August Ellery began somewhere between the real and the imagined — blackened lime washed walls (it's a process, but a beautiful one), a garden green counter, painted flowers, ceramic paint palettes, paper things, curious objects, and women at the center of their own creative lives.

It began with drawings and watercolor studies. Botanical fragments. Bright moodboards. Pencil crayons and color charts. Quilts and fabrics. Cats with tiny glasses and very clear opinions.

And then, rather quickly, it became a world.

A little bit storybook.
     A little bit soulful subtext.

And very much for people who still like to make things.

A little history

August Ellery is founded by August Ellery, who has spent more than thirty years creating artful independent brands and developing creative worlds around art, pattern, color and objects.

Over the years, her work has found its way into beautiful shops and stores around the world, including:

Harrods
Neiman Marcus
Nordstrom
Fortnum & Mason
Takashimaya
Terrain
Anthropologie 
Fred Segal
and thousands of beautiful independent stores around the world

as well as 
Oprah's Favorite Things.

But this chapter is wonderfully different.

It is smaller. More personal. A devoted to the anlalog, artfully offline life.

We are building it from the worktable outward, one collection, one color, one beautiful idea at a time.

The little atelier is where it all happens.

This is where we draw, paint, test colors, arrange fabrics, make things that don't quite work, make them again until they do work, and occasionally have a very serious conversation about the right yellow (she's a tough one, that yellow).

After thirty years of designing, August came to quilting with the curiosity of someone learning a new language. Scale, color, pattern, rhythm — all those little negotiations that happen when one fabric meets another.

One pattern can charm. Another can shout. A tiny stripe can suddenly become the diplomat in the room.

And slowly, something begins to make sense.

That is the part we love.

And yes, there really is a real life le petite atelier. 

The artfully offline life

The world is moving all too quickly.

We know, and you know, the things that feed our souls take a little longer.

There is something about stepping away from the screen, looking at the light through the window, putting fabric on a table and making something with your hands.

A quilt.
    A sketch.
         A garden.
                A loaf of bread (ok, we've never made loaves of bread but it would be wonderful...with lots of butter, please).

Making doesn't have to be perfect.
Really, don't start from trying to make something perfect. 

A not-so-great first attempt eventually becomes a very good tenth attempt.

And the attempts are the parts that are the most enjoyable anyway.

We believe in first times. Messy middles. Fresh ideas. Color. Curiosity. Tables covered in fabrics, threads, flowers and irreverent conversations where you can't stop laughing.

We make not because the world needs more stuff...

We make

Because the world needs more beauty.
         More creativity.
                 More connection.

In some ways, we are making our way back to ourselves. Hmmm...