Christmas Ornaments 2010

I made these ornaments as Christmas presents for my nieces/nephews and great-nieces. There were 7 more of them, but they have gone merrily on to their destinations. They have silver beads and jingle bells added to them. I started adding the jingle bells directily, as the motifs were worked. However, I discovered that with a small twist of the jingle bell, the jingle bell cut directly through the thread. After that, I started adding the jingle bells to jump rings, that were added after the motifs were worked. Because my ornaments were 1/4 of an inch larger than the 2 inch called for in the pattern, I added 4 ds to each of the large joining rings. These were all worked in Lizbeth, size 20 thread. They are from the pattern, "Jeanette" from the book "12 Ornaments of Christmas" by Ginny Weathers.

"Maria" Bookmark

This is a bookmark that I made for my friend, Mary. Mary is fighting a rare type of cancer, and is to travel to M. D. Anderson in Houston this week to discuss her treatment. Mary is a Christian and would love for you to join me in praying for her. I'd already picked this pattern to make for her, but knew it was the right choice when I saw the name "Maria"...it is from the book Tatted Bookmarks and is by Lene Bjorn. It is done in white, Lizbeth size 20.

More Tatted Buttons

What do I do when I learn a new tatting technique, or a really neat pattern? Put it on a t-shirt, of course. These buttons were done in Lizbeth, size 20, color #100. I was told this was a Workbasket pattern, but wasn't told which issue.

I'm acquiring quite a wardrobe of tatted decorated t-shirts!

Covered Button, Lace Embrace 2010

It has been quite awhile since my last post...I finished all twenty-two of my mystery tatted _____ to put in Christmas cards at church. Then I started covering Christmas ornaments with tatting to give to family at Christmas.

Three weeks ago TATTING INJURY! I poked the eye end of a needle into my index finger while sewing in an thread end. Within 48 hours, it was infected to an area just smaller than 1 inch by 3/4 of an inch. It had to be lanced and drained. No tatting for the last three weeks, the finger was too sensitive. Can you go into tatting withdrawal? Today was my first day without a bandaid....and I stuck a crochet hook into it again! The Dr. warned that because of all the antibiotic resistant germs out there that all wounds need extra care....so be careful out there!

I attended the Oklahoma Lace Guild's Lace Embrace today in Bartlesville. (Would you believe I forgot my tatted nametag--July 22 post.) I had a lovely time. The theme of the day was Buttons. The advanced tatting class covered a button with tatting. The pattern was from the Workbasket magazine. The colors on my button are not exactly my first choice, but I really didn't know quite what we were going to do, until we got started.

An interesting thing for me about the theme Buttons. I discovered that my mother, who died when I was 18, as a child had collected buttons. She had rheumatic fever and a congenital heart defect, and had to spend much time in bed, ladies in the town would bring her buttons to keep her occupied. This was the first time, that I had heard this button story...and I had an interesting time going through her collection, that I'd never seen.

My wonderful grandson is walking!

Doilies for Donna and Crystal

I haven't posted in awhile, I've been playing Santa Clause and working on 22 tatted ****** to put in Christmas Cards this year to give out at church. My husband pastors a small So. Baptist church, and we have a really great congregation, that have become more family than anything else. We try to do something each year at Christmas, but this year the budget is really tight, so I'm tatting for everyone.

Since I can't show you yet what I'm working on, I thought I'd share some things that I've done in the past.

This white doily is one that I did for my friend, Donna, as a wedding present, a few years back. It was done in White, DMC Cebelia 20. It is the pattern, Lucky Clover in Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson.

This Blue Variegated doily was one I did for my DIL, Crystal. A "just because I love you" present...It is the pattern Francesca by Iris Niebach. The thread was (I think) Flora, but I'm not sure of the color.

Last but not least, is the Enchanter Heart, that I did for my DS#2's girlfriend. It is by Jon Yusoff. The pattern is available here: http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2010/02/enchanter.html. The thread is Lizbeth, #671, size 20.

Pattern--Flower Pins

This is the pattern by Maggie Brown. The flowers are shown on my post "Lace Escape IV --part 2 on July 11"

To get a pdf of the pattern CLICK HERE

Maggie just gave me the numbers at the retreat...this is the first time I've written out a pattern, so let me know of any changes I need to make.

