Cushion Cover inspired by Bart van der Leck

I decided that I needed another cushion cover to go with the one which was inspired by Malevich. See my post for November 2014 

A couple of years ago, we visited the Netherlands to tour art galleries and in the Kroger Muller Gallery, amongst others, there were some interesting paintings by Bart van der Leck.  Bart van der Leck was a Dutch painter and  designer. Along with Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian he founded the De Stijl art movement in Amsterdam in 1917. De Stijl means the Style and was also the name of an influential magazine founded by Theo van Doesburg.

This painting attracted me and I thought would be suitable as a design to use.

I used the picture to make a pattern to see if it would be suitable.  I cut up coloured paper strips and arranged them onto a sheet of paper the size of the cushion cover.

Then I wove a number of self coloured bands to cut up to use for the design.

Single colour bands to use for the appliqued cushion cover.

I needed bands in yellow, red, blue and black. I wove a number of bands in different widths.

Cushion cover and paper pattern. 

Here is the finished cushion in place.  I am not altogether satisfied with my interpretation of the design.  I  feel that the design is too cluttered on the cushion.  it would have been improved by adapting the design and restricting it to fewer strips of colour.

So this cover is not as good as I would have liked but has given me further ideas on how to design this type of cover more successfully.




I was thrilled to see my article in the latest Journal for Weavers Spinners and Dyers.  I visited the Russian Museum of Ethnology in St Petersburg and was amazed at their beautiful collection of folk dress and artefacts. The article describes some of the collection and also shows a couple of the belts that I wove once I returned home.  The Lithuanian belt made the back cover of the issue.

Here is the list of contents for the Autumn 2016 edition number 259.  The Journal has fascinating articles with lovely colour pictures.  It is now available as an online edition.

And here is the back cover with the belt that I wove.

Happy weaving.

After September, I have decided to limit my blog to one entry per month so I can concentrate on my weaving.

Susan J Foulkes September 2016