Hello! Peeking in through the raindrops…oh the stories I could tell of the last few months! At the tail end of all the big projects…I am at last turning inward to the simple joys of handling sumptious antique linens… dyeing, tacking and stitching them. My favorite pale blue chairs absolutely MUST be reupolstered. My husband grumbles every time he sits in the worst one…sinking a perilous six inches into the creaking frame. Wendy Lewis has become a good friend, and matched enough linen for me to get the job done. All I need now is to confront my trust issues with upholsterers!

A quick rumple of a photo…but I love the colors! I threw this linen piece from Wendy into a vat of black/gray dye. It became the perfect simple cover for the oh, so delicate, peau de soie blue silk underneath when young heathens descended upon us for Thanksgiving. I waited years to upholster this settee…horsehair and springs glaring at me from beneath the seat. I felt it had a certain charm. But on went the expensive silk, and almost immediately after I found the Textile Trunk and fell in love with Wendy’s linens! 

My sister dropped in on Carolyn Quartermaine for me while she visited London several years ago and lugged home a suitcase full of her gorgeous textiles. I had several lovely conversations with Carolyn and assembled a nice swathe of favorites…heavy on the eighteenth century script. The white cotton/linen Script fabric loves a dye bath…and here shows off a classic Quartermaine pink, backed with gray velvet. 

Curtains made from Chateau de Chambord sheets…by the look of them when I first got them they were the scullery maids. But tossed into a murky gray dye bath and they are the perfect inky tone for my office…against the white floors and gray paint. So…you see the gray obsession is as strong as ever.

Wendy’s 18th/early 19th century linen sheets are a work of art. These will never see a dye bath!

Textile Trunk linens waiting to be used…

I used upholster tacks to add another piece of Wendy’s linen to this Gustavian bench from Chelsea textiles here as a change from the green check. I placed the seam off center. Rather than shy away from seams or patches, I adore them now.  

I have made a deliberate attempt to NOT look for any new treasure the last few months…but a few irresistible surprises found me!  I thought I’d stop in and spend the holidays with you, share some favorite sources and give you an update to what I’ve been up to. I’ve opened a Pinterest page here where I’ve started to add some photos and share favorite shops including that of my recent house guest and fellow blogger Jermaine of Maison French Kissed. Happy December!