autumn

Yesterday I spent some time in beautiful Retiro Park, which is just a couple of blocks from where we live here in Madrid. The morning sunlight and crisp air were restorative, and provided the perfect setting to snap some images of autumn arriving ...

Enjoy the weekend!

delayed reaction

Yardage Design was in the Herald Sun Home magazine on 10 September. I wasn't there to see it on the day, but my friend Pam kindly posted me a couple of copies. This all happened weeks ago and then the mags got buried under some stuff in my (messy) little craft room. They were uncovered during the huge clean-up I had yesterday, so I scanned them. For those that missed it or didn't see it, here it is ...

Thanks to Karen for being such a wonderful interviewer and writing such lovely words. I was chuffed to say the least.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! We're going to be busy preparing for the arrival of family all the way from Australia next week ~ can. not. wait. In semi-not-really-related news, if you are an Australian visiting Madrid and I happen to hear your accent, I WILL just start talking to you ~ as happened today much to the amusement of the Aussie family concerned!

a beautiful baby wrap ...

This baby wrap was made by another clever Yardage Design customer and blogger ~ Jackie from Fred & Cissy. Jackie is expecting a little one very soon (teddy is just a stand-in!), so has been busy with some of my Swizzle fabric (deep red on natural) and some knit fabric ...

I love it - stylish and practical. Pop over to Jackie's blog post for more on how she made it, including a tutorial link. Thanks Jackie! More things people have made using my fabric here.

my place + yours ... my pin cushion!

I'm joining in with Vic and the gang in the my place + yours meme ... I probably should seeing I suggested this week's theme, which is .... show us ya pin cushion!

This pin cushion came with me from Melbourne, along with a few other sewing/crafty things that I could fit. It's handprinted and handmade, but not by me. I was the lucky recipient of this pin cushion in the Fox's Lane pin cushion swap way back in April 2010. This one was made by Ruth at Little Tree Bird.

This pin cushion has been in use since I received it. In my studio I have a few pin cushions floating around, but I packed just this one. It's a worker, it's small, and it reminds me of home and lovely bloggers.

It has all the usual pins and needles in it. I had to buy some big darning needles to fix the seat of a leather lounge the other day. The set I bought also came with the really neat curved needle you can see at the back. The needle with the blue embroidery thread in it was used just before I took these photographs to mend Little Mister's new backpack ... three days of use and the loop that hangs the bag on the wall had broken. All fixed now.

So there you have it! I hope you join in too and show us your pin cushion ~ visit Vic for everything you need to know.

isn't she lovely ...

It is so wonderful to see what people make with my fabric ~ it is truly one of the best parts of being a designer. This gorgeous handpainted doll by Jennie of A Little Vintage has been made and dressed using one of my Bits'n'Pieces Fabric Packs. How cute is the faux fur shawl (which is even lined in my agapanthus fabric!) and the boots ... !

I managed to snap this doll up for myself after I saw it on Jennie's blog, but if you ask nicely, you may be able to get something similar. You can see what other clever people have made using my fabric on this page (see tab at the top of this blog).

Have a brilliant week!

a sterling find ...

I found this beautiful silver, delicate, flower dish at the Bermondsey Antique Market a few weeks ago in London. It's a great little market ~ antiques, vintage stuff, and lots of silver.

The seller told me that this piece is Scandinavian and made in the early part of the twentieth century. Who knows if that's true or not! I just like it ~ the detail is amazing.

This is one of the loveliest things I have bought for myself for a very long time. It certainly wasn't a bargain at ninety pounds, but it was one of those times when I saw it and knew I had to have it!

More lovely finds over at Flea Market Finds today!

Have a lovely Sunday!

P.S. Half price pre-cut fat quarters of my handprinted fabric in the shop today ~ here!

$10 fat quarters this weekend!

That's right ... $10 (half price) pre-cut fat quarters in the shop this weekend ~ pop in early to snap up a bargain! Get your own bit of Yardage Design handprinted fabric ~ each fat quarter is 50cm x 70cm. Make a quilt, a bag, a cushion ... I can't wait to see!

Happy sewing!

embroidery

I'm teaching myself how to embroider. Nothing fancy, just some stitches around one of my petals motifs for a little project I'm hatching. I'm using this book to give me ideas and show me how to do some of the stitches, but mostly I'm just winging it. I'm really enjoying it ~ I've discovered that embroidery is very relaxing as long as you embrace the wonk!

Have a great weekend!

you just never know what you might find ...

... when you check out the bargain section at the local supermarket!

This set of metal alphabet punches was found yesterday for ten euro on the bargain shelves of the giant supermarket where I stop most mornings after dropping Little Mister Yardage at school.

