i love lamp + a surprise!

Do you like my lamp? I covered the shade myself yesterday with my new Verano Petals fabric in ink blue, which was immensely satisfying! I think the scale of this pattern works well on a lampshade, and was one of the projects I had in mind when I was designing it.

I used a kit from here, which was quite easy except for the bit where you have to attach the rings ~ I could have used an extra set of hands, but I managed to do it (slowly) by myself. I'm pretty happy with the result ~ it looks like a bought one!

I still have to make a matching one for the other bedside table in our bedroom ... slowly making things a bit more homey here with some splashes of colour (thanks Ikea) and some of my fabric.

And now for the surprise ... you can use the following discount code in the Yardage Design online shop all day today and receive 15% off your order ... enjoy!

YARDAGE

Many more creative spaces here.

Have a great day!

trial, error and going against my sewing instinct

I've finally had time to sew something ~ hooray! I signed up for the bunting swap a while ago and the bunting flags are due to be posted this week, so this was my priority project. I like using these swaps to experiment a bit. I had an idea a while ago about using patchwork, so I started where I always do ~ cutting and sewing strips of fabric (loving these colours together) ...

I'm with Tania about loving the back of patchwork tops ...

Then I thought I might cut these into strips, crossways ...

This is where things start to go a little pear shaped ~ I joined the strips together, creating a tiny patchwork ...

It looks OK, but I think the back looks fab!

So I keep going ... cutting out the bunting template ...

I even join up the offcuts to make another bunting flag, back them and here they are ...

I don't love them, but I don't hate them. My sewing instinct told me to just stick with the strips ~ I think that would have resulted in a better outcome. Still, I enjoyed sewing these, and sometimes you need to do things a little differently every now and again. It was a small amount of fabric (from my new Verano range - available here) and about an hour's work, so not a total waste. I think I will try this again but with the strips ~ I have a new idea in my head.

Happy sewing!

a bunch of flores {flowers}

I've been taking loads of photographs of flowers over the last few weeks ~ mainly in the UK, but also here in Spain. You would never know that autumn is on the way ...

I've loved admiring the variety and colour of the flowers here. I hope these beauties brighten your day. Have a lovely week!

raspberry cream cheese cake ...

I've just made this delicious cake (recipe via retromummy) because sometimes you just need to bake!

This cake is really moist (thanks to all the cream cheese). This is the first time I've baked in the oven in our new/old (built in 1913) apartment and I think I had it a bit too hot. Nevermind, it still tastes great and was exactly what I needed.

The view from our balcony in Madrid ~ catching the last light of the day ...

What's baking at your place?

the west country

It seems like ages ago (but it was actually the weekend before last!) that we had a few days in the UK. Mr Yardage had business meetings in London (shopping, playing and eating for Little Mister and I!) before we set off for a weekend in the west country. Before I get all touristy on you, how lovely is this bunting across the street ...

First stop was Bristol. I have been wanting to visit Bristol for years as Mr Yardage used to come here all the time for work and at once stage we thought of actually moving here. It's a lovely city - understated, on a steep hill and was once the engineering hub of Britain. This is the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge designed by Brunel ...

Next we drove to nearby Malmesbury to visit friends. Malmesbury must be the quintessential english villiage ~ ancient, beautiful streets, lovely people. I could live here. Seriously.

It is possible that I am addicted to these beautiful hanging baskets of flowers ...

The next day we went to Bath. We've been to Bath before (many years ago) so didn't feel the need to do too many touristy things. Instead we checked in here ...

... Downton Abbey. Just kidding (though that would have been nice too!) ~ this is the Bath Spa Hotel and it is lovely! Set on huge, landscaped grounds high above the town, it was so relaxing. This is the view of the town from the steps ...

Anyway, back to something a bit craftier! While in Bath I managed a visit to The Makery ~ a gorgeous sewing/handmade shop in the centre of Bath. I was thrilled to find a stash of great crafty mags to stock up on as well as chat to the lovely ladies behind the counter. I didn't have my camera, but here are some instagram pics of this lovely shop ...

Inside ~ a table of haberdashery "candy" ~ buttons and beads and spindles and other odds and ends!

I promise that this is not going to become a travel blog. We have just moved to Madrid and my sewing machine (and everything else) arrives today, so that should result in a bit of creativity soon ... fingers crossed!

Have a lovely day!

iconic

This flag is great ~ the design, the colours ~ iconic. When I'm in this country I almost feel like I'm home ... almost! More pics from our latest quick trip to the UK tomorrow.

circa quilt

As you know, I love seeing what people make with my fabric. It was wonderful to recently receive a photo of a lovely quilt made out of Yardage Design deep red circa fabric, made by an equally lovely customer. The stripes of block colours break it up well, and the diamond quilting looks fantastic. I think I might "borrow" that idea for my next quilt!

Thanks so much for your photo Glenys ~ I hope your grandson loves it as much as I do!
Check out what other people have made with Yardage Design handprinted fabric here.
Have a great Tuesday!

navy + red ... and a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my spring giveaway and told told me  their favourite colour combinations ~ you will be seeing some of those "in the ink" over the coming months! For now, I am indulging in one of my favourite colour combo's ... navy and red ... applied to my retro canisters tea towel ...

The crispness of these two colours together (I think) really works ~ red is always hard to resist for me, and navy always looks smart. I did a very small print run of these tea towels, and they are available in the shop now ~ be quick if you'd like one.

And now ... the lucky (random) winner of the spring giveaway is ....

Melinda from Paperklip! Congratulations!

I hope everyone has a spiffy week!

five minute project ... tick!

Take a store bought, felt laptop protector (this one was from Typo) and snazz up with a bit of fabric (Yardage Design {exclaim} in cherry red) ... a super fast sewing project and a nice result, I think!

This was my first sewing project on my little sewing machine that I bought a week or two ago ... it's an Alfa ... Spanish made and pretty basic (I bought the el cheapo version!), but it does the job well ...

More creative spaces here, every Thursday!

A quick reminder - if you haven't already, pop over and enter my Mollie Makes giveaway!

my insta-week

I am in love with Instagram ... I love the filters and the convenience of snapping away on my iphone when I'm without the big camera. This was my week - recorded via Instagram ...

Apartment hunting in Madrid

Date night in the Plaza Mayor

Squirrels in the beautiful Parque del Retiro

The huge metal Toro on the road to Madrid

Ancient monument visiting in small villages

Sunrise on the way to Madrid

It's going to be another hectic week ahead, but full of new things to see and do, so not too bad! I may even get some time to sew - fingers crossed! Have a great week!

P.S. If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my giveaway!