Cassandra Ellis

And we're moving......

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:38:00 +0000

Not in the real sense......... just in the blog sense whilst we re-design/clean-up/sow some seeds sense - to here.

Note great swathes or aforementioned green - with purple...

Sowing seeds

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:24:00 +0000

On such a filthily cold day, my happiness comes from the above, or in fact a studio filled with the above. There are hundreds and hundreds of seedlings in various states in here,taking advantage of all the light. There have however been some spectacular failures, so a re-order has been made. It doesn't seem wasteful at £2 a packet for what could deliver between 30 and 300 plants. Truth be told these disasters could have been avoided. I was too early sowing but I couldn't look at those seed packets any longer. The one warm and sunny day in February (remember it?)lulled me into a false sense of Spring and I just wanted to get my hands in soil. I belong to the gloves off gardening club, which is a good thing as when I belonged to the gloves on sector, I usually lost one fairly rapidly which defeated the object entirely.

So thank you Nicky's Nursery for coffee coloured foxgloves ( I know I know - too fantastic) amongst other delights, and my own garden(s) where seeds have been dutifully gathered from fallen plants over the last few years. I'm hoping there is no orange or purple flowers lurking in there as this would be upsetting. I've always disliked these colours in city gardens - perhaps I'm missing out on something, but I think not. When you are walled in on three sides, it is green you need and great frothy swathes of the stuff - just to balance out all that concrete and grey. I could of course reject the city garden restrictions and move to that ramshackle farmhouse mentioned earlier. I might then let purple in - but never ever orange.

Sowing seeds indeed.

Storytelling

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:03:00 +0000

40,000 words delivered ( well just under....) and seven days of shoots completed. I am thrilled - well beyond thrilled actually. A wonderful photographer and a great publisher. Every image is telling a story - through cloth, because I think cloth is one of the greatest storytellers. It talks of travels near and far, people you’ve loved and some you’ve lost. It talks of huge life choices and sometimes just a simple, lovely shopping experience. In my next book, Hungarian linen jostles next to mud cloth from Mali. My favourite Japanese silk looks perfectly happy with vintage army blankets and khadi cotton - well it just looks beautiful and home is of course at the forefront of everything I make or write. Old and new, fine and rustic, every piece of fabric or project has a story and place. One more shoot next week and we're off in book layout mode (did I mention I have an amazing book designer), then the fiddly bits and then it's out. October 2013 - I'm looking forward to meeting you.

Thank you The Guardian

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:38:00 +0000

Always slightly alarming when one is confronted by a DPS of oneself! Hey ho... Lovely Hannah Booth at the Guardian wrote v nice things about me over the weekend.

The best thing is that there is (abbreviated) instructions of how to make one of my favourite quilts - so click here and all will be revealed. If you want the detailed instructions, it is of course all in Quilt Love.

Mindful making

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:38:00 +0000

I've finished renovating our house, 2012 and my next book - all culminating in the same week! The garden is still rubbish and I'm not looking my most glamorous , but seed lists are being drawn up as we speak and the glamour - well it's nothing a bit more sleep won't sort out.

I am however really happy with this book, as although it is a making book, I hope it is also a thought provoking book. I know it will be propped in the craft section of bookstores which is absolutely dandy, but I just wish there was a section called Mindful Making - because I think of good making as thinking with your hands.

Waterstones in Kensington call their craft section Practical Art - which is a little better, and an old local book store has craft books next to 'mindfulness' books - but I don't think that was intentional. I worry that craft and craftmanship are sliding further and further apart with craft becoming very much a bish, bosh, bash approach and craftmanship slipping further out of reach. We all used to make because of both necessity and desire and it was mostly great stuff. I wouldn't be the me I am today without the teenage 'making experimental fashion' years - and I get positively grumpy if my hands aren't active, but I have never thought of myself as a 'crafter'.

I haven't made New Years resolutions - mainly because of the first line of this post, but I know that 2013 is steering off into a slightly different path, where my hands and my mind are a little more closely engaged.

I can't think of anyone who lives and breathes MM more than Dosa or Alabama Chanin.

A nice piece

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:51:00 +0000

A nice piece from the very nice people at The Simple Things. I must find another photo....

Quilt Love is officially on sale today - thank you for the lovely emails so far.

A lovely event, a free pattern and the chance to make something lovely for someone who needs it...

