WINNERS!!!!!!

Whoo Hoo! The Random Number Generator offered up three numbers in this order: 75, 27, 14

#75 is Tattin' Kat. Since there was no email available, Tattin' Kat has 3 days to send me her mailing address. If none is received, I'll get another number. This is why it is very important to have some means of contact when you leave a contact. I also left a comment on her blog so I really hope this new tatter gets her prize!.

#27 is Jane Eborall. I was tickled to see this as Jane has entered every one of my giveaways and always says, "I never win anything!". And she didn't....but this time, she didn't make that comment, and look what happened! I guess there is something to be said about not jinxing yourself. Not much else to say about Jane. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the 100+ patterns on her pattern page and her connection to her sister Sally, whose husband has been busy turning out new shuttles to satisfy the typical tatter's craving!

#14 is Singtatter, who is a very generous and creative tatter herself. You may remember all the paperclip designs she gifted to the online tatting class. Her blog is full of her other creative projects so take a look if you haven't been there before.

Congratulations to everyone!

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog. I hope it's helpful in some way. I will admit my blog is first and foremost for ME. It's a way to record what I do with tatting, which includes mistakes and what I learned from them. If I only put what was perfect on here, what would be the point besides eyecandy? I was isolated from most tatters when I began. To be honest, there still aren't all that many tatters who live locally and most of the new ones were taught by me, Kaye Judt, or Carolyn Regnier. I still have to go to Tat Days or Lace Days to meet up with other tatters in person for the most part. Carol Amich lives close but even so, we probably only see each other once a year. So that means list groups and blogs are the most common means of communication and I love it because it allows me to talk with tatters from ALL OVER THE WORLD!

It was this blog that led Jane Smith's daughter to find someone who tatted to give her mother's tatting supplies to. The internet has brought us together in wonderful ways and sometimes in common sadness. This is Memorial Day in the States, a day we set aside to honor those who have gone before us. This is everyone, not only those who served in the military, although we publicly honor those wonderful people too. I learned yesterday that Wilma Walker, a Cincinnati, Ohio tatter, passed away, so it seems only fitting that I include a tribute to her memory in this post. Ruth Perry often visited with Wilma and gave her a ride to events. Ruth has passed on this request from the family:

The family requests that no cards or flowers be sent, but that each one who wishes to do something in her memory: "Plant a tree, help someone in some way, or donate to your favorite charity."

Last Chance

to enter THE DRAWING before I pick three winners in the morning!

Good luck to everyone!

I finished Sue Fuller's Heart's Desire last night. The thread is one I dyed. In fact, I have three very similar colorways on floss holders because I was at the end, tired, and wanting to be done. I'm really not fond of this color combination, at least on the skein and floss holder, but if you've ever had to wind a skein onto a floss holder and then tat it.....you know it never ends up the way you think it will. It reminded me so much of red and purple, which the Red Hat Society likes to flaunt, but the colors next to each other jar every nerve in my system, so I was really hoping it wouldn't be that bad.

And it's not. The red is more pinkish and the purple is more bluish. It did turn out pretty but I can promise you I would never buy this colorway intentionally! But that's just my preferences. I noticed on Nita's blog from a few weeks ago that she used a Lizbeth thread with this kind of colorway. Hmmmmmm.....

Well...I just remind myself that it's all for fun! LOL!

I like to find positive messages in magazines, hidden in the advertising or completely out of context with the message. I forget what this one came from but it took some creative cutting to come up with this. I am a firm believer in finding the positive in everything, no matter how bleak it seems. Of course, there are those who are determined to find a negative message hidden in everything....so there is balance in all. You get to choose which you want to find.

For a little while last night, I attempted to stitch a needlelace "spider" in the diamond shape there in the lower half of the heart but I couldn't get the thread or heart or needle to cooperate. It kept pulling the edges in too close. If I'd had the heart basted down instead of pin-basting, I might have had more success.

I'm currently taking a break from mowing. I have to wait for my son to move his car and some logs out by the firepit. I was in town earlier today and bought some herbs to plant, plus one tomato plant and one hanging fuschia. I expect to spend a good part of today outside. I miss the days when I could break up the gardening throughout the week. Trying to do it all in one day isn't very successful. We only get the bare basics done. He's having friends out tomorrow and it's not raining for a change so there is LOTS to do!

