January 2010
14 posts
Darn it! There's a gremlin in the fiddly bits ...
So sorry but for a while our image upload service could be flaky. Which means that until the ugly panel at the top of our Fabric Press and Photo Gifts pages is removed, you may have to use email to send us the image files you wish us to preview & print for you. Address your orders to “fabricpress at rosablue.com”, attach your image files, & we’ll do the rest....
Hooray! New sites champion Britain's designer...
In the past couple of weeks I have come across two splendid projects that champion the work of Britain’s designer makers. I cannot wait for our work to be featured on them, but I cannot seem to get my act together to supply them with the right info. It seems there is always something else I would rather do (like messing about with my blog). I would happily delegate this function but I have...
New lightweight cotton means better tea towels for...
We’ve just tested a new lighter weight of cotton panama that feels just right for our tea-towels and is likely to see us switch to it for our aprons too. Big success. Previously, the towels were a little too tightly woven and so a little too stiff. The new cotton, which we will order in its natural colour (not optical white) feels like a big improvement. Make sure to ask us about it if you...
Pattern previews: some sketches for spring
Oh, when will the weather clear and let me have a decent crack at my workshop. Since the big freeze the roof of the old building has been a sieve, making work there difficult as we attempt to colour-set our cotton before it gets too damp.
And so we have been staying busy in the studio, working on something new for the spring window. The Apples & Pears pattern shows you I cannot even walk...
Valentine Stories: what a little birdie told me...
These special edition lavender-filled birds are the topical new arrivals for our Birds of Praise series. Both of them seasoned travellers, each has a back-story brimming with romance and whimsy. Hand-made in cotton, they are set to go on sale later this weekend and as with most of the birds, customers will also be able to order the fabric by the metre from Rosablue.[ link ]
Dots in Blue Water: by Annie Dillard →
Audio Essay (NPR): Sometimes the news of the day feels overwhelming. Then the voice of writers like Annie Dillard is important to me. This is an essay she wrote in response to the tsunami in South-East Asia. It seemed the right time to listen to it again. [ AD’s website ]
Note to self: sometimes a table is not a table ...
… it is a hole in a forest. Here is a short film about deforestation by Maya Lin. As Kottke notes, the final minute is worth waiting for. [ What is Missing? Foundation on Vimeo ]
Home is where the heart is ... and the tea towels...
Update: Our brand new, oven-fresh tea towels are both a heartfelt homage to down-home bliss and a “Cri de Coeur” for domestic romance. In fact, our new “Valentine heart” design features elements from many of the patterns we have worked on over the years — a bloomin’ metaphor for our little workshop, quite inevitably a little schmaltzy, but sincere …
So...
... flowers, flowers, flowers. Mum would be so...
Update 14/01: New washbags and shopper in MariaRosa floral print. The MariaRosa will likely replace the Alpine Rose as shop favourite in the coming months. The products will be listed in the Rosablue online shop in a day or so.
… what else could have emerged after the big freeze but some spring flowers … I blame it on my youth in Northern Italy. My brother and I lived in the resort...
My favourite toon of ‘09 was by Nick Newman. Thanks for the Private Eye annual, girls!
Hiber-nation
It snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed
… and hibernation beckoned.
The road to work was paved white with cold
and froze our best intentions …
* Rosablue will remain closed today
UPDATE: “I must finish colouring-in the world I want to live in” [ Disegnata, Bandabardò ] Best answer heard today to why the world turned white overnight, (“Devo finir di...