Home a week now, and this is all I have to show for it! A single ATC to be swapped with an online friend in the UK who did the Embellisher course with me - I don't think she reads my blog so it is probably OK to post a photo and not spoil her surprise.

It is made from silk tops, throwsters waste and snips of silk caught between two layers of scrim and embellished from front and back, then stitched with wonderful variegated alpaca yarn. It was good to be back at the machines, and I really need to knuckle down and do a bit more stitching instead of reading in front of the fire because it has been so cold, or gardening in the brief moments when it is not raining. So tempting though to be outside as the garden is beginning to show some signs of the coming Spring with a few Narcissus starting to flower in sheltered spots, and weeds growing steadily.

These are two additions to my stitching Library, both of which are full of inspirational ideas and techniques, and are part of the reason I have done so little stitching.

This one is Trish Burr's fourth book, published by Milner Press in Australia. It features a selection of floral bouquets for embroidery and detailed illustrations of stitching techniques that mix traditional crewel work and surface stitchery. For me the line drawings could be used in several ways, or even be enlarged and interpreted in felt making.

Ineke Berlyn describes her book as being for all quiltmakers, patchworkers and textile artists and there are chapters about sources for inspiration, sketchbooks, colour and fabrics, dyeing, layers and design, texture and stitchery and projects of various sorts with each section. I do love British needlework books, and this one is published by Batsford Press in the UK.