The two are not related though. First the book. I just got Diane Lampe's Embroidery for All Seasons this week.

This is a lovely book. It's a compilation of her three previous books into one. I won't say too much about it yet, as I plan to write a little review of it for the magazine, but first things first! I must test some of her designs.

I started my Biology Sampler this week. I'm not going to give away all of it at this point!

So, I'm giving away almost nothing. ;) It will take a few more days to fisnish this one up. There is quite a bit to be stitched on it. Since this is a bit more simple style of embroidery, I am playing around with colors and threads that I don't always get a chance to use!

I'm stitching away as much as I can this weekend, I hope you are too!

After I finished my two exhibition pieces, I thought it was time to revisit the bunny book that I didn't quite finish. I have sewn each one together with a light layer of padding and a back piece which I folded over to the front and sewed down. It's quite simple. Now I just need to figure out the cover and sew the whole thing together. Perhaps I can do that this weekend. The pieces have been sitting around for months moved here and there out of the way, just waiting for me to get back to them. I think the little book will be cute though, so I will find time to finish it.

I spent all of January and many extra hours last week working on my two projects for the hand embroidery network exhibition. It ought to have been posted on the 1st, but it hasn't yet and no word when yet. Hopefully by tomorrow, I put a lot of effort into my projects, and it isn't that easy for me to keep from posting them much longer! ;)

It's past time I worked on a few things for the site that have been on my mind for awhile now. First, I'm working on my online magazine again. It's been hmm... 3 months or something since I made any new articles. I had to put it on hold a bit while adjusting to new schedules and other distractions, but hopefully things will be more settled now. The other thing that was bothering me was my picture quality, but I don't have that excuse anymore since I got a fancy, new camera for Christmas. Anyways, I have a few ideas for articles, so they should be coming along soon.

Related to my magazine, is something else that I've been thinking to do too. I really like showcasing people's projects in my magazine, and of course, I always intended to do more interviews with stitchers also. I've only managed two since I started! So, I have started a Flickr group hopefully to make it easier to find people willing to share their pictures. I've named it Stitch Club. All pictures of your stitching projects are welcome!

Finally, I am adjusting the commenting on this blog. I have been a bit ambivalent in how to deal with them. I don't want a bunch of spammers, and I don't really like the captchas either. I have been fluctuating between allowing them on some posts and not on others. So, I will keep them on, and the link directly to the comment box is below each post now, but all comments will be held over for moderation. It's really the best way to handle them. This way I can leave off the captcha since I know some people have had problems with it.

I won't show my latest WIP yet, because it's a secret! It's an exhibition project. ;) Here are a few wintery pics to enjoy instead.

Making some embroidered landscapes is one of the things I want to try to learn to do this year. This little ATC is my first attempt. It's ok, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the colors I chose. The flowery section and the browns behind it don't quite work well together. But it's just a first try, so next one will be better! I'm not sure when it will be though, lots of other projects on the stack. Right now I am working hard on the projects for the upcoming Hand Embroidery Network exhibition starting in February. The theme is winter wonderland this time. This ATC only took about 3 days though, so I should be able to squeeze more in.

A bit of landscape embroidery is one of the things I want to try to do this year. Also I have on the pile a project for a wall quilt with applique and embroidery. It's been waiting since the summer to be done, so it really is time to get going on it. I pretty much became paralyzed trying to decided on fabric colors for the borders. I have to get past that though.

The other main thing I want to work on this year is becoming better at making interpretations of photographs - this probably goes in hand with making the landscape embroidery. I don't mean hyper-realistic, but putting together some kind of stylized design based on inspiration from a picture. I've collected a few photos, so it's just about making time to work on them is all.