I am getting addicted to dying these ribbons. They stitch up so beautifully. I have twice tried to take some photoes of the sr embroideries that I have been working on but to no avail. Shall ask DH if he can try and take some for me.
The ribbons are not quite what I am wanting. Have been trying to get varigated in a single colour. Never mind, I still like them.

Thanks so much too for stopping by and leaving me comments. I do appreciate it.

Here are my handsome men. This was taken at Cameron's (on the right)
photographic exhibition for his university Diploma, his photos are behind them. Dh is in the middle and our eldest son Andrew on the left. He is holding Callum bear. Our youngest son Callum is in Heaven so we always have the little bear at family things. Just so he is always with us.
This was taken at the end of June in Wellington at the Fine arts gallery.

Dyed some more ribbon at the weekend, quite pleased with the results. I tell you what though, it is very addictive and I would love to have lots more colours to try. Especially to get variegations of the one colour. That is what I was trying to do with the pink but it was all so much of a muchness that I dipped it all in the end. Never mind, its still lovely. I also had to do it in a hurry as we were expecting a friend for tea, which meant it all had to be put away and cleaned up before she got here.
Back to the "Nice matters awards" I think everyone I know has already been awarded so best I leave it there.

This is the award, Pat told me to put it on my blog.
Pop over here http://bella-enchanted.blogspot.com/ to read all about it. Such a lovely idea. There are so many lovely people behind the blogs who deserve more than a mention. It will be hard to pick.
But my bed is a calling me, will do it tomorrow.

These are dyed using ribbonsmyth silk dyes. The oranges ones are overdyed. A yellow and the apricot that I used in the precious SRE, using a technique in Vickie's book using a fan brush. I really liked the results. Also splattered the dye over the ribbon as well. The green is overdyed also using the same techniques. The gorgeous puple on the top in undyed ribbon that was used to mop up the leftovers. A happy accident indeed, and I bet I will never be able to do it again


These are undyed ribbon that were space dyed and really quite yummy.
The last picture is just more of the same of the overdyed ribbon.

One of my alltime favourite mediums is silk ribbon. The first time I saw a SRE was in a craft shop, it was a sampler on black velvet, I had never seen anything so beautiful . It was love at first sight. Needless to say, SRE has been a joy to me since then, even when I am not doing any embroidery.
I wanted to do something for a friend who is a keen gardener.
I had also purchased some transfer pens and tried them on this to transfer the design. It didn't work to well and the technique needs a little refining, but at least it got me started doing something again. These are ribbons I have had for years but I always feel like something is missing and realised what it needed was varigated or overdyed ribbon. So that was my next project.

Well, I am stunned!!!!! My Dear Friend Pat Winter has nominated me for a "Nice Matters Awards" As anyone can see I haven't posted since February as I have been studying for a Diploma in Library Studies. The reading and assignments are taking me longer than I had at first thought, not leaving me much time for stitching. Infact until the break, I had not stitched at all. Hence no posting. Then it went for for so long that I wasn't sure whether to get back into blogging. BUT I have been doing a little stitching and playing with bits and pieces, so maybe it is time to get back into blogging. Having said all that, my next assisgnment is due on 21st and I am really struggling with it.. But the weekend is once again upon me and several hours of typing is beckoning me.
Pat, thanks so much for your kindness yet again. You have always been such an encouraging friend to me, through good times and especially the bad times.
The photograph is a picture a piece of fabric made with my embellisher. I bought a bag kit from www.TryOurDesigns.com It is small squares of dupion silk, embellished on black fabric with various other fibres added. Then, I added some stitching for more durability.
Surrounded it all with an embellished cord, courtesy of http://www.fibreandstitch.com/freebies.htm, I also did some stitching with thread and ribbon over the cord, again for strength.

Finshed hospital block.
Well it is finished and about to wing its way to America. I realy don't know why the lovely purples come out blue in my photographs. There must be away to fix it but I don't know what it is.
I have really enjoyed working on this block and am sort of pleased with it but!!!!!! There is always a but!. isn't there? So I won't be negative. My friends on the group say it is nice, all that remains is for me to believe them and be happy with it.
The academic year has started and with it my library studies which I am enjoying greatly. It is taking a lot of time being that I am a slow learner or rather have not been doing any serious study for a very long time. It is worth it though and I am pleased that the year has started.
Now that my block is finished it is time to get back to Tast and those Ufo's.