I've been thinking about where I'm going with this off and on. I don't feel compelled to DO SOMETHING, but sometimes I get a little nudge, a whisper in my ear, "why don't you try this?". Recently I posted a link to an Italian website showing stunning home decor and fashion emellished embellished with tatting. Several years ago, I had links to some Japanese tatting that showed tatting displayed in beautiful backgrounds and in more detail than what we tend to see in the States. From time to time, I've encouraged readers to go one step further, stir up the imagination and inspiration. I am absolutely thrilled to see tatting growing and know that it is far from being a lost art, and is, indeed, developing in leaps and bounds. Yet most of the tatting I see is still little motifs, bookmarks, and now - jewelry, which is still a small project overall. I think one reason people like tatting is because it is so portable but another reason is the instant gratification. You can tat a snowflake or a bookmark in an evening.

It's rare that tatters go bigger though. I'm not willing to tat curtains or tablecloths or bedspreads, but I would tat sections of curtains, tablecloths or bed accessories. In fact, it's been in my mind for years now to tat inserts for some kitchen curtains as well as the edging. My first attempt wasn't pleasing and I haven't revisited it. I'm pretty much covered up with other projects for the time being.

All that said, I came across an ad for a juried show in Canada that some of you might be interested in pursuing, especially if you live in Canada. It's called Stitches Across Time, and currently has some exhibits showing but the juried show is also meant to inspire you to create even more beautiful pieces. The deadline is February 28, 2011 so I hope at least a few of you consider designing and submitting something. Tatting can use all the exposure we can give it. Update - you must be a Canadian citizen to enter!

Last night I finished crocheting the cord that goes with the beaded bag I tatted from Sharon Brigg's book, Transitions in Tatting. I have the fabric to line it with so all I have to do now is sew the lining, attach the cord, and a fastener for the flap. The lining will probably take the longest since I have to create the pattern and figure out if I want to include the flap or not. I hope to put this in our exhibit next fall at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation along with several other lace items. Too bad the beads don't show up all that well but perhaps once the lining is in, they'll pop out.

I finished the cord early enough last night to start some tatting, Sue Fuller's Heart's Desire in one of my dyed threads, the one I have so much of! I barely started before knocking off to bed so it will be awhile before I show it.

I will probably post again before the weekend is over. I'm so happy to have a 3 day weekend!

I forgot that yesterday was Tatting Tea Tuesday. I was thinking about an entry for next week but completely forgot that it was actually Tuesday right then!

Here's the motifs laying on a piece of muslin. I have some ivory silky fabric like the purple and was kind of thinking of using an insert of that in the purple bag. I've put the motifs on gold and they kind of get lost in it. Decisions, decisions!

I have to show this....this is lace I tatted and attached to a nightgown in 2000. I took it with me to Ireland that year so I know exactly when it was done. LOL! I didn't tat it on, I stitched it after so I'm going to take it off now as the nightgown itself has seen better days. You can see the lace has held up well though. The lace was a "forget-me-not" vintage edging. I'm sure you've seen it. I used Gutterman top stitch thread as the only way to get good thread was to order it then. I love it that I can order online so easily now or even go to a few local stores or Zig Zag Corner in Greenfield, a little over an hour away, when I want the good stuff. This wasn't really bad, but it did tend to grab a bit when I closed the rings. It was about a size 20. I still have several spools. I should either crochet with it or use it in needle lace.

It's a very hot week here. It's been almost 90º or like today, over 90º and Monday was horribly humid. I sure hope it cools off soon. I don't have my AC in yet and since it's an OLD window unit, I'd like to look around for another first. It doesn't usually get this hot this early.

I like it that everyone is enjoying the giveaway suspense. There's already 50 entrants but you have til next Sunday night to leave a comment on THAT POST! And for the person who questioned if a random generator ever picked #1 - yes, I had it do that once. It DOES happen!

Reeeeeeeaaaaaallly Big Giveaway!

