Mission Impossible???

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to transform this mysterious object (aka vintage plastic doily) into its modern day counterpart - a TRUE TATTED DOILY! Or any part thereof.


Investigate it fully, turning in every direction possible. Leave no curlicue unturned. It may be a necklace or a collar, cloaking the discovery to some fine clue!


It may be a fan, an insert, or a corner bookmark! But...WHATEVER YOU DO.......DON'T.......

LET PEDRO SEE YOU!!!!!!

I'm NOT procrastinating! I've completed 9 binders and needed to get off the floor. My butt & my back hurt! So I started a load of laundry and while I was in the bedroom, I found a package of these on the closet floor. I got them 2nd hand somewhere to use as a stencil to spray paint over....a bookshelf or something for my craft room, of course. Anyway...wouldn't it be beautiful tatted????

Go for it!!!! and link back here so I can see what you've done!

I'm procrastinating.

How do I know that? Because I have absolutely no tatting to show and I have lots of stuff to wrap up before I go back to work on Monday yet here I am.


I've been going through old magazines. Some I got at the library used and some I've had and just didn't have time to read them. I found this wonderful idea in a 2005 Martha Stewart book. What a wonderful way to use some of your favorite buttons!


Here's how the earrings in my box look - all jumbled up. When I go to pick some out, I almost always have to dump the contents and match up the pair. I keep the hoop type in the top part of the box, a lidded chest actually, and the post ones in the bottom.


This is a chrome rack I bought at Goodwill once, thinking it would be great to display tatting on. It's not very big around though and I thought it might tip too easily so it languished for a long time in my stash of items to repurpose. Last winter I decided to put my wire earrings on it and also the hoops that closed completely. The ones in the box are "post" hoops. I like the way these are handy, always paired together and easy to see.


So I grabbed a bag of miscellaneous buttons that I had in a craft drawer and started matching up my post earrings with the buttons. I was just trying the idea out so I haven't done them all, but I think I like this idea. Even if they are in the box, they will be paired together. Some are too big for the buttons....the holes in buttons appear to be standardly spaced and I couldn't find a way to make them fit in the shank of post buttons either, so there will always be some loose.

I'll keep the wire ones on the chrome rack too. I don't think they would stay put hooked through a button very well unless the wire is long, like the French wires, or close with a latch. Even if they did that, I'd rather have them out like I do.

Okay...back to my magazines. And I really should organize my craft room. I have thread strung out all over the house! No wonder I don't know what I have anymore. Actually, my goal is to take all those printouts I put in sheet protectors last weekend in binders so I have to clear the magazines off the floor so I can sort the printouts into categories. Fun, huh?

I had to make a new tube for the pincushion/sachet. The directions said to make a chain 1" longer than the cushion and then there was a pattern stitch for the first row and you cut off the rest. In hindsite, I see that this was not long enough. It didn't allow for the space the curve at the end of the pillow takes up, I probably should have made the initial chain the length of the cushion from midpoint at the side, up and over to the midpoint of the next side and then added 1". It was far easier to make a new smaller cushion than to crochet a whole new piece! I added some essential oil to the fiberfill of this one and it now resides in my lingerie drawer.


Another set of earrings! These are in Purdue colors, black and old gold. I'm not sure using the split ring for the jump ring was a good idea. It's thicker and bigger than a regular jump ring. I'm thinking about the fair - otherwise I wouldn't care - but it might matter in a judging. I think I might use a bigger gold thread too. The black is size 20 and the gold is size 12 with a gold thread added, but it's still not quite as thick as the black.

I'm going to gather up all the stuff I have to put in the fair this weekend and see what I've got. I may have to research my own blog to see what I've done. I forget so easily. I forgot about the Irish crochet pincushion and the other rose pincushions I made. There's another lace category I can enter. You can enter anything made within the past three years that has not been entered before. I didn't take anything in last year at all so I can enter anything from that year too. Still..there are limits to how much you can enter in any one category, so we'll see. I have a whole month before I have to send in the registration form.

