Pillows!

Years ago, my dear friend Saara had a small pillow-making operation with a clever name: Get Down. I was lucky enough to receive a pair of pillows made with a vintage floral silk on one side and a lovely blue taffeta on the other for on my birthday one year. I am sad to say that the floral silk has faded terribly over the years, and the blue taffeta has simply worn away on the corners.

 

I love this quilt, too. I bough it from Lesley Vance and Ricky Swallow at a yard sale. This beautiful floral print is actually the back side. The front is a patchwork of navy blue, oxblood, and cream wool gabardine squares. But I was ready for a change, and I figured I'd better do something to protect the pillows before it was too late.

My family gave me a wonderful Pendleton blanket last year at Christmastime, so I wanted to use it on my bed. I made some pillow covers out of a red calico with little blue and brown flowers, and my bedroom suddenly felt like a new place.

We will make custom pillow covers for you with the fabric and closure of your choice. Covers start at $40 per pair for ones like the calico ones pictured above. Please contact us to place an order: friendsandrelations@gmail.com

Available: Eyelet & Ikat Table Linens

Currently available from the Friends & Relations studio: Eyelet & Ikat placemats and napkins.

This set of placemats and napkins can be used with or without the black cotton eyelet overlay and with or without the terra cotta hued cotton backing. The cotton ikat napkins are extraordinarily soft.

One set of four: $140.

If you have questions or would like to make a purchase, please contact us at friendsandrelations@gmail.com.

Available: Bows & Balls Table Linens

Currently available from the Friends & Relations studio: Placemats and napkins in sets of two or four. If you have questions or would like to make a purchase, please contact us at friendsandrelations@gmail.com.

Bows and Balls: These placemats are made with a vintage (likely 1930s) patterned cotton on one side and a solid light yellow cotton on the other. The teal cotton napkins are made from fabric left over from a project my mother made in the early 1980s, and the calico floral cotton napkins are made with fabric from Jill's grandmother's collection.

Available: One set of four with floral napkins, one set of four with teal napkins, one set of two with floral napkins.
Set of 4 placemats and napkins: $120
Set of 2 placemats and napkins: $60

Les Figues Table Linens

For the last auction to benefit Les Figues Press, Friends & Relations contributed an open proposition: The winning bidder would receive a work made specially for her after a consultation with us. To our delight, the winning bidders were the publishers themselves. After a visit to their home, we began to design a set of table linens that can also be a wall hanging or valance for the bay window in their dining room. The fabric swatches above show the colors we are using for a graphic applique on the canvas table cloth. The napkins will be made from the gingham.

Salon, December 2010

In December 2010, we held the first in a series of salons, an open studio to share our projects with our friends and to offer our wares and services. At this inaugural salon, we also showed decorative flags by Amanda Law and vases made by Bret Nicely.

Untitled, 2011 for LACE Auction

A couple of months ago, Stephanie Taylor came to our studio. She was struck by how, even though our individual styles are so different, they come together to form a third thing that is strong and unique. We talked with her about how we literally see things differently. For instance, one of us might call a color "red" while the other might call the same color "rust". When Lisa Mark invited us to participate in this year's auction to benefit LACE, we decided to explore these ideas to make a new work. 

We felt it was important that we didn't influence one another's approach to the project, so our first rule was to use the same constraints but to work independently without discussing our projects or showing them to one another. The guidelines we set were as follows: Make a patchwork measuring thirty by twenty-two inches using as much (hopefully all) of the fabric allotted. We assembled remnants from all of the projects we've done since our founding in 2008, divided them equally, and got to work.

Jill approached her half of the piece in a very additive, sculptural way, and I (Corrina) approached my half in a conceptual way. The work is double-sided; Jill's half shows all of the seams as well as some extra detail, and my half continues in the same way on both sides, the fabrics appearing in the order in which they were originally used. We love the result of this experiment because it says so much about each of us as individual artists and also about our collaboration. 

Pillows!

Jill made this pillow as a gift to celebrate the birth of a friend's first child. The insert is covered and pegged like upholstery. The slipcover is a patchwork that is open on one side so that the fabric on the insert is always visible.

Wigutow Office: In Progress

When we first consulted with the writers about re-thinking their office layout and furnishings, it was clear to us that they really wanted to get rid of the built in reception desk that remained from the former tenants. We thought it was worth considering the potential of the desk to maybe find an innovative use for it. In the end, they were right: The desk was unnecessary and its presence was disruptive to the overall feeling we ultimately want to achieve in the room. Task one: Demo the desk.

We kept the built in shelves as storage space for books and DVDs and added a few plants to bring a little extra life into the space.

The main goal of the project is to make the room more comfortable for two things: watching movies and having meals or coffee. Because the room is sort of an "L" shape with a small alcove and a lot of windows, it was a challenge to determine a good placement for the flat screen television and to maximize seating potential for movie viewing. Once we removed the built in desk, it became clear that the remaining long wall was perfect for the television and that a large, comfortable sofa for the corner of the room would add a lot of comfortable seating for movie viewing, reading, napping...

The alcove where the television had been is the perfect size for a small, simple kitchen. We kept the table and water cooler that they already had and added matching director's chairs, a small refrigerator, and a low hutch with a chopping block top.