I had to visit Miss Ellie yesterday and then my son & I stopped at 1/2 Price Books and then Applebee's so it was on the late side when I got home and I didn't have the energy to artistically arrange the giveaway. So....I'm going to fudge a bit.

There will be THREE giveaways, all shown here and drawn for on the same day, Monday, May 31st (Memorial Day). A good portion of my giveaway are items that I received from from Jane Smith's estate. You may remember I featured her in a Memorial Day post last year.

I've kept a few things but I believe her daughter wanted her supplies to go to someone who loves tatting. I'm honored to receive them but I also want to share the legacy. So to celebrate 250,000 visitors (mostly tatters I would assume)and Memorial Day and Tatting, here's what's up!

They are not grouped but I will separate them into three groups before I do the drawing. That means you won't know exactly what you're winning! The shuttles are plastic Boye shuttles and one has thread on it.

I may have even more but for now, these are going to three lucky winners!

This is thread from Jane's stash and I added a few of my own - all sizes 60, 70, and 80. I may add to this before next Monday if I have time to go through my stash. I purposely photographed it this way so you wouldn't know exactly what colors are there!

Now, from a lucky visit to a second hand store, I got this box of vintage threads. I used one of the balls to hand dye thread. While it does break if I snap it, I tried tatting with it and it was fine closing rings.

One row is size 70 and the other row is size 80. Each winner will get one ball of each. I'll keep the rest.

And then again from Jane's stash, there are nine vintage hankies, plain, with hemstitching so they are easy to attach edgings too. Each winner will get three, one colored and two white. Somebody might get more than one colored but everyone will get at least one.

So, each of the three winners will receive something from each of the photos above and maybe more if I dig up some time and energy.

Please enter only once by leaving a comment on this post only. I will not respond to comments on the blog but I can respond privately. That's only because they are NUMBERED now and I don't want to mess up the sequence.

On Monday, May 31st, in the morning, I will use a random number generator to pick three numbers. Remember, enter only once; make sure I can contact you either through your profile or information you leave; and have fun dreaming!

At some point during my hiatus from blogging, I milestoned a quarter of a million visitors. It's nice to know I'm still interesting. (Very Big Smile) I'm putting together a giveaway so stay tuned. So far, it looks like there will be 3 separate giveaways but they will take place at once.

Here's the last of my hand dyed thread. There are four that are very similar just because I wasn't clear on what was what and it was late and I was running out of steam. I plan to use some of this in my needlelace and RPL also. In fact, I already used the dark green to do the outline in my leaf. You can see it on my other lace blog.

Then, the other night, I happened to find yet MORE dye in baggies in a cup that I'd forgotten about so I decided to try dying some of my lace bobbins. I will embellish these with more paint and goodies but this is the dye-stained base.

You saw this motif before. Same thread and same pattern but without beads. Fox tatted it too, but without beads, so.....sssshhhhhh! She's become addicted to beads now and if she sees this, I know she'll do it again WITH beads!

I'm tatting the 3rd motif and deciding what fabric to use for the bag. I had something gold-ish in mind but as I walked out to refresh my drink earlier, my eyes spied this silky purple. Hmmmm....maybe? Don't forget there will be bigger beads/pearls in the center rings.

I was in Trader Buck's yesterday, a flea market sort of place, and saw a purse I really liked only because it had pintucking. I LOVE pintucking. The bag itself was too small and there were no pockets inside in the lining, plus I didn't like the round wooden handles particularly. But it did occur to me that I could use a similar design (i.e. pintucking) in addition to the original design. I still haven't converted the cm to inches to know how big the original is. I may change radically from that once I do know. LOL! I'm feeling ELABORATENESS coming on. Must be from being exposed to all the girly girly things lately! BTW, Mom, Dad & Ellie are home now and the stream of visitors continues. I'll see them again probably on Sunday. This son lives about 45 minutes away so it takes a bit of planning to "drop in". (I always call, no matter how close anyway.)

I have even more I could post about - OH - I did want to mention that I purged my friends list on facebook, limiting it to family and local friends mostly. I get to interact and keep up with the majority of my tatting friends by their blogs, listgroups and emails, so please do not feel offended that I defriended you. It just works better for me to separate it all out.

And I'm off to finish tatting that 3rd motif!