Today was a fun day. A friend and I went to a labyrinth in Tipton, Indiana at the Sisters of St. Joseph Retreat & Convention Center. I'd been there before, in 2003, but now wish I'd made it habit to go on a regular basis. Walking a labyrinth is very soothing and inspirational.

I got SO MUCH done yesterday! I went to the Farmer's Market - not much there yet, but I bought a few tomato plants and a few herb plants. I got more sheet protectors and hope to sort all those printouts and get them in their respective binders in the next few days. I cleaned out the fridge which really wasn't too bad, and both my lazy susans in the kitchen are cleaned out. Countertops and other cabinets are next. I also mowed last night which involves quite a bit of ground but I'm glad I finished it since it rained all night and everything is soaked again and cold out.


So last night, I was tired earlier for a change since I got up earlier and stayed up, but I still wanted to tat a little something. I haven't tatted in DAYS! So I started this earring pattern and got one done, finishing the second one today. I used size 20 thread and 25 beads for each color for each earring so that's 50 beads of each color for the pair. I used beads in the joins which the author didn't do, but I just like it that way. The pattern is at Free-Tatting.com which appears to be a Russian site. I'm not sure what is meant by the phrase "This pattern is an author", but I think the person is trying to say that if you use the pattern, you should credit this site. There is no actual name of a person that I can find.

It took me about 45 minutes for each earring which included stringing the beads and winding the shuttle so it's a fairly quick tat. I'm sure making more will speed it up too. This pair is for a friend or I'd put them in the fair, but since it's so quick to tat, I may make another pair just for the fair. I scanned them before I smoothed out that bottom part on the left where I hid a thread and it looks much better now.

Blocking Board

I have not finished the pincushion but I did finish the crochet and decided to block it before I went any further. I've known for some time that I needed to replace the paper on my blocking boards but just hadn't taken the time to do it. Once I got the big one done, I thought....this might be a helpful post...so I took photos of the smaller one in process.

When I first started tatting, I would iron all my pieces and lightly starch them with spray starch. Well...you CAN do that, but it flattens the threads and on those with a high sheen, like perle cottons, it dulls them. It's also hard to get the picots to lay right, especially if there are a lot of them. I pressed mine between two layers of old men's hankies and a chain here or there would manage to turn without me catching it. So I decided to wet them and start pinning them out. I find I have more control over how they ultimately turn out, even if it does take longer.

In the winter, I set the board by the furnace floor vent and it's dry in no time. In summer, if I'm really in a hurry, I'll use the hair dryer on it.


Here's my smaller board - just a piece of styrofoam. The bigger one is too. They were lids on shipping containers in their previous lives that I confiscated when they were set out for trash at work. They are denser than most of your packing styrofoam and I've had them for several years now. I noticed on the big one that the sides where I stored the pins when not in use are beginning to look a little pocked. It's probably good for another year or two though.


I used to use waxed paper, which held up well, but I decided to go with parchment paper last year on the big one and I like the way it holds up. I usually only have to change the paper once a year. This one is way overdue, as you can see by the holes. I kept pinning below the holes. LOL! The parchment paper doesn't seem as likely to tear as the waxed paper either when it is wet. Sometimes I spray the item with water once it is all pinned out if it didn't seem to get good and wet in the first place - or if I need to adjust something.


I tear off a sheet longer than the board. For this small one, I also had to trim it so it wouldn't hang over the sides. I've folded over the edge that I will pin to the back of the board. Folding it over isn't necessary but it seems to make it easier to pin neatly and I have less trimming to do. The paper is between the styrofoam and the table. It doesn't have a right/wrong side so it doesn't matter which side is facing the board. I've made sure I have enough to pin at the opposite end too.


