These are variations on the motif found in Mrs. Beeton's Book of Needlework. I started working on it one day during my lunch hour and found it a quick tat once I figured out what the antique terms meant. So that evening and the next, I added variations, using rings instead of all chains and adding picots and beads and using 2 colors. It's being featured in the online class Sunday and Monday. Wally Sosa has some additional variations that are equally fascinating. I posted the bookmark I made from this motif earlier this month. For more information about the online class, visit Georgia's site.

The newest issue of The Tatting Times arrived yesterday. I'd like to say when I get those that I sit down and tat from cover to cover.....but I don't. LOL! I do look through it but the tatting has to wait. Today I decided to go ahead and try the lovely heart in the very front. It's called The Flame in the Heart and I liked the look of what seemed to me to be flowering vines. I had a little trouble following the various turns and had to start over - so when I did, I made a few adaptations that worked for me and I also added some beads which created an additional variation, so it's not exactly as Karey published it. But I think it's pretty cool anyway. You can subscribe to Tatting Times by contacting Karey Solomon at P.O. Box 9, Hector, NY 14841.

You didn't think I'd quit tatting after the heart, did you? Actually, it took that to get me psyched up enough to tackle the brooch again. When I put it down last, I knew I was running out of shuttle thread and I dreaded moving all those beads so that I could add more thread. I didn't want it to become an infamous UFO (aackk!) so I got it out again this afternoon and diligently transferred most of the beads to another thread. That left me just enough thread to finger tat the last ring.....barely. Then I decided I didn't really need many beads on the shuttle after all so that made the reloading much easier. I guess it's okay for a first effort. It's not as symmetrical as I would like and I realized that as I was tatting but couldn't think of a fix that didn't involve starting all over. I made the mistake of using clear beads along with white and silver. Do you know how hard it is to see clear beads in that combination? And I was using 2 threads, white and silver. My eyes were not happy with me at all! I have a pin back drying on it now. This was inspired by the brooch I received from Sue Hanson at Christmas. I suspect next time she is in the states, we'll make her teach us how to do that. Trust me, hers is MUCH neater than mine.