Tatting Tea Tuesday 5/18/10

I'm glad I started this early! Turns out my new granddaughter may very well be born today!

I get mail from my readers every so often, some with questions and some just to say hi and some like to show me something they made that was inspired by something on my blog. Melissa, known as BeeLizbeth online, doesn't have a blog so I asked permission to post what she made.



This was my gift for my mother for Mothers Day. She loved it. It's based on the Square Teapot from Martha Ess' "Tea Is for Tatting." It's made from "Yarnplayer's" Celery, size 20, "Lady Shuttle Maker's" Victorian Valentine, size 50 and some Lizabeth white size 20. I mounted it on a pin back but it was easier to scan before doing that. ~ Melissa

Isn't that creative???? I forgot all about this tea brooch that I posted about last October! And that reminds me, a local library is having Wednesday Tea, with a speaker and all the tea and cookies you can consume (nicely). I'll have to find my pin and wear it along with some earrings I have!

I was hoping I would have time to stitch up a teabag sachet like the one found here at Mademoiselle Chaos but it wasn't to be.

I didn't even have time to email and ask for permission to post photos of the last link and this one. This one is not tatted either but I'm sure it could be. It's a teacup saucer and cup on a ring found at the Bugs & Monstors Etsy Shop.

Okay, ya'll sip your favorite tea, pick up your shuttle and imagine me holding a healthy, beautiful baby girl! Yes, I'm taking my camera!

Comments

I just remembered this morning that I commented on something yesterday and before the comment verification box popped up, I had closed the window. Grrrrrrr

I was on my way out and thought I would come back and try it again...only I forgot and now I don't even remember which blog it was!

This happens a lot. I don't understand why, on some blogs, the verification box is right there at the time you make the comment so you know to complete it, but in other blogs, the verification box pops up after you hit "submit". Many times all you see then is the top of the blog and unless you scroll down to check, you don't even know you needed to put something in the verification box. Frankly, I don't know how my comment box appears. I'm automatically logged in when I go there so I'm not sure how it comes up to others. (note - this part was started last week!)

I now have numbered comments! I told you where to find instructions in my last post but then they didn't seem to work for ME. So I emailed Jon, because she got it to work, and the main difference seemed to be she had her comments "embedded below" which is one of the options in Blogger that I never really understood. When I changed to that format, however, the numbering showed up. Thank you Jon!

Here's a peek at the first batch of threads I dyed last weekend. I finally got them all wound but there is another batch drying. Pat sent home LOTS of the leftover dye and my first chance to use it was Tuesday night. Late. So I dyed the rest of what I had presoaked. I wanted to paint some lace too but couldn't find it and it was too late in the evening to go hunting. It was last night before I rinsed the second batch and it will be ready for me to wind onto floss holders when I get home. I have a new appreciation for those who dye and sell their threads. I would never have the time and patience. Or room. It's fun to do and sparks my creative juices but it would take a lot of prep work for me to do even small amounts.

Look at this GORGEOUS bag by Kathy over at http://www.shawkl.com/

The stitching is incredible and caught my eye first when it was featured in Needlework News over at Craft Gossip. But THEN...I saw the tatted fence! Isn't that clever and doesn't it just fit in so perfectly? Kathy also has a Design Studio where she sells her creations.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

There is a clematis vine on a trellis just outside my garage and I've been noticing a redbird flying away from the very same spot whenever I get close. I took a peek earlier last week and saw there was, indeed, a nest with eggs. I couldn't tell how many as I didn't want to get too close and cause the mother to abandon the nest. My middle son, Jason, took me out to breakfast/lunch today and when we got back, I remembered I had my camera with me after hearing the mom fly past when I got stuff out of the car. So I stuck the camera at what I hoped was a good angle and took two photos. One was just leaves but this one shows at least ONE new birdie in the world. Happy Mum's day Red Lady!

