Decoding Houndstooth

Paisley, Argyle, Houndstooth, Plaid, Fishbone: Have you ever wondered what characteristics of a pattern make it indistinguishable from other patterns? 


According to Wikipedia Houndstooth "is a duotone textile pattern, characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes, often in black and white, although other colors are used". It originated in Scotland and consist of alternating bands of four dark and four light threads. Its used in various textile versions from home decor to fashion. 


Let's decode this mysterious alternating band concept:
First, block out the solid squares from the striped squares.

Secondly, Find stripes within the squares.

Next, Mimic squares by placing a row of black squares then white squares horizontally. In between each solid square should be a striped square. These are alternated.

Finally, copy and paste striped bands half way in between above and below so that in the striped squares, there are five threads: black then white then black then white then finally again black. 

Here are a few examples of products that use the Houndstooth pattern in interesting and bold ways.

This is a Marc Jacobs dress that the character Blair Waldorf wore on Gossip Girl. I have no idea if this dress is still in stores but I do love the large pattern and color combination. I found it on Cool Spotters.

These chairs are fantastic. They may be a bit bold for my tiny Manhattan apartment, but I can see them in light, airy, minimalist home office adding a perfect amount of pizzazz to the space. The are the perfect combination of modern graphics and 19th century furniture. I found them on 1stdibs.com. 

This screen is by a designer named Courtney Skott and can be found on her website: Courtney Skott. 

Detachable Cork trivets found at vivavi.com

For a more "do-it-yourself" wall application, these decals from Modern Wall Graphics are perfect.

EazyWallz also makes large format wall stickers (for all you apartment dwellers who can't install wallpaper, like myself).

An Opportunity Quilt- The Auction Event

This years quilt auction was sew- chic in a new gallery space in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood. Many quilts went for $1000 or more. Our quilt, The Opportunity Quilt, came in just under a thousand dollar bidding. We were still very excited to see the finish product hanging on the walls.  Above is a photo of Bryan and I snuggling up against our quilt, saying  our "goodbyes"...

The Sustainable Quilt Auction is an event by the New York chapter of IIDA. This years auction benefitting Fiver Children's Organization. This year was my third year participating in this event. The quilts get more and more beautiful every year. The photos below are of the other quilts by other design firms in the city.

An Opportunity Quilt

For more info about how you can join the fun, contact IIDANY.

An Opportunity Quilt!

I have been bringing you updates about our sustainable quilt all year, but in two weeks on Decemeber 15, we'll be auctioning off our quilt to benefit Fiver Children's Foundation. We are in the final stages now putting the batting in and stitching on the back and border. If you would like tickets to the auction register online at iidany.org. 

IIDA NY- Sustainable Quilt Project- 2010

Last night, I dreamt Heidi Klum was critiquing our quilt design for this year's IIDA NY Quilt Auction..."Is this supposed to be a jewelry store?" she asked in her German accent. Thank God I woke up from that nightmare whereby my teammates were trying to hanging rhinestone studded jewelry from the face of our quilt. 

Once again, GKV and friends have teamed up with IIDA NY to produce a king-sized art-quilt for the Sustainable Quilt Exhibit and Auction sponsored by Dwell Magazine. This year's quilt is more complicated than ever. Although it seems harmonious & effortless, each individual square is carefully crafted with coordinating fabrics to make up a larger square. In the tradition of quilt making, members of our team make individual 9" squared or larger pieces  on their own time, then we collaborate and place pieces together. There are only four members on our team this year, so we have been putting lots of man-hours in for this one!

Above are pieces from my section that I sewed at home. Fabrics are recycled samples from our resource library at GKV. My favorite fabrics are the modern KNOLL samples.

This is the quilt pieced together at 85%. I can't wait to see it completed.

This year's exhibit and auction will be held at OPEN SPACE at 201 Mulberry Street, NYC. Below is a photo of my teammates, Bryan Bennett and Brett Kaplan, at our monthly Haworth workshops.

A Klimt Inspired Quilt

The thing about designing and making quilts, is that you can start with a tiny square swatch of a material, add more squares, rectangles, and triangles with no pattern at all. I started my Mom's mother-day quilt with a Klimt painting in mind, the Kiss:

Keeping in mind my Mom's color palette of creams, tans, and burgundies, I did mix in other colors to give the quilt a richer range of tones, including black, brown, and an unexpected light blue. The tiny squares in the Klimt painting brought inspiration to my quilt design. It grew organically over a few months. 

Charlie likes to sit on the quilts I make, even when I ask him not to.

The image above is the quilt before adding the border and quilted back.

The image above is the quilt added to my parents newly renovated bedroom.  They did a great job renovating (dad) and decorating (mom)! 

Diamonds Are Forever, A GKV Quilt

For two years now, I have been involved with the IIDA sustainable quilt forum in Manhattan. This is an opportunity for many design firms to come together, design & fabricate quilts from recycled fabric samples. As designers, we have access to many scraps of drapery & furniture textiles. After a certain amount of time passes, the fabric becomes less useful to us in the office. So instead of throwing away the fabric, we make gorgeous quilts, auction them off, and donate the funds to a charity of choice.

Diamonds are forever was auctioned off this year for $1100. Its simply magnificent!  Here's a picture of the GKV team. I am second from the left. For more info about how to get involved with IIDA NY visit: http://www.iidany.org/home.html