By Yd Scalamandre Sweet Leilani Mango Orange Red Linen Hawaii Grey Watkins MSRP USD 96/Y

The tropical heaven of ocean, fish, lei flowers, coconut trees, pineapple and music. MSRP$96/yard years ago. Similar prints go for $160+/yard now. 49% Cotton,51% Linen
Material Width:54″
Pattern Repeat Width:L: 25 1/4″, W:54″, Weight: heavy, about 0.75lb/yard

New York Times, Sept. 9, 1990:

“For her designs for Grey Watkins, a New York City textile company she joined in 1986, Ms. Merritt spends several weeks a year studying plants in natural habitats or in botanical gardens. A design to be introduced in 1992 depicts rare orchids hanging in clusters.

She spent part of this summer and last in Hawaii, drawing orchids on Oahu. ”I can always find an individual orchid,” Ms. Merritt said, ”but I want to see how they grow on a tree.

She reworked the design so that the motif could be repeated on a piece of fabric. For the orchid design, 32 colors were required. The painting took six months and hand engraving, to be done in France, will employ 32 color plates and take nine months.

Ms. Merritt, whose real name is Susan Webb, grew up in Lincoln City, Ore. She received a master’s degree in painting and set design from the Chicago Institute of Art and later joined Brunschwig & Fils, where she interpreted antique documents. At Grey Watkins, she uses the name Leslie Merritt to distinguish her work there from her work at Brunschwig.

In 1988 she won a Roscoe Award for the best product design in traditional textiles. The award was given by the Resources Council, a trade organization.

”I’m interested only in unusual botanicals,” she said. ”The world has more than enough roses and pansies.”