Yesterday, two lace guild members and myself drove up to Chesterton and spent a wonderful morning dying fiber under the tutelage of Pat Winter! I say fiber because they dyed mostly silk ribbon and I dyed cotton thread. It's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun! I was the designated klutz this day, spilling dye a grand total of THREE times! I am not usually this clumsy but I hadn't slept well the two nights previous and it all caught up with me last night. I laid down on the sofa at 9:00 p.m., thinking I'd snooze for 20 minutes or so and then rinse out my threads. HA! I woke up at 10:30 p.m., made my last email check and went to bed, not getting up until 8:30 this morning! I think I was just tired.

So before I left with my son this morning, I rinsed all my threads and hung them to dry. They're still a little damp so I've got out the rest of the skeins I'd presoaked and started finding containers for the dye I brought home with me. I need to go get some more containers. LOL! But I will play more when I return.

Before I left Chesterton yesterday, Pat gifted me with this beautiful seascape brooch and I wore it on my jacket today at the restaurant. I can't get over all the tiny tiny details in it! My son looked at it and said, "hmmm...kinda busy..." LOL! I forgot he had lasik and probably can't see those teensy details all that well.

Last night before I ended up on the sofa, I finished tatting this motif I started the night before. I think the thread is some I bought from Karey Solomon at a Tat Day somewhere. It doesn't show so much in the scan, but I really like the confetti-like appearance.

I got the motif from this book, the picture on page 18 if you have it. It's really kind of hard to see but there are three of them on a bag and it's tatted with beads plus a center pearl is added during stitching to the bag. This one was a test tat for me, to see how the thread and the pattern worked out. I believe I will tat three now, with beads, and also make a bag as instructed and sew the motif to it.

And hey, if you want to see some stunning tatted lacework, go to this website: http://www.artedeldettaglio.com/eng/index.php
This is the home page with a slide show but check out "articles" which shows and describes tatting embellished items that are stunning. I've said before that we tend to tat small items but there are some people who go beyond that and tat works of art. Maybe I should attempt to make something on a larger scale. Some day.

Whaddya Think????

How do you like the new 3 column look? That part really didn't take long because I've done it on another blog or two, but finding a background.....pshew! I'll bet I've looked at two hundred backgrounds this evening and my back hurts and my eyes burn. I don't like the stark white centers but most have that or a dark color which meant I'd have to change the color and font of all my text elements and I wasn't in the mood to do that tonight, so this is it for awhile. I'll still be tweaking it but I've wanted a 3 column blog for ages and ages!

I was at Michael's Crafts at the weekend and they had some grab bags for $2 each. I fondled and poked and pressed the white plastic bag up against whatever was inside looking for something good. I got two bags. One was tagged "artist grab bag" and the other was "misc grab bag". I could tell they had brushes but thought they were the CHEEP craft kind. I was actually hoping for other good stuff in the bag and there were a few things, but THE JACKPOT was a total of 47 artist's brushes between the two! I paint. I have a good supply of basic brushes, but these are all the other brushes I would like to buy but can't justify the expense! I was so excited. I sat at my kitchen counter for well over an hour on Sunday, peeling off the stickers and labels that were on them, looking them all over. Tatting is one of my passions. Painting is the other.

That's Diogi (pronounced like you're spelling D-O-G), my son's cat. I was trying to take a photo of the brushes and she was hoping there was something there for her. Or maybe it was the natural bristle brushes that got her attention. You know...squirrel, sable, badger....

Isn't this beautiful? My daughter crocheted it for her sister-in-law's baby shower - yep, same one I went to! She went to a lot of trouble to get just the right colors as well as the right pattern. It will go in the baby's room very nicely and the green is a nice balance for all that pink!

For those of you who have lots of badges and award signs on your blog, there's a way to manage them! Go to Mommy Moment and learn how to make a scrolling sidebar widget. One reason I stopped accepting awards and such was because it can easily eat up room on your blog and eventually clutters it so much that it's hard to see the newer stuff (and you can see I've already got LOTS of stuff!). They have lots of good information under Blog Tips/Tutorials. I could have used this tip during the OWOH giveaway! It's how to set up your blog for NUMBERED COMMENTS!



Knitting humor! I originally saw this on Little Grey Bungalow but went to YouTube to get a smaller version. Wish tatters came up with some funnies!

No actual tatting this time. I've been working on needlelace and if you've been observant, you noticed I added the link to a new blog up by my picture.

So much to do and so little time!