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:54:00 +0000

We’ve all known people who need some comfort – it could be a friend, neighbour or someone you don’t know at all. It’s not often that we know quite how to help them. One way I’ve tried to make a difference is with a quilt that I’ve featured in Quilt Love based on this idea. It’s a quilt I love and have made for people (and the occasional dog) when I know they need some comfort and warmth.

It can be made from leftover pieces of fabric, a blanket or two and is really easy to make. It’s a great way to use up old clothing, or fabric stashes. With the help of a few friends it can put it together in an afternoon and make a real difference to someone in need.

I’ll be hosting a drop-in ‘making‘ event for everyone to put together quilts and I’d be delighted to invite you and your friends to come along to:

The very lovely Raystitch, Islington, London - Monday 29th October from 10am-10pm.

If anyone would like to come along they just need to book a space by contacting Raystitch on 020 7704 1060 or info@raystitch.co.uk.

If you can't make it, you can download the pattern free here. Make it, share it with friends, families or colleagues. I hope that you and they will be able to create something together for someone you know (or maybe don't know).

Last but not least, you can also be involved by simply sending some fabric. We need pieces of fabric that are around 33cm wide. Anything you could slip into an envelope would be great. Or you can donate blankets or larger volumes of cloth - just need to get in touch.

All the quilts we make will simply be given to someone in need – someone on the street, someone suffering a loss or someone that just needs to be noticed.

I hope to see some of you on the 29th.

On napping

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:32:00 +0000

On a little shoot today, this makes me want to have a nap....

Some sneaky peaks

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Just two of the projects from Quilt Love - two of my favourite quilts. Tomorrow I have exciting news for a great event that's happening at the end of the month - yes it's about the book, but actually it's so much more than that. I'd like lots of busy hands, because it will make lots of people happy.

Two Roads

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:47:00 +0000

I've had several interviews over the last few months - mostly to talk about Quilt Love, but some just about me. I've discovered that changing your path, or defining your own path seems to make other people hopeful that they too could be the different/better version of themselves they dream of. It's not easy, in fact sometimes it's agonising, but I know that not catching the train to somebody elses office five days a week, has made me not only happier but truer.

Six fireplaces

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:48:00 +0000

When you buy a period property, you usually want some period features. Estate agents are desperate to point out even a whiff of these features if they exist. Maybe some cornicing or corbels not yet destroyed or original panelled doors not yet replaced by ghastly mdf. Oh - wooden floors - yes please.

What we really hope for of course, is a fireplace. We don't even seem to mind if it doesn't work. We just want the idea that our room has a central point to gather around and somewhere to celebrate our existence. We want somewhere to put precious items on and somewhere to hang our 'good' art or mirrors. We also want a proud place for birthday cards and party invitations, ticket stubs and favourite photos. It's never really just a fireplace, but more a central focus of our home and family. If we can light it up and truly gather round the hearth while it crackles away - well life would be pretty good.

So imagine our delight when we found our home - We have six!

Our living room has two marble fireplaces - that work. They straddle either end of the bookshelves and hold our favourite things.

Our bedroom fireplace holds Ed's treasured pots and a favourite photograph of my sister and I as a child.

F's bedroom fireplace holds the first piece of 'proper' pottery she bought for herself - she has good taste - and a special jug from New Zealand.

The fireplace in Ed's study is in a state of - well a state really - but we love it just like it is.

And the kitchen fireplace - we still can't quite believe that it was still here - well that has the very important job of storing wine and hiding Mr Darcy's tennis balls.....

For the love of books

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:25:00 +0000

This is just lovely. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all books could be made like this.

Mollie Makes - book excerpt

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 06:56:00 +0000

In this issue of Mollie Makes, (I think subscribers received it over the weekend) you can make the lovely quilt above. It is of course from Quilt Love and is the first quilt in the book. I hope you like it.

Tunnel vision

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Renovating a home is not easy full stop. Renovating over a very limited time (four months), with a limited resource makes it tougher. When you are doing most of the work yourself whilst writing and making a second book, working on the launch of the first plus other important work - well ridiculous.

I've ripped out walls (thank you pilates), built kitchens, filled, sanded, painted, drawn electrical and plumbing plans, fired cabinet makers, delighted in my super electrician, plasterer and plumber, bought more furniture (some new,some old, some rickety) than I thought we would ever need - and somehow we are almost finished. I was very happy when the leaking roof stopped leaking into the studio and euphoric when we actually had a downstairs roof - although the company who put in the glass roof had me in tears most days. Simple things such as 25 cracked or broken panes of glass have been replaced and suddenly the rooms stop looking so shabby. F's room has changed colour three times - the last I mixed myself and it looks like a beautiful mill pond.