I'm holding the folded edge in place and sticking the straight pins in. This board is not as thick as the bigger one and I found I needed to put the pins in at an angle so they wouldn't come through the front. That was not an issue with the bigger board.


You can barely see the pin heads but the edge is secured now. On the opposite side, I made sure the paper was snug and smooth and pinned the other edge in the same way.


This one is actually the bigger board. You can see some guidelines through the paper that I drew on the styrofoam. I didn't use them for this pinning, but they come in very handy when you are trying to get something straight and symmetrical.

As I said, you don't have to block your tatting this way (or crochet) but for larger projects, it's easier to make them look even all around. BTW, you should pin from the center out. Start as close to the middle as you can find a securing point and then gradually work your way out, getting each point or round as even with the rest as you can. It's best not to stretch your picots out to pin - they'll end up pointy. Bring them out as far as you can without pulling tight on them. If you want them really rounded, take the pins out before they are completely dry.

I haven't been able to garden like I would like to but I do have some irises and peonies on the hill in front of my house that bloomed prolifically this year. This is one of the irises that I photographed and then "layered" with my editing program. Isn't it gorgeous?


I've been sorting through printouts and putting them in sleeve protectors and of course, that fires up my imagination and "wanna tat" mode. I tried to limit what I set aside for immediate tackling but there are probably a dozen things I think I should get to right away! This one is a vintage crochet pincushion. I've made the little bolster stuffed with fiberfill since I'm never too sure about vintage patterns until I try them out. What I would really like to do is stuff it with potpourri for a lingerie drawer. For now though, the pilot is a simple stuffed tube as the instructions tell me to make.

The crochet looked like it was really simple - I thought it would go FAST! Ha! That was Thursday night and I'm still not done. I ripped out several rows last night thinking I missed something on an end. I'm not sure if I did or if the late hour just whispered that suggestion to me and I took it to heart, but I'm near the end now. Once it goes around the tube, then I crochet the beading at each end. There are no instructions about attaching the long crocheted edges together but I'm going to somehow. It will gape if I don't.

So...this very simple project has become way more time-consuming than I expected, but I think I will love it when it is done and I think I will come up with some improvements too, but for now, I'm following the instructions, believe it or not!

Well...except it does call for a silk casing over the tube under the crochet...I'm skipping that for now.


I thought I'd show some more of the goodies from my thrift store excursion last weekend. This fan box intrigued me, partly because of shape and design and partly because I can store all my little tatted fans in it. I even have a few "fan" shuttles from Georgia Seitz but I probably won't put them in there. It's an Avon box that I probably admired in their catalog at one time but since I don't use Avon anymore (for decades now!) I don't buy it. It cost me 50 cents.


I LOVE this little plate. This one was 50¢ too. Almost everything was. This one has a label on the back that says Bath & Body Works, Fall 1999. The original price was $6.00. I wonder what went with it?


Here's a few more finds. The umbrella on the left was originally $12.99, according to the sticker still on it. I did pay $1.50 for this one, but the others were 50¢ each. I thought someone might have glazed the egg locally but the tag on the bottom says it is from the Philippines. The blue sachet is actually a bit bigger than I like them but I bought it anyway.


This is the ornament tree that I bought at Goodwill once. At the moment, I've got my ceramic sachets hanging on it. There is a white one not on there because the ribbon is missing and I haven't replaced it yet. I probably have more around the house of these. I pick them up at garage sales and thrift stores. I had most of these in my bedroom, hanging on drawer pulls and the mirror and any other place I could hang them, but I wanted to see how many I had so I brought them all out and hung them on the tree. I'm pretty sure I have some in the basement that I'll get to eventually.

