Cool Stuff: Marimekko Spring Fabrics

It's not feeling much like spring around here, but of course the design world is always several months ahead of the rest of us.

Finnish fabric giant Marimekko just released its new spring fabrics (like Keisarinna, above), which will inject a bit of sunshine into these dark and dreary days and perhaps spur plans for some spring sewing projects. (Speaking of which, I just signed up for a sewing class! I am so making new throw pillows for the couch.)

My faves from the spring collection (most of these patterns are available in several colorways):

Dadel bright, $125 per panel, and Kevatjuhla green, $70 per panel

Kaakaopuu pink and Palma yellow, both $42 a yard

Ruusupuu blue and Kirsikka black, both $42 a yard

Matkalla green/pink and Pelimanni blue, both $42 a yard

And these new patterns and colorways aren't available yet, but will be soon.

See the entire Marimekko spring line at Textile Arts.

The Artful Home: Fabric Art

True confession: Art intimidates me.

I'm well over the sort of mass-produced prints (Man Ray, anyone?) that decorated my post-collegiate homes. And yet I haven't quite graduated to buying much "real" art -- for one, a lot of it is simply out of our budget. But even when it comes to buying smaller pieces from emerging artists, I don't quite trust my eye yet.

So for now, I'm making due with framed prints from various artists that I've discovered via Etsy and at a few local galleries and exhibition spaces. Well, that, and hanging fabric.

I started with the retro-inspired fabric above, which I bought from the awesome Tonic Living a couple of years ago. I knew I wanted to do some sort of project with it -- at first I was thinking pillows, until my lack of sewing skills and even a sewing machine put the kibosh on that idea.

Then I decided to simply buy some cheap art-store canvases, stretch the fabric around them, and affix it with a staple gun. Voila -- instant "art."

Since then, I've expanded my fabric art collection. A quick tour:

(Please forgive the total in-progress nature of the home you can glimpse around these, and the fact that most of the canvases are still sitting on the floor. One of these days, I swear, I will get around to hanging them... )

I picked up this Inhabit stretched canvas at the last Design Public warehouse sale, and hung it in our downstairs hallway.

Recognize this? It was an "eBay Find" I blogged awhile back. (I don't normally bid on the things I blog, but couldn't resist this one.)

Another Inhabit stretched canvas snagged at the Design Public warehouse sale.

I freakin' love this huge Marimekko print (I bought one of Textile Arts' handy frame kits for it, since a canvas this size would've been prohibitively expensive and heavy). I haven't hung it yet because I think we're going to repaint the dining room -- I love the red, but it's just not working with the colors I'm drawn to these days.

This is some groovy vintage fabric I found on eBay Australia. It's destined for the unfortunate pink bathroom.

More of that stretched Tonic Living fabric, which currently resides in my mad-for-blue daughter's room.

Have any fabric art projects of your own you'd like to share -- or other surprising ideas for using fabric or non-traditional items as art around your home? Send them in!