We have a beautiful large bedroom with glass doors, which I created from two small and vile rooms and we delight in our simple linen curtains (yes I made them) and our working fireplace. We have a dining conservatory where we eat under the sky and this makes me ridiculously happy. We finally have special pieces of art on the wall that had nowhere to go before and of course all the books are out.

So, I'm almost done, and then I'll be back in a week or so and I'll be wearing a dress instead of filthy t-shirts and combat trousers.

We've got a beautiful book to launch, another lovely one to shoot, our first patterns coming out and a new website - oh and a holiday!

What I really want to know is why am I looking at dilapidated farms on the internet................

Charleston event

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:29:00 +0000

You can book now for our special day at Charleston. It's going to be lovely.

£95.00

Tuesday 2 October

10am - 5pm

Bound by the threads that hold them together, patchwork quilts 
represent so many different areas of life. By including treasured 
threads in your own patchwork quilt you can begin to create a way of 
capturing your memories. In past workshops, the scraps of people's lives
 have been included to emotive effect; from wedding dresses, to collars 
of city shirts to children’s worn denim. Rummage through the drawers of 
fabric you have at home, from times gone by, and give their content a 
new lease of life. The comfort of these blankets extends beyond their 
surface appearance.

Includes artisan lunch

Home love

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:26:00 +0000

Coming to the end(ish) of our renovations, I looked through my inspiration images this morning. This one image sums up what I wanted our home to feel like. Simple - but with detail, light - and lots of it, craftman-ship aplenty, art and somewhere to sit. It doesn't mean our home looks like this, but I hope it feels like this.

Mollie Makes

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:14:00 +0000

This is pretty exciting. A very lovely article in the new issue of Mollie Makes. The best bit, is that it actually sounds like me (without the 'swear words') and that's all you can ask really. I'll be packing several off to my mother for her show and tells!

In a couple of weeks, we start on the new studio which will be a lovely space for teaching. Up high with lots of light and much bigger than before. I should do 'before' photographs, but I'm not good at sharing ugliness. Needless to say I'm looking forward to the magic of Micky the plasterer, the transformative glory of Farrow & Ball, and the delight of shopping excursions at 4am to the fairs.
Notice how I have glossed over the back breaking sanding, painting, hoisting three flights etc etc. Nobody needs to hear about that! (nobody also needs to hear about the incessant drilling that is a constant companion here either)

So thank you Mollie Makes. It's a wonderful magazine and I'm pretty chuffed to be in it.

And the UK cover....

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:07:00 +0000

You won't miss this!

I'm buried and I mean buried under deadlines and dust. I think once the plasterer and the carpenter leave at the end of today, life will be better - until Tuesday when the conservatory men arrive for another ten days. No dust with them though, so a triumph as far as I'm concerned. Lily is sporting a dust brush look and I can't even comment on myself, but the carpenter tells me I look particularly tired this week...................

It will be gorgeous though, and the studio at the top of the house very gorgeous indeed.

Hope you like the cover. Pink is the new black....

Mr Darcy makes his book debut!

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:59:00 +0000

Here is the US cover of Quilt Love. Mr Darcy was only wee then - so well behaved for what is usually a very naughty dog. Lily - not so much, so no appearance from her anywhere. The US cover is really different to the UK version, but the content is exactly the same (with imperial of course). Unbelievably you can already pre-order it here.

Synopsis below:

Few of us are fortunate enough to have a handmade quilt handed down through our family. In Quilt Love, Cassandra Ellis teaches her freeform design techniques, which rely in part on intuition and improvisation, to enable you to create a contemporary heirloom. Cassandra takes a refreshing, non-intimidating approach to quilting. She demonstrates how to use your eye and trust your instincts to gather together fabrics that remind you of a special time, person or occasion. This wonderful collection of 20 projects is presented in four chapters ‘Big Events’, ‘Love’, ‘Friendship’ and ‘Memories’. In addition to full-size quilts that are true labours of love, there are simple designs that you can complete in a couple of hours, including cushions, framed artworks, a tote bag, a pet blanket and a simple curtain. It is also possible to improvise – patches from any of the designs can be sewn up to make a cushion cover, for example, or used as the building blocks for more elaborate designs. Piecing together patchwork and quilts is the perfect opportunity to recycle fabric and use up scraps to make something beautiful and significant. Cassandra shows how to incorporate fragments of fabric that have special meaning, using a piece that you love as the starting point and core of your design. This could be a cherished item of clothing, a tablecloth or curtain, a piece of embroidery, or specially chosen contemporary fabric that excites you – whatever you love the look of.

