Thank you all for your responses to "what inspires you to tat?". Obviously, tatting appeals to a wide variety of people for all kinds of reason. The reasons I listed were a little tongue-in-cheek and I hope you had fun with them.

I sit in a little chair in my living room with a hexagonal shaped cabinet/table next to me. The table holds a lamp, several remotes, pens, and most importantly, my current tatting supplies. I suppose I could almost live here if I needed to. It certainly looks like it a good part of the time. Today I decided to pick up all the bits and pieces that accumulate after awhile. I put most of the thread away last week but I found yet a few more balls today. I have one set of shuttles with a project started on it but I can't remember exactly which pattern or even which book so it waits on me patiently to make time for it. There are scissors, pincushions (one for needles and one for pins), a few tubes of beads, beading needles, 2 rolls of Hugo's Amazing Tape, paperclips, some now-empty shuttles, and other odds and ends.

I don't show my chair because it is badly in need of reupholstering. I tried another chair for over a year but it was so hard on my back and way too big for me to get in and out of comfortably. I have the fabric and most of the supplies but it will take a block of time involving several days so I simply have it covered in an old lace tablecloth (not handmade), with a towel also on the seat as the cats like to sleep there and shed when I'm gone. Along the top of the back, I have a throw rug, for another cat that likes to lay up there (and shed) when she is in. With the addition of my son's two cats along with my two cats, I have developed a cat hair problem that I never had before. I put terrycloth towels everywhere they lay because it's much easier to throw them in the washer than to vacuum those spots. (the towels, not the cats!)

Everytime I decide to gather up the bits and pieces, I find I have a miniature forest of flora and fauna. Here are a few butterflies, a swan and a .....bird? LOL! It started out intending to be a butterfly but I quickly figured out there wasn't enough thread for a full butterfly so I was going to make a profile butterfly similar to Jon's most recent profile flutters, but I didn't have the pattern in front of me and was trying to just play with the concept. I could see it wasn't going where I wanted and looked more like a bird I've tatted in the past from Tatting Collage, so I ended it and gave it feet at the last moment. Well, now it doesn't look like a bird either! Perhaps a naming contest needs to be instigated? (update: swan is from Jon's free patterns.)

The vast majority of my shuttle endings are tatted into rings full of picots to fill out a flower bouquet somewhere along the line. They don't look like much on their own, but when you put them together and add a ribbon and touch of greenery, they often make the card or picture or whatever you use them with a tad bit more special.

And heart balloons are amongst my favorite shuttle endings. I forget about them for awhile and then I go crazy tatting them. I just adore them.

Now, chances are, these will all end up in a baggie until I find a reason to use them. Unfortunately, I tend to forget where I put the last baggie or tin and then I find them later all over the place!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!