Flower petals and base:

String 98 beads. To make like my original pin that I made at the Lace Escape, String 7 of color A, 7 of color B, 7 of color A, 7 of color B, etc. Most of the other pins that I made, I used a single color.

Ring 1: (Place 7 beads on the back of the hand) 7ds, vsp, 2ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 2ds vsp, 7ds, close ring.

Ring cluster: (Place 7 beads on the back of the hand) 1 ds, 7b, 1ds, close ring.

Rings 2-6: (Place 7 beads on the back of the hand) 7ds, + (to last picot made), 2ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 2ds, vsp, 7ds, close ring. Follow with a ring cluster.

Ring 7: (Place 7 beads on the back of the hand) 7ds, +, 2ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 1ds, 1B, 2ds, + (to first picot on Ring 1), 7ds, close ring. Follow with ring cluster and tie off to the base of Ring 1.

Inner ring cluster. String 18 beads. Ring: 1ds, 3B, 1ds, 3B, 1ds, 3B, 1ds, 3B, 1ds, 3B, 1ds, 3B, 1ds, close ring. Insert in the center of the flower.

Maggie suggests using E6000 glue to attach the flower to a tie tack base. I changed the Ring Cluster to have 9 beads instead of 7 on many of my flowers.

There has been a revision of the pattern made.  It can be seen on this blog here:   http://www.thethreadbears.com/blog/?page_id=285

Nametags

I saw some beautiful nametags decorated with tatting when I was at the Hector Tat Days this year. I was tiring of my shawl pattern and the doily that I've been working on, so I decided to try my hand at making a nametag. I have one of those plastic sleeves on a jaw clip that I can slide this into. The pattern for the edging is "Betty" by Rosemarie Peel. The thread is Lizbeth #129.

No posts for at least the next week, I'll be teaching at Good News Camp. There is no computer access at all at our campgrounds, and it may be way to hot to be tatting (high 90's are predicted for all week)!

Lace Escape IV--part 4

Sunday morning, Maggie taught me some new techniques. The first was a "dizzy picot." Mark Myers (Tat-man) explains this technique http://www.tat-man.net/tatterville/howtotat/DP/DP.html . Maggie and I were laughing and talking about different things, when she said that she wished she could see butterflies illustrating new techniques--well Maggie, here is my Dizzy Picot Butterfly!

The next technique that we worked on was Maltese Rings. Martha Ess has a good explanation of how to do these at http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=30108&ck= . One of the ladies asked what we were doing and I pointed to the samples of Maltese Rings, and laughed that it had "outie" and "innie" picots. Maggie immediately said that my future Maltese Ring Butterfly was to be named "The Belly-Button Butterfly."

Words cannot explain how much fun I had with these ladies. I really broadened my tatting techniques and skills. The retreat center was lovely and peaceful, and the company was fantastic. Now to save my pennies so that I can attend Lace Escape V!

Lace Escape IV--part 3

Saturday afternoon, Maggie and I worked on putting beads in joins. This is her original bookmark pattern, which I did at the retreat in purples (Lizbeth129). Here also are two that I did later at home in Lizbeth 620--I left out the beads in the joins on these.

Saturday afternoon I started this snowflake. The pattern is by Pam Palmer. This was the first project that I did the beading "myself"--I decided where the beads were to go, and had to count them up and load them correctly, etc. I finished it right before time to go to bed that evening.

Lace Escape IV--part 2

Later Saturday morning, as practice for adding beads to picots, Maggie shared with me her original pattern for making these flower pins. Maggie generously let me use her beads, which enabled me to make this multi-colored bead flower. I loved this pattern. It is a great way for emptying bobbins (I use the metal Boye shuttles, which it seems, most of the tatting world hates.) Anyway, I went "flower pin" crazy when I got home.

Lace Escape IV--part 1

Friday night at the Lace Escape IV put on by the Lace Guild of Greater Kansas City, Maggie Brown taught me how to put a bead inside of a ring. I was able to finish the first candy cane that night. Since it was a learning project, I didn't worry about finishing the ends (cane on the far right). I've done the other two candy canes since then, adding a hanging loop in the tenth chain. One candy cane has red beads inside of white rings, and white beads inside of red rings, the other candy cane has matching rings and beads. The candy canes are done in Flora thread, the pattern is by Pam Palmer. *If you do this pattern, make your picots as small as possible! Jennifer Williams has the technique for adding a bead to the center of a ring, on Jane Eborall's pattern pages, http://www.e.n.e.btinternet.co.uk/BeadRing.pdf .

