Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season.  Enjoy the time with family and friends.

Palmetto Tatters Guild is ready to post any day now applications for teachers and logo designs for Tat Days 2016.  They are due February 15.  How time has flown as it seems like just yesterday I was at the 2015 retreat.  Got a couple of patterns ready.  Have one more to design (hopefully) and a logo to design. 

Jane Eborall's TIAS will be starting in a couple of weeks.  Need to pick thread, beads and wind shuttles. 

Not tatted related, but I will be working on a cross stitch stitch-along this year.  The theme is "Let's Go on an Adventure!".  There will be a piece of the pattern emailed once a month so we will have traveled to 12 locations.  It will be a nice gift for granddaughter next year.  The info can be found here:  http://www.thefrostedpumpkinstitchery.com/.

TIAS 2016

Jane Eborall has recently posted the introduction for her 2016 Tat It and See (TIAS).  This will be my 4th.  It is a great way to start a new year.  Enjoyable for all levels of tatters.

Still Tatting

Life has been a little crazy, but I have still managed to do a little tatting.

Monster doily has been worked a little bit as time permits.  Need to dye some more thread as I  miss read my row colors and I think I will be short.

In the meantime, we took a vacation a couple of weeks ago.  Started the Dianne Doily.  This is a very easy, relaxing pattern.  It is easy to carry and I was able to work on the airplane without problems.  It is the greenish doily in the pic.  I think next time, I will use one color (either solid or variegated) or use the darker color for rings and the lighter for the chains.

The blue and poppy beaded tea candle holder pattern is from paradise treasures.  These will be gifts for coworkers.  I purchased LED tea candles from Big Lots.  DH thought they would be safer than regular candles.  Will make another for us next year.  Got other projects and Tat Days 2016 patterns to complete.

All thread is Lizbeth, Size 20.

Fair Results

Went yesterday on opening day to our local fair.  After going through the barn, we wondered into the craft area to look and see what we did.

I was thinking the lanyard (needlework-misc) and red/white star (Christmas- ornament) would win also.  It just was not meant to be this year.

There were three entries in the tatting category.  My husband received a third for a tatted owl.  Some one else received the first for a white doily.  My brown doily was the second.

The purple necklace was entered in the jewelry category.

Overall, I am pleased.  Now to plan for next year. 

Inspiration

Look what arrived in my mail yesterday.  Edda Guastalla sells them
http://www.guastallascarpe.com/bs/categoria-prodotto/filati/

The book is in Italian.  Google translate and I became friends yesterday afternoon.  The diagrams are great and the pictures fantastic.

I look through this with my almost 3 year old grand daughter.  As she pointed to the alphabets, I was looking at the kitties.  So before nap time, she picked some thread and beads.  The kitty was complete just as she awoke from her nap.

This magazine will bring me lots of tatting moments as I can see myself practically tatting everything in it. 

This now completes my second 25 motif challenge.  I will start a new one but it will probably be in January as I really need to complete other projects first.

Lazy Day

Nothing like staying in pj's all day, watching football and catching up on my tatting projects! 

Planning on completing my proficiency course first, complete/design  tat days 2016 items, then complete monster doily.  There will be other projects in between.  Want to complete one more motif for my 25 motif challenge before the end of the year.  Also, planning on starting a new doily when I am on vacation in a couple of months. 

2015 Fair Entries

Here is this years fair entries:

1) Coffee/brown Grab 'n Go tote bag (pattern by In Color modified to have pockets on the inside)

2) Mock Cluny star with beads (Karey Solomon's pattern from this years Tat Days)

3) A decoupage shuttle using glitter Modge Podge and Olaf stickers

4) A purple beaded necklace (hand dyed thread by me - see previous post on this one)

5 & 6) A purple beaded lanyard - Patti Duff pattern - and a brown doily.  The doily is from the book Tatting with Friends which I won at this years Tat Days auction.  The thread is Perle cotton which was given to me at one of my classes by A.J. (thank you so much).  These two items will have new homes after the fair (more on this with another post later).

With the lanyard and doily, that makes 23 and 24 of my 25 motif challenge.

Tat Days 2015 Pics

The first pic (upper left) is the Trillium Flower from Linda's (aka StringyDogs - nice to see a face with a name) class.  It is inverted tatting.  Actually was able to finish the project in class!  It now has a new home at my mother's.

The next one is from the auction Friday night.  the DVD's is my husbands and the Tatting With Friends is mine.  Already working on a doily from the book for a fellow tatter. 

The bottom left are pictures of projects from the three classes I taught.  The bug is from The Complete Book of Tatting from Rebecca Jones (used with permission).  The other two are my own design.  The bug class had fun after completing as they enjoyed playing with them.

The last picture are four projects from Karey Solomon's class.  I able to test these for her.  Pendant Necklace (teal), Mock Cluny Star (red and white), Leaping Lambies and Heavenly Tails and Happy Endings are the bookmarks. 

The picture on the left is my husbands raffle prize.

I enjoyed this years Tat Days as I have learned two more techniques to my list (cluny tatting and inverted tatting).  I look forward to next years as I am already thinking of class submittal and the enjoyment of catching up with my fellow tatters.

This now makes 17 through 22 of my 25 motif challenge for 2015.

Another Tat Days Over

Another Tat Days has come and gone.  Taking the day to rest and get reorganized.  Need to take pictures of project and post (probably sometime this week).  Classes I taught went well.  Still found corrections to one of the patterns.  Those that finished their bugs had fun playing with them after class.  Met new tatters, caught up with previous tatters and placed more faces to names of tatters.  Already thinking of next year!

Grab 'N Go Bags, Necklace, Doily

Finished my first two grab 'n go bags.  The large one has 10 small pockets and the smaller one has 6.  They are drawstring.  The larger one is big enough to put the Monster doily in with room to spare.

The necklace is hdt by me with sparkle beads.  Pattern is called Collana by silfoxestating (FB post Aug/Dec 2014).  Made for my brothers wedding in November.  Now to get the dress made.

The blue doily is something quick that I made to enter in the fair.  Pattern can be found in Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito.

The necklace and doily make number 15 and 16 of the 25 motif challenge.

Two weeks before Tat Days.  Wire legs need to be cut for the Tatting Bug class I am teaching.  Need to finish more bags to take with me for vending.  Shuttles need to be wound for the classes I am taking as well as gathering my tatting accessories.  Tags need to be made for the bags and shuttles my husband will be selling.  All this plus watching granddaughter a few days and taking mother to doctor/car dealer for vehicle recall work.  Time flies when having fun!

Onward with Jan's Monster Doily

Almost halfway with round 11.  Going to have to put on hold again this week.  I have to get another earring complete for our fair in September (the week after Tat Days), dye thread and make a necklace and earring set for my brothers wedding in November, sew a dress for the wedding, and finish making 9 grab and go organizer tatting bags to sell at Tat Days (will post pics when bags are done).   Seems like time ticks away faster than I want as I get more projects added to the list.

Earrings and Bookmark

This has been my past week evening's work.  I sit in front of the TV for noise and sometimes watching but have my tatting right next to me.  These items are in the mail to the Palmetto Tatters Guild for their scholarship fund.

The red earrings are called Simple ROR earrings by Corona Meyfeldt.  The medium blue are Tigereye earrings by Elizabeth C. Zipay. The green is a pattern by Kerstin (on Crabtree) called Tutu Motif.  There is a Tardis Bookmark by Anne Bruvold.  The pen insert is from Tat Days 2013 by Tonya Smith.  The key fob was the start of a lanyard for hubby.  Pattern by Patti Duff. 

Edited:  this makes number 9 to 14 for the 25 motif challenge.

Time go get going on the Monster Doily again.

Happy Days Are Here Again

It is amazing what one will find when they clean their tatting area.  Found the misplaced doily!  It was under a pad of paper.

Tatting Work/Shuttles Lost

It is a sad day in my household.  I had started Doily #1earlier this year from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito.   I was working on it when my mom had several hospital stays earlier this year.  Now that my testing is complete, I started looking for this doily to work on last night.  Lo and behold, it is nowhere to be found.  I know I had an Aerolit (mgf England) and a metal shuttle with it.  It is not in my tat bag where I am pretty positive it should be.  I guess I will be busy next week looking at every little place I can think of to see if it shows up.  If not, I am not going to fret.  I know my mind is not as sharp as it was (brain overload).  I will just start over again.  In the meantime, I have other projects to work on.

Onward . . .

All test tatting has been complete.  Yeah!  I can now go back to finishing a few WIP's (with a few small, quick motifs added in). 

Tat Days registration is open.  It is to be held in Toccoa, GA on September 4-5, 2015.  It is a nice weekend to relax, learn new techniques or refresh those you already know, meet new friends, see those you have met in the past (or put a face to a name you have been friends with online).  The Palmetto Tatters Guild does a great job with this event. 

Doily and Snowflakes

Can't believe it has been that long since I have posted.  Try to do at least two a month.  Anyway, I have been tatting.  Been doing lots of test tatting for others.  I did manage to do some personal tatting in between.

The green doily is from the Spring 2015 issue of the Bulletin of IOLI.  It is called Whirl by Randy Houtz.  The snowflakes are from the book The Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones.  These make numbers 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the 25-motif challenge.

I am awaiting a couple more patterns to test.  In the meantime I have several tatting items in work as well as several sewing projects I really need to get started on.  I am hoping live simmers down enough to where I have time to work on them!

Tat Days 2015 Schedule

The Palmetto Tatters have posted the class pictures and schedule for this years Tat Days.  Go to palmettotatters.org/events/TatDays2015/ClassProjectPictures.shtml.  I am so excited as yes that is me that will be teaching this year (toot toot).  This is a first for me.  I am looking forward to being a part of this event.

Blinged Shuttles

My play day this past week did not go quite as planned.  However, over a couple of days, I was able to bling some shuttles.  I had gone to Michael's and found some stickers.  I had been collecting some shuttles from December to play with.  Below are a couple of my results.

The top are the results of side one.  The middle one is the California Angels (aka Anaheim Angels) baseball team halo A team symbol.  Had found some material years ago to make a blouse and had kept the scraps.  Cut around the halo A and tah dah - a blinged shuttle.  Shuttles 2 and 4 represent Minions and Frozen.  The first just has my initials and the last is halographic origami paper.

The bottom represents the finished back sides.  I have not decided on what to do with the yellow ones yet.  The backside of the halo A will also have the same symbol so it will be the same on both sides.  Tinkerbell was done last year.

I had purchased some glitter Modge Podge and used that on shuttles 2, 4 and on the green front side.

Now to get to some tatting!

New Challenge, Cross, Heart and Rosette

Well, I have started my third 25-motif challenge. 

The cross is a Jane Eborall pattern.  I wanted something quick.  It went to an extended family member who has a son in the hospital.  It was tatted in Gold, Lizbeth size 20.

The heart is from an IOLI Bulletin (see March 13 post).  It was tatted in size 10, hand dyed by me.

The rosette was the start of a doily from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito.  I started it last week when my mom was in the hospital.  I messed up so I just quite at the rosette part.  I have started again and it will work better (forgot to put the picots at the end of each chain after joining to previous round).  Anyway, it is tatted in Size 5 Metallic Perle Cotton found at Hobby Lobby.  The doily is project 1 which reminds me of a spider web.  I will tat some spiders for the doily and place it on my front window at Halloween.

Great News

Just found out I will be teaching at Tat Days 2015.  This will be my first time ever.  So excited?  No sneak peeks.  Will post when the info is posted on the Palmettos Tatting Guild web site.

Hearts, Dragonfly and Bear

With these three items, I have now finished my second 25 motif challenge.  I will begin a new one later this month. 