I had planned to tackle the kitchen today but didn't get to sleep last night until 4:00 a.m. so I ended up sleeping in til 10:00 a.m. I just couldn't get to sleep. Then I was SO cold. It was warm outside but the trees around me keep the house cool. That's great when it's 90º outside but it wasn't...so I bundled up. Took a nap around noon. LOL! I think I really just didn't feel well. I'm good now though. So the kitchen gets done tomorrow. Hopefully the sachet will be done tonight. Maybe I'll even put it in the fair! That reminds me, I need to track down the RPL I did last winter so I can enter that too. The more lace we have in there, the more likely they will keep the category going.

I really need ALL summer off. There is so much I want to get done, painting - both utilitarian house painting and recreational personal painting. Rearranging rooms, sprucing up, etc. At any rate, I'm truly enjoying my days off, even if they are at home.

I sent my puzzle pieces in Tuesday. Yep, that red one wasn't there before. I was so frustrated trying to finish off the edges nicely that in a little fit, I just added tatting and embroidery to felt so that it would be easy to blanket stitch! The bottom motif is from Heather Johnston's book that I mentioned a few posts back and then I added a rosette on top of it and some beads. The thing about felt is that it reminds me of Christmas ornaments and indeed, the white and silver here seem very holiday-ish.

Of course, I had to identify myself. Learning how to make labels by ironing on a transfer, which I had to make first, was also a learning curve.


This pitcher & glass set is one of the items I got at the thrift store while shopping with a friend at the weekend. Only $3.00!!! I suspect it should have 6 glasses instead of 5, but I didn't care. I'll put it in the center of my table once I find my bright cheery yellow tablecloth.


I was kind of tickled the other day to look down and find the kitties sleeping at my feet. It's a little annoying at times, the way they follow me from room to room, including the bathroom if I don't shut the door, but I guess it just means they like me. LOL!


I tatted Kim Millar's Aurora Blaze bookmark which is tatted around a crochet braid. I'm preparing for a class I'm teaching at the end of June. This didn't work out as well as I would like so I will probably play a bit with crocheted braid and see what else I can come up with. This is also used in Romanian Point Lace.

And last but not least, this is the quilted jacket made by Jane Smith that I mentioned in the last post. Her daughter, Roganne, was kind enough to send me another photo so I wouldn't have to keep looking.
This is a close up of the inside. If you click on the photos, they will enlarge. See how straight her stitching is? Incredible!

I've been busy today getting my many folders of printouts into sheet protectors! I've already gone through 160 sheets and will have to go get more to finish. Then I'll sort them all out, tatting, knitting, crochet, sewing...etc. and put them into the proper binders, or in some cases, make a new binder. I wonder how many of these projects I will actually complete before I leave this earth?

Memorial Day Tribute

Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor those who have passed on, to think of them and their contributions to our lives, our world. Many people automatically think of the war dead, but that's what Veteran's Day is about, to honor the military. Memorial Day is about everyone.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time and even had most of the photos downloaded last week but needed to take one more - which I've finally accomplished. Today, I'm honoring a tatter.


Hi Gina, ..... My mother at 94 yrs. old just passed away last week. She was into sewing most of her life and started with making a quilt, with her mother, at a very young age. Through the years she was always sewing something. She tatted, cross stitched, embroidery, quilting, knitting, crochet and what ever else there was, she did. Her work was outstanding. Now I have boxes of supplies that I just can't throw away and I know someone who is into this would love to have it all.

I got this email in early January and nearly deleted it before reading because I didn't know the name and the subject line said, "can't throw away". I'm glad I chose to open it instead.

A. Jane Smith was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but her daughter didn't know I was in Indiana when she wrote to me. The picture above was her retirement party after working in a New Jersey jewelry store for 20 years.

I wonder if she ever tatted jewelry?


This is a photo of mother and daughter in 1949. I was born in 1949 too and this old black and white photo reminded me of my own family history and the people in it. I have these photos because I asked Roganne for some history on her mother. So often we get piece of tatting or shuttles or thread from unknown sources and wonder about the hands that worked them. The beautiful apron I posted about recently is an example. I wanted to know who this dear woman was who spent so many years enjoying her craft.