Early Saturday morning, Maggie taught me how to make a "Double Long Beaded Picot." This technique is also on Jane Eborall's pattern pages, http://www.e.n.e.biternet.co.uk/BeadsMulti.pdf . These were so neat looking, that when I got home, I made a bunch of them and decorated a t-shirt with them!

"Hospital Doily"

The day I left for Christian Youth in Action, I received my T.A.T. program "Apprentice Pin" I was so excited! I completed the work for the program several years ago, but never mailed it in until this spring. I've learned a lot by completing the work for the program, as well as by seeing the notes made by those who evaluated my work. As soon as I have the money I will apply for the Artisan phase of the program.

The two weeks of CYIA flew by, and the following week, my father had a complete knee replacement. This is my "hospital" doily that I worked on during my father's stay in the hospital. It is the pattern "Nora" by Iris Niebach and is done in Lizbeth color 122. My father is now doing remarkably well, although he suffered miserably from the affects of the anesthesia for a few days.

June 25-27, I got to attend the Lace Guild of Greater Kansas City's Lace Escape IV. I had a blast!!!! The ladies had worked very hard to make it a very special and memorable weekend. I really appreciated the way the ladies made me feel welcome. I did tatting all weekend long, but was tempted to join in the beginner Bobbin Lace and beginner Romanian Point Lace Class. My tatting teacher was Maggie Brown. She introduced me to many techniques that I hadn't tried before....and I'm now pretty proficient at tatting with beads, a skill I was lacking. She shared not only her knowledge, but her bead stash, jewelry making supplies, and some original patterns. I'll have pictures to show of my work in later blogs. I'd love to spend more time with these ladies in the future!

Last week was VBS....I made balloon animals every night to be given away the next day to those who learned their memory verses. I also taught the Bible classes for the lower elementary and upper elementary classes.

Gold Butterfly

Well, I decided to sew the pink and green butterfly on! Now to make the smaller butterflies and some flowers.

I'm also going to sew this "gold" butterfly onto this black shirt, just to add some pizzazz to my outfit. It is from the same pattern by Iris Niebachand is done in Lizbeth, size 20, colors #613 and #611.

There won't be any more posts for the next two weeks, I'll be in Tulsa, teaching the level 3 classes for Christian Youth in Action.

Pink & Green Butterfly

I tatted this butterfly, I planned to put it on this pink t-shirt (shown), as a start to adding smaller butterflies or flowers. One of the smaller item's purpose was to cover a stain on the shirt. However now that I have the butterfly tatted--I'm just not in love with the green in the butterfly. The butterfly is done in Lizbeth, size 20, #620, and #124. The pattern is by Iris Niebach. What do you think about the green? I'm not going to sew it on until I decide how I feel about it.

Monogrammed T-shirt

I did a lot of sewing, yesterday. I finished a three tiered skirt yesterday. The fabric comes in different colors with beige letters of the alphabet printed on it. My tiers are black, blue and red. I bought a black t-shirt and tatted my monogram to go on it. I did the hand-sewing on it yesterday, as well. I thought it and the skirt would look cute together. The monogram is done in Lizbeth. size 20, #601 (snow white). The pattern for the letters is by Gillian Buchanan.

Shawl--9 months

This week my grandson is 9 months old! I started this shawl about the time he was born. At this time, it measures approximately 40 inches X 12 inches. I'm making it from a modified version of motif #30 from the book Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. Modified, in that I left off the last round (it rounded the motif, whereas I wanted it six-sided,) and I left off a picot in the previous round. It is made of Lizbeth Threads: #113, #633, #625, #601, and #663. Here is my wonderful hubby holding our grandson on the day he was born and then again now....I think my grandson is growing faster than my shawl! My goal is to have it finished before his first day in school!

Speaking of my dear husband, I have to share. Last month my husband was given the Merit of
Excellence award for the High School Teacher of 2010 by the Professional Oklahoma Educators! In layman's terms the "High School Teacher of the Year". He's taught for 28 years at the same school. He truly loves his job and I am always proud of him....but now the world knows how great he really is!