New class dates!

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:58:00 +0000

Here we go!

Sunday 22nd April

Sunday 3rd June

Sunday 15th July

Sunday 2nd September

Handmade

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:56:00 +0000

I'm standing at the kitchen counter, one foot on Mr Darcy's lead. Our house is packed up and being crammed into a very large truck to be unloaded 1/2 mile away this afternoon. It's very odd standing in a boxed up house isn't it? You can't do anything really. Mr D isn't very impressed as he can see open streets and would much rather be running free than be tethered to my foot.

Packing our things over the last two days we have been ruthless. Only lovely things are coming - special things, the stuff that makes you happy - for me this mostly means handmade and usually, but not always, old.

Even F has caught the bug at 11. The pink plastic got turfed, in fact all the plastic got turfed. Bags were handed over - 'I don't want this stuff Cass'. I said nothing.......

So when we move, it's another chance to get closer and closer to my 'handmade' ideal of home and that is pretty exciting.

Why a kitchen should not look like a KITCHEN

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:05:00 +0000

I'm working on the plans for our new kitchen - mainly because there won't be one when we move into our new house. This I'm not keen on as a long term solution.

I think something unpleasant has happened to kitchens. They've become the source of enormous expense and expanse, and almost make every other living room in the house redundant. So the more I look at kitchens, the more I don't like the idea of what they have become.

I've been in kitchens with enormous 'islands' - so big in fact that there was no room for a table. Everything had to be carried up two flights of stairs to be able to sit down, or - and this is not a good alternative - meals were taking standing up at said island. I've been in kitchens where an average looking MDF kitchen cost more than the extension that was created for it, and I've visited kitchens where over-design has created a room and environment which does not belong to the house or the lives of those in it.

A kitchen is quite simply somewhere to store food, cook and then eat. It doesn't need to be a statement, it just needs to be very comfortable, user friendly and somewhere that you can all share in the delights of delicious food. It is important, but it doesn't need to be second mortgage inducing.

Good quality and healthy appliances are an excellent start to a great kitchen as are sharp knives and decent cookware. Enough bench space to prepare what you need and a big sink to hide the aftermath. A table to sit for family and friends, and somewhere for the pets to laze (if you have them of course). And that's about it. You can choose the finishes you like, but step away from Kitchen Design companies and think about actually what you want it to be.

A few images of inspiration for me, but find what you love - something that works within the bones and heart of your own home.

Piano

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:35:00 +0000

There is something wrong when you can buy a walnut 1850's, beautifully tuned, lovely sounding piano for £25. Yes there is a small wood repair needed, but surely £25???? I bought it yesiree.

You would struggle to buy a cushion from the high street for that. I'm not sure which makes me a little glummer.

I may have to buy a trumpet too......

Goodbye house, hello home

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:43:00 +0000

In a flash - we sold the house and bought a new home. It's much bigger, far grottier and just around the corner. The bones are in place, there's space for a piano and views of the city. A conservatory (currently leaking) to bring in more sun and more walls than we have art - ahem - currently. Everything we already own will come with us and it will be lovely to see where it all lands this time. There are more landings for Darcy to lie down on, and shallower stairs so we don't watch Lily careering down them with our hearts in our mouths (a small dog flying through the air, is not, I repeat not, good for your health). Ed has a 'den' where all the guitars can come out and play and I have an enormous studio at the top of the house. Sounds good to start with.

I refuse to take my rose tinted glasses off until I absolutely have to deal with - no kitchen, dodgy wiring, holes in walls, a desolate garden, nowhere for the books and half built rooms - did I mention the leaking conservatory?????

Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (Cassandra) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:27:00 +0000

The lovely Sarah came to a class at the end of last year. Possibly the youngest person that has ever come and definately one of the most enthusiastic. By the end of the class she had designed her own quilt - sketched it, planned it and then plotted it all onto scary looking graph paper.

Here it is - Henry's quilt - Sarah's design and hands and heart. Good isn't it?