Looking forward to playing some more with these ... card making ... screenprinting ... lots of possibilities!

More creativity here, as always.

P.S. This is my 500th blog post ~ who'd have thunk it!

wordless wednesday ...

Joining in here today.

and the winner is ...

... Erica S! Congratulations Erica ~ you are the randomly picked winner of The Liberty Book of Home Sewing Giveaway ~ the book will be on your doorstep soon! Thanks to everyone for their lovely ideas on what they would make with Liberty ~ happy sewing!

little yardage patterns

Last night after dinner, Little Mister Yardage and I were sitting at the table drawing. He likes to try and draw what I draw, and insists on a black pen and blank paper "just like Mum". He was drawing all sorts of things, but started with flowers and a spider (major spider and Spiderman love in our house!). I scanned them after he went to bed and started playing with patterns ...

A Little Yardage original! I'm very tempted to print this one. It's nice to be inspired by your family. This was the original drawing ...

Cheers!

red bunting flags

Remember the stencil-cut bunting flags I screenprinted a while ago? Well, they've been sewn up into (my last two) bunting flags for the bunting swap ...

I did one flag as it was - printed in red. The other was a "misprint" that I thought I might overstitch the printing "imperfections" with the variegated thread I got last week. Typically, I like this one more than the real print - it's got texture, colour and personality!

Wishing you a  creative week! (Reminder ~ you have until midnight tonight to enter my Liberty Book of Home Sewing Giveaway)

my life is complete*

Liberty of London retweeted one of my tweets about the card I made using their fabrics yesterday ~ that is HUGE in my little crafty world! I have been a Liberty fabric lover since I was a schoolgirl. Social media can be amazing. Good day! Thanks Liberty! You can follow Yardage Design on twitter here, and Liberty of London here!

*In a very small way for a few minutes ~ I'm not quite that shallow!

on my shelf

I'm joining in with Vic's most excellent My Place & Yours meme which this week has the theme - on the shelf. This is one of the shelves in my food cupboard ~ the shelf with some of my favourite things on it ...

As you can see, it's a mixture of Australian, Spanish and British foods. The sliced bread I like here is made by a company called Bimbo - it makes me smile EVERY time! There are a couple of good British food shops here in Madrid, and the big supermarkets also have an "international" section, so we can get most things we miss like Vegemite, golden syrup and the occasional biscuit!

Pop over to Vic's to see what's on everyone else's shelves, or to join in!

it's never too early to start loving liberty ...

A quick bit of Liberty fabric choosing (the best bit), cutting and stitching, and we have a cute, handmade card for the birthday girl tomorrow!

Have a crafty weekend!

P.S. Only a couple of days left to enter my giveaway to win a copy of The Liberty Book of Home Sewing ...

crafty choices

Today I found a patchwork shop. Sounds simple enough ~ they are pretty abundant at home, but here not so much. This little patchwork shop is tucked away in a side street - full of fabrics and haberdashery and sewing machines and ladies crafting at a big table. I didn't want to take a picture ~ it was great just watching Spanish women go about their crafting ~ chattering and laughing. This shop was small but busy - people dropping in saying hello, picking up things. It was a hive of activity, it was heartening and it was lovely. Aside from all of that, it gives me a place to get things I need to make stuff. I now have choices in the type of thing I can make because I have a place to buy the supplies. Priceless.

I couldn't resist this variegated thread today.

Wishing you a great Friday!

bunting satisfaction

At last, I have finished (redone) my bunting flags for the swap ...

This time, I stuck to my sewing instincts and used strips of my Verano fabric, which still gives the patchwork effect I was after, but is less complicated and "busy". I love the colour combination of crimson, navy and sea green ~ I'm thinking about doing a larger scale quilt in these fabrics. Now I have to get these babies into some envelopes and mail them to their new homes ... only a tad late!

Much more creativity here today.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my blogtoberfest giveaway for a chance to win The Liberty Book of Home Sewing ~ go here to enter!

wordless wednesday ...

found: sewing boxes

For a country that doesn't sew much, I've been astounded to find two of the cutest little sewing boxes. The latest was found today ...

It's made from bamboo with little compartments inside for all your bits and bobs, and the lid is engraved with buttons, scissors and needles. I found it at a homewares store called A Loja Do Gato Preto, which I think is Portuguese for The Black Cat Store. You can buy lots of cat stuff there - strange store.

I found this bright red button box a few weeks ago at Habitat which is a UK chain with stores here. This box is just about perfect for me ~ round, red, shiny, useful ~ I absolutely love it!

Does anyone else get a thrill from collecting sewing related "stuff"?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my blogtoberfest giveaway for a chance to win The Liberty Book of Home Sewing ~ go here to enter!