I opened the mail

...and what did I see? A pretty new fish shuttle winking at me!

Isn't she adorable? She's hand-painted and decorated by Anika. I also received a skein of gorgeous HDT named "Easter in August." I see another Spinning Wheel glass mat in my future!

Oops... looks like that little fishy is swimming upside down!

YLI #15V ~ Vineyard

This is the last of my YLI threads, and I can't tell you how gorgeous this color way is in person! The photo really does not do it justice. My pretty pink shuttle is from an exchange with TypsTatting. When I first shared a picture of this shuttle, I commented on the size of these itty bitty decorations. I still can't imagine how anyone can manage those little bits. It's so much fun going through my shuttle collection and remembering where they've come from, especially the ones decorated by my tatting friends!

Here's the set of Stumpy motifs in the five YLI colors that I purchased. They'll be off in the mail tomorrow to be shuttle-fied by Chris Hinton. I love each and every one of them. I'm feeling more and more confident about starting a larger project with these finer threads. I wonder what it should be? : )

Marilee to the rescue!

When my Tollway Tatters group met back in March, Marilee (aka Yarnplayer) brought along threads for us to ogle and purchase. I fell in love with this beautiful lavender, which was one of Marilee's sample skeins. She warned us that the sample skeins were not full skeins of thread. I wound the thread and started tatting my favorite pattern, Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. Much to my dismay, I didn't have enough thread to tat the last six rings and chains!

I emailed Marilee, and luckily she had another sample skein! It arrived this afternoon, and I quickly finished the doily.

All the drawers in my shuttle chest are now lined with Spinning Wheels, so this one will grace the top of the chest. The reproduction Greek vase was a gift from our friends Gus and Irene. They spent January in Greece visiting family, and were kind enough to bring back a souvenir for me! The beautiful white doily was crocheted by Irene's mother. Hmmm... I wonder how I could tat that motif? ; ) 

YLI #V85 ~ Nordic Fjord

This may be my favorite color combination! I love the shades of deep, dark blue. However, I will be sure to not wear dark blue pants when tatting with this thread. I really need a light background so that I can see what I'm doing! The shuttle is another favorite from LaCossette, Chocolate Ice.

YLI #V76 ~ Kyoto Garden

It's been a busy week! I can't believe that I only managed to tat one set of Stumpy motifs. I love this color. The blues, greens, and yellows flow so beautifully! The shuttle is another favorite from LaCossette... Pansies.

Daughter Alison and family came to visit this afternoon, and daughter Carol joined us as well. My granddaughter Eva, who will be ten in June, has decided that she'd like to learn how to tat. So, being a good grandma, I sent her home with her very own starter kit! Eva told me that she'd like to learn how to decorate her shuttles, so we have plans to do some blinging this summer. Keep your fingers crossed... I may have a new tatter joining the fold!

One skein of Teenybopper

In case you haven't guessed, Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior is my all-time favorite pattern! I love the way it shows off the colors of hand-dyed threads. This thread is Teenybopper from Yarnplayer. I think I may challenge myself this year to see how much I can tat from each skein of hand-dyed thread that I use. That way, I won't have unidentified bits of thread lying around! The other four motifs are from Occhi, the Peacock Book. I LOVE this book!

Here is my Teenybopper Spinning Wheel in its new home. Top left is my real English Aero shuttle. Top right is an impostor from who knows where., Underneath them is a German Aero shuttle. There is a big difference in each of these shuttles. I love the English, can't stand the impostor, and don't mind the German. I noticed that the Handy Hands catalog shows these shuttles now being made in Mexico. I guess maybe I'll have to try one of those as well.

The three shuttles on the bottom left are from The Shuttle Brothers. The three on the bottom right are Silent Tatters. The blue and brown shuttles in the middle are from either eBay or Etsy, I don't remember which. I guess I should try these shuttles out! ; )

YLI #V77 ~ Alaskan Twilight

I wish you could see this thread in person, because it's so much prettier than it shows up in the photo. I chose it because the name, Alaskan Twilight, reminded me of Georgia Seitz. Georgia is the one who introduced me to the Sulky line of threads. Thank you, Georgia!

The shuttle I used this time is my new Wisteria from LaCossette. I think I'm becoming a serious bobbin shuttle addict! ; )

YLI #V80 ~ Danube Blues

The YLI threads that I purchased have been sitting on my table calling to me... Forget the Sulky! Tat with me! So I caved. : )

I really couldn't help myself. After all, the thread is called Danube Blues, and those of you who have been reading my blog know how much I love blue! I decided to use my new Lily shuttle from LaCossette. This could be my new favorite shuttle from LaCossette!

No bills today!

Just two wonderful packages! My two newest Roly Poly bags from Jane arrived, along with my very first Poke Proof Pouch. I know I can sew, but why... Jane has exactly what I want! Besides, if I don't sew, I have more time for tatting! ; )

I also received some wonderful HDT from Jess and Livi. We did a swap, one of my Origami bags for a skein of size 40 HDT. Jess has been trying to come up with the perfect Torch Lily. Although this color combo is very pretty, it just wasn't quite what she's looking for. A bonus for me is that Livi decided to dye some thread for me! See the lovely blues and purples? I feel so honored! The thread is called LLL2, which stands for Livi Loves Lace Too. Thank you, Livi! You made my day! I think I'll tat something really special with this thread!

Sulky Blendables #4012 ~ Baby Soft

I'm not a big fan of pastels, but I think this thread would be really pretty tatted up as trim for a baby bonnet or Christening gown. The Lily-of-theValley shuttle is one of my favorites from LaCossette.

