He knows my name!

My life verse: "I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel." (Isaiah 45:3). For me, "the treasures of darkness" has been the medically-treated depression that I have suffered off and on with for years. More than anything else in my life, I think this has made me realize how much my Savior loves me and has deepened my relationship with God. The "hidden riches of secret places" are my wonderful family and this fabulous craft--tatting! I thank God for both!
I think it is awesome that God knows my name! Did you know that He knows yours?

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Part 1 Finger Lakes 2015

I feel like I will never get all of the photos from my shirt posted!  Let's interrupt that string of posts to talk about the 2015 Finger Lakes Tatting Seminar.  These are things I took to the seminar to go into their raffle to raise money for Camp Good Days and Special Times (a group that aids children who have cancer and their families) and the Scholarship Auction.

I decorated these shuttles.  I don't know why, but the mod-podge coating "dented" easily when they came into contact with something else.  The pink and white Winnie the Pooh shuttles were plastic Boye shuttles.  They tended to come apart, so I deliberately took each one apart and super glued them back together. 


The "dream" and "create" shuttles are moonlit shuttles.  I learned to tat on Boye metal removable bobbin shuttles, and that was really all I had access to for many years.  My drawback with them was that a) they felt heavy in my hands and b) I tended to overfill them, thus I left a lot of oxidation marks on my tatting.  I love the Aerlit shuttles and have purchased quite a few of them.  I never thought I would like a post shuttle, but the Moonlit shuttle has become my favorite shuttle!  I do fill a couple of bobbins to carry with me so that I can easily reload the shuttle if I need to. 


I enjoy making these little coasters.  They are actually seven layers of fabric thick and moisture doesn't have a chance of seeping through!  I put together a set of four of these basketball themed coasters that were leftover from another fundraiser to add to the fun at Finger Lakes .




These little lined bags seem to be a big hit at the auction.  I've brought them every year.  I hope to very soon open an etsy shop where I can sell them.  I enjoy watching clearance sales and using coupons to fill the bags for the fundraisers.  The two purple bags have the same contents, only different colored purple thread.  The beige and rust bag, I put together differently this year--I added a coordinating coaster, frogger, scissors fob and needle striver.











Hegla

 Hegla was the auctioneer this year.  She did a great job of keeping the excitement going and encouraging bidders!  I love the auction--it is so much fun.  As someone who has benefited from the Scholarship Fund, I hope the auction was a money-making success!


                                                                                   




  
Every year in our goodie bags, we are given a "challenge item" to use to illustrate the theme of next year's conference.   Last year I received some of Karey Solomon's beautiful hand-dyed thread.in some lovely shades of green and a seahorse charm.The thread was much smaller than I am used to working with--a true challenge!  I had a lot of fun looking for charms that would match the seahorse in similar size and metal type.  I tried to go with the theme:  "Lake, Sea, and Shore."  This little bracelet was made from the "Tatted Doilies and Edgings" book that was edited by Rita Weiss.  I didn't win the challemge.  There were many other lovely entries this year.  I would have hated to be a lone judge and have
 had to pick thewinner.  I think that is why the winner was chosen by popular vote.


This is (I think) my 91st post--and the bracelet will be given away as part of a prize package when I have my  100th post.

Tammy
Sarah
This was the fifth year that Cynthia (how did I not get her picture?) and I have traveled from Oklahoma to Lodi, New York for the Seminar.  This year we took a slightly different route, spending our first night (and last night-on the road towards home) at Tammy's in Kentucky.  Tammy was unable to attend the conference this year--but we sure enjoyed her hospitality and looking at all the beautiful crafts that she enjoys doing.  She has a craft room that made us drool!  The next morning we picked up Sarah who was excited to attend her first tatting conference. 

Monica and Eclipse
Sharon
 When we got to New York, Monica very
generously let us share her condo for the conference nights. We had a lot of fun playing with Monica's emotional support dog, Eclipse and talking to Sharon in the evenings.

Next posting...at the seminar!












                                           

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Shirt Back-from This 'n' Tat

The very first "button" patterns that I did, before I settled on the idea of using purples and making "many" different motifs and decorating my shirt with them were patterns by Lisa C. Trumble from her website www.thisnthat.com   Her website was one of the first ones I discovered when I had access to tatting on the internet. 

http://www.thisntat.com/medallions/button_flower1.html 





 I did them in order...  The next was her Button Flower II.  I found this at
http://www.thisntat.com/medallions/button_flower2.html 







 
This one is was found at http://www.thisntat.com/medallions/button_flower3.html  It was worked emptying leftover bobbins and had several ends to be worked in--which gives it its wonky shape.


I am looking forward to finishing my Finger Lakes projects so I can post them.  I still am falling asleep tatting, and this week came down with pneumonia and did no tatting at all--so it may take awhile!