Antique Eye Candy

A lady at my church who specializes in buying and selling antiques, bought this for me at a sale. What a lovely gift! There was almost 2 yards of the lace, but only one of the joined motifs. I can't believe the size of the thread! Oh I hope my tatting is this good someday....and I hope my tatting isn't sold at a "sale" but treasured (and used) by my descendants or by the recipient.

Hector-Final thoughts

I finally finished the gold angel earrings today. The gold thread that Nina provided for us I broke closing a ring. I replaced it with DMC metallic thread on a spool. I had fits closing rings and had to keep starting over--stringing all those beads over and over. Finally I figured out to work with the twist of the thread instead of against it....it worked like a charm!

My first class was with Sue Fuller. She is a real sweetheart of a lady. She is a published tatting designer who created for us the cutest "Lil' Blossom Lamb" pattern. She encountered real difficulties with our class. Her demo rope for showing us split chains wouldn't behave. She planned to have handouts to give us, but then didn't have access to a copy machine. Last but not least, was the diagram and written material in the pattern that was given to us didn't match. None of this was her fault, but created bumps in the road while she tried to teach us. I'm still struggling with this pattern, however, because of this project and class I CAN DO SPLIT CHAINS a skill I've struggled on and off to learn for several years! I'm not giving up, so the fact that there is no picture is hopefully, just a temporary thing. Sue is working on "updating" her book for another printing--and I can't wait to get a copy.

My experience at Hector was exhilerating! They had it set up so that everything ran so smoothly. There were a variety of food issues that people had, and the menus were planned so that everyone always had something that they could eat. The vendors had such a wide variety of things to purchase. My big $ purchase was a pair of fishhook earrings with tatting shuttles on them. One of the things I liked best was getting to look at tatting books before I bought them! I don't know if I'll ever get to make the trip from OK to NY again, but I certainly have another trip to Hector Tat Days on my wish list!

Hector-Ornamental Angels

One of the people I enjoyed talking with the most at the Hector Tat Days was Nina Libin. Nina is the creator of Beanile Lace, and if you haven't seen her work, you are really missing something. Her website is www.beanile.com/index.html. She showed us how to make beaded angels. We made one out of thick thread for practice (Picture D). She provided us with nice metallic thread and beads so that we could later make earrings. This was my first real experience using more than a few beads, and Nina's directions made it very easy. It was also my first experience using metallic threads, and I could easily become an addict! I can't wait to get the wires on my silver angel earrings! (Picture E)

Hector-Celtic Blessing Box

A very busy person at the Hector Tat Days was Karey Solomon. She publishes Tatting Times, and also has a shop, I think it is called Fiber Arts Studio. She designed the cutest fabric-covered blessing box and an intricate Celtic Motif to go on top of it. I had a fit with the size 50 thread that she provided in our kit...I've never worked with thread that small, and I kept breaking the thread. I was also having trouble seeing the knots (I have failing eyesight.) Then I misread the directions--to make a long story short, when I got home, I redid the Celtic Motif in size 20 Lizbeth threads. I used white beads, which don't show up well (in person, or in the picture.) If I were to do it again, I would definitely use colored beads. Picture C shows the motif before I put it on my blessing box. This was my first time to ever work with tatting and buttons together!

Hector-Tassel Angel

The Hector Tat Days were so exciting....before that, although I've tatted for about 30 years, I'd only met three other tatters....and there I was surrounded! People were wearing the most amazing tatting...collars, necklaces, shawls, etc. Over the next few blog posts. I'd like to show you the things I made, and tell you what I learned in each class.

In a class taught by Kathy Robinson (who was one of the organizing workers at Tat Days), I learned the balanced double stitch. We made wings to go on a tassel, creating an angel (Angels Among Us was the theme of this year's Tat Days.) Front of angel with a snowflake charm: Picture A, Back of angel showing wings: Picture B

Hector-A Visit with Georgia

In April,on our way to the Hector Tat Days, I was privileged to meet and visit with Georgia Seitz. Georgia is a tatting designer, teacher, and has done much to promote tatting on the internet. She is also a very gracious and lovely lady. She shared some samples with us of Lizbeth thread. This is the bookmark I made with three of the samples: #125, #656 and #658. The pattern is Jon Yusoff's Chinese Coin Bookmark.