I love Lily-of-the-Valley. My grandmother had a patch outside her front door in Philadelphia. The story is that Dad and his friends disassembled and reassembled a motorcycle in the yard, and Grandma could never get anything to grow there again, except for Lily-of-the-Valley.

My other Lily-of-the-Valley story involves a popular scent when I was in high school... Muguet du Bois. I worked at a local pharmacy, and purchased some because it was so popular among my friends. One night at dinner (I always sat on Dad's right), Dad became very upset because I smelled like cigarette butts! I was very much a good-two-shoes in school, and I was horrified that my dad thought I'd been smoking! We figured out that the lovely scent of Muguet du Bois did not react well with my body chemistry. So sad!

Believe it or not, I've lost some of these little Stumpy motifs, so I decided to make use of a little dish I purchased from Grizzly Mountain Arts. It's perfect!

I have another set of Stumpy motifs to send off to Chris & Erin Hinton at The Shuttle Shop. It's my understanding that Chris will soon be posting pictures of his Tatted Shuttles (shuttles with tatting encased in epoxy) that are ready for purchase. I wonder if my shuttle collection will increase? ; )

Sulky Blendables #4011 ~ Milk Chocolate

Yes, dear friends, I have finished tatting Stumpy in another Sulky Blendables thread with a luscious name! The shuttle is Zingy by LaCossette. You may remember that in an earlier post I mentioned that I was having trouble with the thread binding. I'm happy to report that since I've been more careful with my winding, and since I take the time to move the bobbin with my fingers if it feels tight, I haven't had a problem. I'm so glad I asked for advice!

I've had some wonderful surprises in my mail box since my last post. Lelia sent me some thread samples and bookplates. Thank you Lelia!

Jess and Livi sent me a blinged Starlit shuttle wound with some beautiful hand-dyed thread. Do you see the heart that Livi drew for me? Thank you, girls!

Last, but not least, my newest LaCossette shuttles arrived! The top one is Lily, the bottom one is Wisteria. There were two more in the package, but they were presents for friends, and I didn't think to take pictures before sending them off to their new homes.

I have other projects in the works... two Spinning Wheel glass mats in size 20 HDT, one Spinning Wheel glass mat in 12 wt. Sulky, Baby Lace hanky edging in size 80 Lizbeth Grape Splash... those are the ones on the table next to me. Maybe I should find the UFOs in my sewing room and finish some of them!

Sulky Blendables #4010 ~ Caramel Apple

Why oh why do some of the threads have food names? It is so hard to tat and not think of luscious caramel apples when the thread name keeps popping into my head! I think I've gained weight this week just thinking about the color name! To make matters worse, I chose to use my Blackberry shuttle from LaCossette. I LOVE blackberries! Let's just say it's been a mouth-watering week!

Daughter Joanne has been visiting from Minnesota this week. She's been spring cleaning my house and cleaning my carpets. Lucky me! Today we took a break from household chores and went quilt fabric shopping with my sister-in-law. Joanne is going to make a quilt for her. I was very good and did not buy one piece of fabric. However, I did find some more beautiful threads that just might be nice for tatting!
These are YLI machine quilting threads. The colors from left to right are Danube Blues, Alaskan Twilight, Kyoto Garden, Nordic Fjord, and Vineyard. How could I pass up names like that? Let me know if you'd like some samples. Be quick, though... I only have 500 yards of each color. ; )

I also treated myself to this book, Cathedral Window Quilts. I love the Cathedral Window pattern, and I have a beautiful section that my mom made. She gave up making the entire quilt, and gave a nice big section to my sister Janet and to me. I've been meaning to start using up my scrap fabrics. Who knows... maybe I'll be inspired! Or, maybe I'll just enjoy reading and looking at the pictures!

Just one skein...

...of Nectarine hand-dyed thread by Yarnplayer was used to make all of these goodies: One Spinning Wheel glass mat, two Stumpy bookmarks, and a length of Curds and Whey. What do you make with one skein of HDT?

The Spinning Wheel glass mat is in its new home under some of my gorgeous ceramic shuttles from LadyShuttleMaker. It may seem silly to hide such a beautiful piece of tatting under the shuttles, but I love picking up a shuttle and seeing that beautiful lace underneath. Besides, I have to put my tatting somewhere!

Speaking of LadyShuttleMaker, her new book arrived today! I've read through it, and I am very pleased with the detailed explanations of techniques. I'm really looking forward to trying this step-by-step process, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until school gets out. I need to really concentrate when learning something new.

Did you notice my two new shuttles from LaCossette? Like I needed another shuttle! She has a beautiful blue and white shuttle in her shop now called Little Hens. I'm trying very hard to resist!

What a goof!

I've been sitting here feeling sorry for myself, because people hadn't been commenting on my blog... or so I thought! Here, when I was playing around with settings trying to make it easy for all my blog buddies, I enabled comment moderation. It probably wouldn't have been a problem if I had known what to do with it!

So, dear friends, I have now caught up on all the comments from the previous week, and I'm feeling much better. I now know that you are not bored with my posts regarding Sulky thread, and I will continue my Sulky journal.

However, I have had to set up those annoying word verification settings. I couldn't believe the number of disgusting spam comments that Blogger caught. I will never mumble to myself about those goofy, wavy characters again!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled tatting...

Happy International Tatting Day!

May your day be filled with tatting, chocolate, and friendship!