They Sewed A House!

Wouldn't you love to live in a little crocheted house? One created from vintage linens pieced together into an artistic retreat?  It seems like a dream from a childhood fairy tale...but it's real!  I don't know about you, but as a lover of vintage linens, I think a night in here would be something close to magical.

The house is in Searsport, Maine, in the studio of Astrig Tanguay, fiber artist and friend. We were lucky enough to get a tour yesterday afternoon when we stopped by on the way home from a week's vacation "DownEast". Astrig and her husband, Steve, operate our favorite campground, Searsport Shores... an oceanfront fairyland where they combine their love of art, organic gardening, food and fun to welcome summer friends for vacations full of what Astrig calls "creative play". This year, they have built an art studio on the property and have invited weekly artists-in-residence to Searsport to share their craft with the lucky campers.

Astrig and Steve faced the challenge of housing the resident artists by creating a house-within-a-house in the loft of the new art studio. Fiber artist, Laurie Sims, whose specialty is crochet and embroidery, worked with them to collect vintage linen pieces, make some of their own, and sew up this cozy little house. The house is named "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Laurie created this little piece of embroidery to welcome future residents to the space.

Once Steve built the frame...

Fiber artist Laurie Sims and friends proceeded to hand sew old doilies and vintage bits of this and that to canvas to create walls, windows, ceiling...

 and even a little embroidery-covered skylight.

Lace drifts from above a little bed dressed with a vintage coverlet and handmade pillows...

While a little desk creates a quiet place for journaling.

Here is the flap of embroidery that serves as a door...with a lace peacock window to the left...

embellished with beaded trims from vintage clothing.

Astrig said that creating the artist's retreat from the piles of vintage doilies she had collected reminded her of  "playing with snowflakes...without the cold hands".

Another lacy window looks over the gardens...

While doilies and glass balls create magic on the ceiling...

 And little stitched quotations dance around on the walls.

In the garden outside the studio, Laurie has crocheted little fairy dresses that hang from the trees and blow in the ocean breeze...all out of weatherproof fibers.

Every visit to Searsport Shores is magical but this one tops them all so far...I am blown away by the creativity, and the magic, that went into creating this little artist's retreat. We all blog about living with our art and vintage treasures, but Steve and Astrig have taken it a step further...they have figured out a way to actually live IN them!

Much to the dismay of DH, who knows how I get when I see an idea for another project, I am already canvasing our house trying to figure out where I could fit in a little crocheted retreat of my own. Anybody got some extra doilies they don't need?

If you'd like to read more about Searsport Shores and Astrig's talented fiber artist friends, here are some links I think you'll enjoy: 

Fiber College at Searsport Shores

Fiber College Facebook Page

Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground

Because I think this crocheted house is so amazing, I'm linking it up to lots of parties this week...I hope you'll visit some of these blogs:

Air Your Laundry Textile Party at Freckled Laundry

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show & Share Day at Just A Girl

Sew Darn Crafty Party at Sew Many Ways

Home Sweet Home Party at The Charm of Home

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch