A Minor Øbsession

Tag: fabric

  • Can we talk about trophy fabric?

    Can we talk about trophy fabric?

    Anna Spiro introduces Trophy Fabric in her book “Absolutely beautiful things” . It’s the idea of a fabric so joyful it makes your heart do a little tap dance and then leads all other colour and design choices. I’m not even slightly ashamed to admit I was smitten. Yes, I probably need to get out more.

    “ When selecting fabrics for a room, I always start with something I call the “trophy fabric”. It is usually patterned, will have lots of colours and, despite it’s bravado, might only be used for a cushion or on a small stool”
    Anna Spiro

    Anna Spiro Absolutely Beautiful Things Book

    It’s something I’ve always done without thinking and I’ve noticed the many quilters do it too. Pick your hero fabric, then choose everything else to fall in line with it.

    The magic of the trophy fabric is that it becomes your palette cheat sheet…

    … informing decisions across rooms, finishes and pieces. It needs to be multicoloured, and the more colours, the more coordinating options. Trouble is, amongst the 50 shades of beige, the good ones are hard to find.

    You can see examples of this in many a designer’s moodboard, one textile anchoring the whole scheme.


    I did it for our guest room after falling in love with this beauty…

    This week I’m on another trophy fabric hunt. In true creative form, I’ve done things backwards having already selected cornflower blue, cypress green and linen.

    We’ll call it a tight brief, shall we?

    The first contender is Warwick’s Picton velvet in sorbet. I’m liking the little pops of coral and peach and the organic nature of the print but I’m not done searching yet.

    From the looks of this pic I should probably hunt for the iron too!

    Suggestions? Favourites? What piece of trophy fabric have you fallen in love with?

    Drop a comment below and in the meantime, I’m off to hunt.

    x

  • Where have you been?

    Where have you been?

    That is an excellent question and I’m glad you asked. The short answer is all over the place but let’s start where we left off, shall we? Bonkers Honkers.

    Looking back I think it must have been a moment of madness. Moving to Hong Kong with two small children in 2013 turned life into a contact sport. From the high rises and the busy streets to the incredible markets and expat culture it was amazing, but intense.

    You’re mad, bonkers, off the top of your head…but… I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.“

    Alice in Wonderland

    I was in two worlds all at once. A creative in advertising with SapientRazorfish and founder of Craft Schmaft.

    This would result in me doing things like knitting in torn jeans and trainers in the Cathay Business lounge with a glass of Moet. It was surreal.

    My boys embraced it, taking on the streets inspired by Kung Fu Panda while arguing over the lift buttons. Every. Single. Time.

    These were days of lego, football and first pets… fish from Wanchai who unbeknownst to me had a 7 day life expectancy. Ours lasted 14. Champions!

    One of the things that I LOVED most about bonkers honkers was the fabric. I would take the train over to Kowloon and onto the Sham Shui Po fabric markets. It was the heart of the textiles industry in the 1950s and 60s and is still an absolute treasure trove of notions and silks, fabrics and all sorts.

    We can also pinpoint this moment as my first obsession with tiles. Who would have thought that would happen in Hong Kong but these beauties in a cafe totally captured my heart at the time.

    And that, my friends, was Hong Kong. After a year of traveling between Singapore and Hong Kong for work (now that was a commute) I was offered a regional role and we relocated to Singapore.

    I still miss the vibe of Hong Kong and I can tell you I’ll be squeezing in a trip to Sham Shui Po on our whirlwind visit in 2026 but until then… 多謝你嘅美好回憶

    (thank you for the beautiful memories)