It’s common knowledge that a tremendous amount of design inspiration comes from nature – flowers, leaves, fruit, animal skins, insects, textures, colors – the list is endless.   Studying nature can bring a real appreciation for the beauty of textile designs.  But recently I found that textiles had given me a greater appreciation for nature!  There is a type of fabric called Ikat – which is created by dying the yarns before they are put onto the loom and woven into fabric.  The resulting pattern, due to the inevitable shifting of the threads, has a distinctive irregular “flame-stitch” appearance.  Ikats have been one of the hottest trends in fashion, showing up in every type of fabric and product, especially in scarves and wraps.  So my eye was obviously attuned to ikats, when I came upon a “Mother-in-Law’s Tongue” plant.  You can imagine that a plant with a name like that might not normally be considered beautiful, and usually I just walk by these spiky, uncultivated ground covering plants.  But not this time!  All I could think of was how beautiful the pattern on the leaves was and how they looked so in style!  Here are some of our Ikats: the oversized ikat wrap, the ikat floral tunic and the inspirational Mother-in Law’s Tongue!  -Meg