Part 4 Finger Lakes Tatting Seminar

Well, It's 12:50 at night, and my dear husband is rocking our 19 month old grandson...who doesn't seem to want to go to sleep...So, I'll take the time to tell you about the last day of the seminar.

My morning class was with Nina Libin who had a delightful looking flower pin. The pin was done in three stages, two for the flower and the last for the leaves...all three done on the same thread and connected together. Try as I might, there at the seminar and later at home, I couldn't get my three stages close enough together to look anything like a flower. I eventually did them as three different stages and "sewed" them together with the thread ends. I loved the way this looked. I am presently trying to make enough of them to give to the mothers at church on Mother's Day.

My last class was taught by Jennifer Ostrander. She taught a split ring edging, split rings were a technique I already knew, but I could always use practice. I certainly got practice! The green was done in all split rings, and the flowers had two split rings out of every five rings. Jennifer had hand dyed thread for us to work with--this was new to me. I enjoyed working with it, and loved the different color changes that the thread made doing the edging. Jennifer had hand-sewn handkerchiefs and some smaller "coaster" size cotton pieces that we could chose from. Once I got home, I thought that I really wanted an absorbent coaster, so I sewed up these out of "micro-fiber" cloth. I have the large one on my craft table, and have put the smaller one in my big tatting bag for use when I'm not at home.

I really enjoyed this year's seminar. The food was excellent, not only for meals but also in the snacks that were provided. How they worked around all the food allergies that people had, I have no idea...but they really put effort into making sure that everyone has something (plenty) to eat every meal. The Saturday evening speaker was excellent. She spoke about gardening, but she really encouraged everyone to step out and make a difference in the world with the talents that you have been given. The time and effort put into this weekend really showed, and I deeply appreciated it. I'm hoping to visit New York again in 2012.

Part 3 Finger Lakes Tatting Seminar

Saturday afternoon I was in the Celtic Knotted Picot Ornament Motif class taught by Bina Madden. I'd never met Bina Madden before and I really enjoyed her. She has an "intense" personality and a lovely laugh. She described herself as a "tatting technician"--and she could really explain how to do a technique.

The list of techniques needed to make her motif was intimidating: Beaded Celtic Knotted Picot, Split Rings and Rings on Rings, Beads in a Picot, Mock Ring Chain with beaded base. The Celtic Picot was a new technique for me. Actually though, if you took the motif one ds at a time, it wasn't bad at all.

The base of the ornament basically was done in four quarters....I unfortunately was so enthralled that I had "gotten" the technique that I didn't pay attention and joined the 3rd quarter to the first quarter....with the metallic thread, I gave up at that point and spent some time talking to the people around me for a few minutes (it was almost time for the class to be over.)

When I got home I practiced with some lovely size 10 Lizbeth thread and pink beads that were in our "goodie" bag from the seminar....you'll see them show up in a future post when I decorate a t-shirt with them....Anyway, once I got the technique down cold using the metallic thread, I was able to make all four parts of her motif, which is supposed to be two-sided and can be worn as a pendant.

However at this point I decided I liked just the first two parts, and since I don't wear many necklaces anyway, I put them on a covered notebook that I was making. I also changed the design abit by turning the second part a quarter of a turn. I like the way the beads looked that way.

Part 2 Finger Lakes Tatting Seminar

Every year, at the seminar you have the option to draw a name and play Secret Angel. You must sneak a gift to someone, and see if they can guess that you are their Secret Angel. At the same time, someone else is trying to sneak and give you a gift undetected. Well, my secret angel went totally undetected until it was time to reveal yourself during the last few hours of the seminar. I was stumped! I received my gift within the first hour of the seminar on Saturday...and I didn't have a clue who it was. It was Karey Solomon! I should have guessed with the beautiful hand dyed threads in the metal tin....and the little glass baubles. Karey has out a new book about baubles and beads...I wanted to buy it, but ran out of $$. Along with the thread was a cute little bottle full of all different kinds and sizes of buttons.

Karey was the teacher of my first class. She sent "homework" to us a few weeks before the seminar, so that we would be prepared for the class. It was a round piece of fabric that we were to add blue and green thread on and create the illusion of earth and sky. In class, she taught us how to make floating chains....josephine floating chains. A new technique for me. The pattern was merely suggestions...make five leaves on a stem...this is how to create a 3-D rosebud, and this is how to make a 3-D rose. You created your own rose bush however you wanted it. She then had some beautiful felt, wool and bottle caps to make your own tiny little pin cushion. I sort of went my own way at this point and decided that I needed to frame mine. I also left off the little gold beads that were to be added to the large rose. Here is mine matted, minus the frame.

Part 1 Finger Lakes Tatting Seminar

I was blessed to attend the Finger Lakes Tatting Group's 13th International Tatting Seminar (formerly Hector Tat Days) again this year. Last year we received a small clay pot in our "goodie bags." Their challenge was for us to decorate it with this year's theme "Tatting Along the Garden Path" and enter it this year in a competition. These little turtles and their vegetable and flower gardens were my entry. I like to think the "wife" is welcoming her "husband" home to their ivy covered palace (I mean pot) as he comes down the tatted trail. My "home sweet home" didn't come in first place.

The winner tatted a beautful, imitation "tatting fern." (Yes, there actually is such a plant!) I was told that it was a close race and the little turtle abode came in second.

I wanted this beautiful ornament by Ginny Weathers, author of The Twelve Ornaments of Christmas because I thought it symbolized so well the theme of this years seminar. I was able to win the silent auction bid on it. Their auction goes toward their scholarship funds.

Stay tuned for further posts which will show what I learned and experienced at the seminar.