Whew! I'm back....

For my wild and crazy fans out there (or the ones in my head) I finally got back to tatting. Lots of activity around here with one child moving to another state (temp.) and something called Spring "Cleaning" where we try to make as big a mess of the house as possible. Anyhoo....

Here's a small lap quilt I made from scraps. I was thinking of selling it, but have no idea of price and can't bear to part with it. Although, all it is doing is sitting, folded-up, on a shelf in my wardrobe. One of my first attempts at quilting, horrible edging, not square, the points of the triangles don't exactly meet....but I don't care. It's my own doing, and I can't help but like it. (-: It is just draped over the edge of our bed in the photo. It is warm, perfect for legs when watching tv. But I also thought of using it for wall decor, but it might be too big....

Okay, those of you that tat alot and doing blocking and stiffening have so many wonderful ways of doing it. I don't have room to set up an ironing board or table that won't get cleared. So I have started using my sewing box top. It is just slightly cushioned and works great for lining up edges along the pattern in the material. See that little white ball on the left? I had so much fun making that little pattern. My husband, who really doesn't care about all this "girly lace stuff" even commented on it and wants it for the Christmas tree this year. Cool!

I was in a drawing/contest for a box of things from Ruth Perry. I got it just before I left out of state last week. I finally opened it and talk about Christmas!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. So many different shades of green (my favorite color) greeted me! It took me a day to remember that she had asked what color I liked. She even put in a couple of fabrics that make me want to pick up my (very beginner's) quilting again. I am already turning over designs ideas in my head. Oh, how I wish I had a craft room. Anyway, she included some great threads and shuttles, and some very neat cases for organizing my stash stuff. One of the threads I used on Lesson 3 from the Design-Tat group. We were given the center motif and told to add a row and create negative space. I wish I had made the chains longer. I wanted more negative space. I will do it again and make the chains longer, right before I add another row. This is fun.

The larger shuttle is a celtic bone shuttle, that I liked so much I got another one. The smaller one is one that Ruth sent me. Yes, there is thread in it. I have already used it to make a bookmark for one of my sons. I love it. It is so small and so much fun to use. I was worried about it holding enough thread to make any thing. I was using size 80 and it still has some left over. Yea! What can I use it on next?

I showed a picture in an earlier post of a necklace for a little girl I made. I had a cool painted bead I couldn't decide how to use....until now. I tatted around it and then attached it to another necklace/choker for an adult. The ribbon simply ties in the back for an adjustable, one-size-fits-all fit. Don't know why it is showing up sideways. It is right side up on my computer, but is sideways when it is uploaded. But you get the idea.

Until next time, hopefully not so long in coming, this time.

Tatting has gone to the Races

I was doing a Google search to get an idea for a tatted bird and came across this page.
http://www.pedigreequery.com/tatting+bird Appearantly, there is a horse named Tattingbird. He is the son of Threadlace, the daughter of Interlace, son of Straitlace.

How can anyone say tatting is a dying art? People are betting on it winning!

Sugar Sweet

This heart is Betsy Evans's design and tatted by me. The "chain" is just a bunch of split rings. (I LOVE doing split rings! Now if only I could figure out cplit chains...) The back is tied with a small white ribbon. I made this a child size, and by tying the ribbon in the back tighter or looser, it can fit any size child. The ribbon can be trimmed shorter for a smaller neck.

The photo was taken in my bathroom, so the light is a little dim and off color.

- - - - > On another note, I was approached by a shop owner yesterday. She told me of a jewelry store she is opening in late March. She is going to have a section for local artists and wanted me to put some of mine in her store. Ah.........I wasn't quite sure what to say. She asked for a business card, etc. I told her I was strictly small potatoes, really not much, even in inventory. She said that was okay, gave me her card and told me to call her. Wow! That was pretty cool.

Wha'cha think?

Picture one: Red and yellow shells on silver plated filigree square.

Picture two: Cat's eye beads. Interchangeable drops. One for every day of the week and two for Saturday and Sunday.

Picture three: Swarovski crystals in pastels. Very sparkly.

A Thought to Ponder

Do the potatoes that you buy in the store seem to keep getting smaller? To me it seems so. Now if you want the large potatoes, you have to buy them individually, like they are an exotic item. I lived on a farm, when I was much younger, and our main staple was potatoes. As you can see in this photo, we grew 'em big. The potato on the right was an eatin' tater. The one on the left was used as seed for the next year's crop. And some of the middle ones were cut in half and used as seed also.

So what are they doing these days with the big potatoes? What an awesome baked potato that would make, yea?! Makes you kinda say "Hhmmmmmmmmmmm....." doesn't it? Or maybe, "Mmmm!!!"