She also sent me many scans and photographs of her mother's work. I think you'll recognize some of the patterns as you look at them.


While Roganne had no memory of her mother actually selling her tatted work, there were samples like this that suggested she did at some point. There was a sheet of black scrapbook paper with other samples and prices that were included in the items she sent me. I posted about it here.

Here are more samples of tatting on fabric. These are quite elaborate so I wondered if they were actually for hankies.

Roganne said her mother tatted a tablecloth too but it had been sold at an auction long before.



It was apparent she tatted on a lot of hankies. There were nearly 2 dozen hankies in the box I received waiting to be tatted on. She was extremely organized. The hankies were in baggies and marked by size, 9 1/2 inches, 10 inches, 10 1/2 inches.

She marked her shuttles too. She taped a label on the shuttle with whatever size thread was wound on it. One shuttle has a tiny tiny ring taped on it. I don't know what size thread it is but it's very fine.

Her daughter sent me several scans of pieces she found as she was going through her mother's things. It looks like she tatted samples up and attached them to paper for reference.




Most of the thread was small size 70/80 thread and she used a lot of color, but largely pinks and lavendars and blues, pastels.

The bigger balls of thread however were the traditional white and ecru and I suspect she used the color mostly for hanky edgings and the ecru and white for everything else.







Roganne kept things made for her and that had special meaning to her. She was not interested in learning how to do needlework herself and leaned towards gardening and landscaping but she has a healthy appreciation for all things handmade.


Jane Smith sewed extensively too, making slipcovers, household items, family clothing, and novelties. She made this doll for her daughter in 1982. I remember similar patterns in Woman's Day and made a baby doll like this for my daughter in 1970.
This clown was made in 1992 when she was in her late 70's. Roganne said she never stopped tatting so I think needlework must be very good for the health.


Roganne asked me if I knew what these were. I know it is chicken scratch embroidery and I'm guessing these are samples or possibly UFO's that were never completed - like an apron or runner or bag.
She certainly wasn't afraid of color!

Here's a cross stitch project exquisitely stitched. Jane also quilted and I know I had a photo of a jacket she completed but I cannot find it in my emails. It was also beautiful work and I wish I knew where I saved it.


And this is what I got from her. The box actually used to hold Jane's sewing supplies but Roganne put the tatting in it for me. It's quite old but I can't find any identifying marks to give me an idea of where it's from.

Jane was born early enough in the century that tatting was just becoming very popular when she started. I imagine her as a contemporary of Myrtle Hamilton, Monica Hahn, and Dora Young. Think of how exciting it was to learn of those new techniques then that we have taken and run with, creating even more new ways to tat. I don't know if Jane knew the split ring or split chain, but she was a polished tatter and her needlework skills in all areas are those of a master.

I am especially grateful to her daughter, Roganne, for offering me these memories and caring enough about her mother's work that she couldn't "just throw away" or put it in a garage sale or give to goodwill. I'm grateful she took the time to find someone who cares and respects tatting enough to take her belongings and care for them as if they were her own.

I got a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday! Trayna, from Scotland, sent me this sweet heart to thank me for my part in organizing an exchange some time ago. Isn't the little pooch on the card adorable?

Oh look! Now Alice Cantrell has made stickers for the tea notes! If you go to her blog you can see the picture of the note with the sticker on it.

I went to Tat Guild in Greenfield yesterday but left early to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in a long time. We went to a thrift store where I found some fabulous deals, maybe to show later, and then to a few garage sales and an art display in one of the downtown buildings. There were art quilts, photography, paintings and jewelry. We also stopped at the soda fountain that was part of building and had a soda and a sundae, reminiscing about the old days when sodas, candy bars, and comic books could be had for less than half a dollar all together.

I went to the graduation celebration for a friend's daughter this afternoon and then came home and took a nap. I'm currently finishing up the edge on the last puzzle piece. Am anxious to get back to regular tatting!