A bit more progress on my hospital block. Allie is posting pictures of all the blocks on her blog. I haven't bookmarked her new address as yet.
Why is it that I can see my work clearer in a photograph? Looking at this photo, I can see what still needs to be done, spaces to fill out or even up. But it is more difficult, for me anyway, to look at the block and see what needs to be done.

Chevron square, I like the square sampler that Sharon did as she was experimenting, so I wanted to give it a go.

Playing about .

Take 2
Mmmmm, still not sure if I like it?

Block in progress.
Looking at photographs of my work helps me to see it more clearly, and I am not sure if I like the threaded herringbone. Might have to sleep on this one!!

Threaded herringbone.
Just wanted to have a play with this and see what it looked like as I want to try it on my "hospital block"
It is OK - not too sure!!!

Chevron stitch.
I am so enjoying "take a stitch Tuesday" as it is making me stitch and play. This week it is chevron and that tends to be a stitch that I don't usually do; not because I don't like it or anything like that. It is because I can never remember how to do it. The beauty of paticipating in a challange is that you have to practise and that is what I am liking about this. Its fun!!!! and I feel like I am achieving something at the same time.
Thanks Sharon.

Spent most of the weekend getting my workroom which is the repository for everything that can't fit somewhere else in our tiny 2 bedroom home, tidy, moving old chairs, settees etc etc out to the sleepout so that I could have a ORGANISED space to do my study. I find that if things are a mess I continue to add to that mess and get thoroughly disorganised and disgruntled in the process.
So I now have a space which is relatively clutter free and harmonious to work in.
Once I had finished there I spent an hour or so catching up on what everyone has done for Tast. I must say I had a wonderful time and was especially taken with all the freeform stitching. Wanting to do some but not knowing where to start. A lot of you seem to use a felt that you appear to have made yourself and as I don't have any of that I got a little piece of tvyek fabric out and painted it randomly heated it up to get a nice shape. I thought I would just practice my stitching on it. I really love the landscapes that some of you are working but have no idea where to start, so I thought I would just go for it with what I have on hand. Looking forward to seeing what the stitch is tomorrow.
To my great surprise when tidying up I found that I didn't have as many ufo's as I thought!!!

Tast/ cretan, I love the way you can play with this stitch so I decided to get out a wisp come sampler and play a little. Did the flower/sunburst on the right with varigated yellow thread and beads, also the heart top left with a yellow rayon thread and circled with beads. The some freeform on the pink card and also with golf thread on the green fabric.

Cretan Stitch/Tast.
This is a stitch that I really like as it is so versatile and there is so much you can do with it.
Sharon has provided some lovely examples on her blog, it will be interesting to catch up with everyone today to see what they have done. You can just keep adding to this stitch, whipping wraping, adding beads etc.
Sharon has mentioned her classes, I tried to log in to her site to post a comment but I am doing something wrong. The classes are exceptional, so full of information you couldn't get better anywhere. She starts at the beginning with design, colour theory, so much. These Tasts are that, a tast of, and an extension of the classes. Believe me they are well worth taking and so cheap as the content is great and a resource that you will go back to time and time again.

WISP in slow progress
Believe it or not this is the 2nd CQ block that I made, which would have been 3 years ago. Needless to say it was stuck away mouldering with all the other ufo's. Hopefully I will get it finished soonish. Christmas cottons, I love Christmas fabrics and have a few tucked away. It is a fan shape, not too sure what thefinished article will be. Too big for an ornament, maybe a small cushion.

I made this cake yesterday for the children in the summer reading program at work. We had the finale party for them yesterday. This cake comes from the Australian womens weekly birthday cake book. All of us on this side of the world are very familiar with these ccoking books, I have heaps of them. This one is falling apart as I made heaps of cakes from it for my children.
The kids weren't interested in the cake, prefering chrisps, sausage rolls and sweets, ah well!!!!!