Kaffe Fassett - A Life in Colour Exhibition 2013 at The Fashion & Textile Museum, London

 I was very lucky to visit Kaffe's recent London exhibition, A Life in Colour at the Fashion & Textile Museum, Bermondsey.

Kaffe is right up there at the top of my 'design idols' list (I feel a 'people whose work I admire' post coming on), he's a total 'renaissance' man who seems to be able to turn his hand to any technique with stunning results! His long and illustrious career has, in my opinion, paved the way for many modern young textile designers to earn a living from their creations, particularly those specialising in the less 'popular' and more laborious techniques such as needlepoint.

(Apologies for the quality of some images - lighting was low to protect the textiles)

 

Needlework cushions

 



A beautiful still life arrangement - it looks like an oil painting!

 

 

Needlework Upholstered Chairs & Stools

 

I'm very inspired by this upholstered furniture .... and have acquired my own stool for an upcoming project!

 



 

My favourite was this tiny blue & white chair - unfortunately my photo of it came out badly so I've pinched one from the Kaffe archive.

 

Knits

 

 I purchased Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably's book 'Knitting with the Colour Guys' as I was so inspired by these amazing zig zag knits I felt that I must try my own version with my ever growing stockpile of chunky wool!

This Leopard knit is particularly clever - a bit advanced for me at the mo I think!

 

Fabric Design

 

These were particularly interesting to see, as I have been considering going back to designing my own fabrics recently.

 

Quilts

 

 

Paintings

 

 

 

I do Love a good Boot Fair!

 

I haven't done a boot fair in a while, so was really pleased with my seemingly random 'haul' above. It all cost under £5, which I think makes it quite a successful trip!

 

 

I think the most 'relevant' pieces to a blog that is supposed *ahem* to be about my work are these two completed tapestry canvases. I love, love, LOVE tapestry and these reminded me of a pair of 'Embroidery' chairs by the young Swedish designer Johan Lindsten. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these yet, but I'm sure I'll show you when I do.

 

 

Check out this link - Lindsten's quite a cutie! ;)

 

My next favourite item is this Pirate fuzzy felt set! 34 years old and still playing with fuzzy felt....

 

 

It will make a nice addition to the 'Wall of Pirate' (which I still haven't written about) so that's my excuse for buying it, and I'm sticking to it!

 

Other items included two brand new bandannas, which will be used for fabric as they are pretty much Fat Quarter size, not bad for 20p each, and a rather interesting 1923 novel by Colette called 'Ripening Seed', about the coming-of-age of two teenagers one summer in Brittany.
 

I also picked up Slash's autobiography, because I LOVED Guns n' Roses as a teenager (still do), and it gives me an excuse to sign off with this picture:

 

 

Have a Great Bank Holiday Weekend! I'm off to put the kettle on.....