile or floral-lover.

The bag is lightly padded and is fully lined in a contrasting light purple lining.

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Baby Safari

I designed this group called Baby Safari for Makower UK a while ago and I'm loving it! Cute folk-inspired safari animals come in a colour palette of turquoise, grey, green and pink. Choose from a mixture of allover animal prints in a variety of scales or opt for just the cute elephants on their own. There is also a selection of non-animal prints such as florals and triangles which make a nice complimentary print. These are great for using as decoration for a nursery or child's bedroom. Alternatively they would make great prints for children's clothes.

 

Pretty in pink

 Last weekend I went to Kew Gardens and was so inspired by the tropical plants I saw in the Princess of Wales Conservatory that I designed some prints for my Spoonflower shop.

The spikey plant is called an Australian Bottlebrush. The colour drew me to it but once you look up close you can see that each spike has a tiny white bobble on the end.

My version of the Australian Bottlebrush has been very simplified and I chose to draw it from above, to create a geometric pattern. I've added a few green leaves and there's a loose stripe in the background.

Tightly-packed chrysanthemums create a sea of vibrant pink.

Bright pink hibiscus flowers sit on a bed of bright green foliage.

Happy Monday

Happy Monday! I hope a good weekend was had by all. Mine was lovely, with a great combination of city visits and country walks. On Saturday I went to the Tower of London and I loved it! I hadn't been since I went on a school trip when I was about ten years old and I was very impressed by it. There is lots to see and even the views over London and the river are really spectacular from the ramparts. It reminded me of what a great city I live in. On Sunday I went for a lovely brisk walk in the Oxfordshire countryside, ending up at a pub for lunch. It's a stunning time of year and the leaves on the trees were all changing to vibrant shades of orange and red.

On Friday I ventured to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace to check out what's going on. It's always great to see everything under one roof, to see the fabrics I've designed and to also see what other people are doing.

It was great to see that bright colours were very popular. I loved the selection of scarves above and the use of the kantha stitching. I might use that technique for some of my Cheeky Leopard scarves.

It's always great to see the Liberty floral fabrics. They come in all shades and look so pretty lined up.

I love a folk-inspired print and have designed a few in the past which you can see on my website here. The one above is a lovely multi colour version.

There were a lot of quirky novelty prints at the show. I loved the polar bear print on yellow and the multi colour umbrellas.

Higgs and Higgs had a selection of lampshades made out of the Sophia fabrics I designed for Makower UK. They looked really pretty hanging up.

These cute panda bear heads would work well in a nursery. I love the gender-neutral yellow and mint green colour palette.

I came home with some beautiful sari fabrics from Bazaar. One piece is a vibrant pink colour and the other piece uses softer pinks. I love the combination.

 My sari purchases came in this pretty little bag, also made from sari fabric! I can't wait to get creative with the fabrics I bought and think both pieces would make stunning clutch bags.