Josef Frank and Astrid's chair

"The home does not need to be planned out in detail, just put together by pieces its inhabitants love."

Josef Frank

That lovely quote is a lead in to my show-and-tell today...... the fabric I bought last week to cover our version of the Astrid chair, which is pictured below. I searched and found nothing in the furnishing section, until my favourite cotton stall had one roll of this gorgeous fabric winking at me. I just felt it was a Josef Frank wannabe.

I loved his fabrics 22 years ago when we lived for a few months north of Stockholm. But at the time I could not justify the expense of buying a few metres. Now at 1290 swedish krone ($180 or £120) a metre I wish I had bought some as an investment!! 

My fabric is not trying to be a copy but is more in the spirit of. 
I think it will look stunning on the Astrid chairs, don't you?

Here is the chair again to remind you!

Josef Frank was an Austrian/Swedish architect, who though born in Austria, moved to Sweden in 1933. For more than 30 years he was the main designer for the renowned Swedish furnishings firm of Svensk Tenn. 

He advocated a more humane form of Modernism than was popular in the 1930’s, believing that designs needed to respect people’s needs and allow for historical influences. I think eclectic is the perfect word to use to describe his designs which are colourful, imaginative, modern yet look back to a more poetic time. They really are timeless.

"There's nothing wrong with mixing old and new, with combining different furniture styles, colours, patterns. Anything that is in your taste will fuse to form an entire relaxing environment." Josef Frank

Cost is not everything but it does give me a warm feeling inside to know that I paid less than £2 or $3 a metre for my fabric at Beijing's fabric market. In fact maybe I should go back to buy the rest of the roll in case any of you would like some too!

I love how Svensk Tenn describe his fabrics as "concealing a wealth of details to help restore a feeling of harmony and well being."

I think that will be the rationale behind my next quilt!!!

 "Every human needs a certain degree of sentimentality to feel free." 

Josef Frank

What a great thought to leave you with for today.

Fabrics galore

What a great time I had yesterday at one of my fave places to shop in Beijing - Mu Xi Yuan  (the fabric market). 

This little mosaic captures a few elements of my day. Never a dull moment... whether it is the offloading huge bales of fabric or the sweet little boy all wrapped against the icy temperatures (that is a lollipop in his mouth!)

Just a few of the fabrics that came home with yesterday and yes I did find a wonderful fabric to cover Astrid's chair with... more of that later.

Been very busy all day sewing - a surprise that will be revealed on Friday.

When you come to Beijing and have seen the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, this is the next wonder to behold. It stretches for acres and even though they keep knocking parts down there never seems to be a day that I can't find fabric to buy.

I just wanted to say how much it means to me to see friends faces as followers - thankyou. You make my day .... everyday. Have a great one.

Astrid's Chair

Wow!

When I opened Anthropologie's latest email, the name "Astrid's chair" caught my eye.... my eldest daughter is also called Astrid. So I had to click and see what chair Astrid should be sitting in, and this beautiful chair appeared on my screen - just perfect for my beautiful daughter.

Now take a look at these chair frames -made by our very talented friend "Mr Summer"- a chinese master craftsman in furniture. Do you see a similarity? Well obviously they are waiting for me to find the right fabric to cover them in!

So they remain undressed at the moment - just waiting for me to venture to my favourite place in Beijing - the fabric market! I don't think I will find orange dahlia's - but who knows? Maybe next week the temperatures will rise enough to make it bearable to be outdoors browsing the thousands of bolts. I'll keep you posted!

This is the original french antique chair that provided the inspiration - seen better days.

Take a look at Anthropologie's spring preview. Just wish they were in Beijing! Still I see they have their first store in Europe in London - so maybe we can visit them when we are back in February!

Enjoy the weekend - great day for staying inside and looking forward to a thaw!

Check out Astrid's gorgeous blog here

photos: Anthropologie and Ingrid Duffy