My mom was recently in the hospital with rapid heart rate/chest pains/shortness of breath (third time since January 23).  They believe there was an electrical short so a procedure was done on Wednesday.  As I went home from the hospital Tuesday, I was thinking of something that I could bring the next day as I knew I would be sitting around.  I thought a small tatted heart would be appropriate.  Nothing complicated.  I had seen one earlier in "The Bulletin" published by the International Organization of Lace.  I had it in my tatting corner, Volume 35, Number I, Fall 2014.  It is a Heart pattern my Karey Solomon.  Gathered my thread and magazine, threw it in my Tat Days bag and I was ready to go.  By the time we saw the cardiologist, one heart was done and given to the assistant.  The others were made throughout the day and will be kept in my giveaway box.   Thread is pink, brand unknown.

Next is a little dragonfly by Jon Yusoff.  Wanted something different to keep in my giveaway box.  I am always looking for small items.  Needed a little evening break from Monster Doily.  Thread is a blue-green hand dyed by me.  Brand unknown.

Gave away one of my Kudzu bears last week, so I made a replacement.  Details can be found on one of my other posts.

Monster Doily and Misc

Been back working on my Jan Stawasz "Monster" Doily.  Working on row VIII.  Only 10 more rows to go.

Made a teal awareness ribbon for a neighbor.  Need to stiffen and attach the pin back.  Color is Jade from Aunt Lydia, size 10. 

The variegated rose color thread is from Yarnplayer, size 20 called Peaches 'n Onions.  It is the toffee candy pattern from Tat Days 2014. 

That is a dime between all three items so help get an idea on size. 

Shuttle Tag

My granddaughter found the tatted shuttle tag I made myself last week.  She was very intrigued with it.  So I asked her if she wanted one.  Of course she said yes.  I then took her up and had her pick out the thread.  Now you need to know she is only 2.  I was happy to put things aside and make her one.  She saw the partial (all beads were one it) on Wednesday, picked it up admiring the beads and walked away.  I did receive it back and thought I better finish before I see here again.  She will receive it this afternoon.  The thread is size 20 Lisbeth in Spring Flower.  Pattern can be found here: http://www.itsabear.com/kathy/Pattern/shuttletag.html

TIAS and Misc

Finished Jane's TIAS.  I believe my scissors have been used a little to much as the one handle is a little bent.  Thanks Jane for the work you put into this little game.  I enjoyed every minute and sorry to see it end.  Look forward to next years.  Will definitely tat this pattern again and keep them in my container as a give away.

Just submitted my application to teach at Tat Days 2015.  I have attended the last three events.  After taking a couple of online design classes, I was inspired last year to submit an application.  Will see what happens.

TIAS - Day 9 & New Napkin

Yes, I am still alive and tatting.  Been working on my proficiency course samples, a tatted bag from TAT Days 2014 and the TIAS 2015.   Here is my TIAS through day 9.  The color is Rust which I hand dyed as a sample.  The bottom looks like goucho pants.  Still have no real guess.  It will certainly be a surprise when done.  It is still not to late for anyone who wants to join in.  See my previous post for the link.

Just looked at Renulek's.  She has just started a new tatted napkin.  Rounds 1 and 2 are posted.  She does beautiful work.  These are nice tat alongs to work on, although, her napkins tend to be on the large size.

TIAS 2015

Jane Eborall's TIAS (Tat It and See) is scheduled to begin Wednesday, January 7.  The intro can be found here:  http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/.  My shuttles are wound, button was located in my extra button jar, I will be ready to go when I get up Wednesday.

I have finished my tatting design that I will be submitting to the Palmetto Tatters Guild Tat Days.  First one turned out okay.  The second one after tweeking looks great.  Pattern is basically done.  It just needs to be read again to make sure every thing is clear.  Diagram will be done in a day or two. 

I have another pattern I will be submitting.  I have the publishers permission.  It is a technique pattern and very easy.  I want to make a better diagram and rewrite the pattern so it is more legible.