Nine more

I managed to finish nine more pin cushions yesterday. I only have eleven to go!

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get done today. I need to finish doing laundry and pack my clothes for my trip to the Twin Cities Tatters retreat. I'm eager to spend time tatting with my wonderful Minnesota friends, and the bonus is that I'll get to spend time with my two Minnesota daughters and their families!

Buttons

Adding buttons to the pin cushions is the most time consuming part. I keep hoping I'll find an easier way of sewing them on, but everything I read or watch on YouTube is similar to what I do. So, I'll just take it slowly and do as many as I can.

This is Anniversary Motif from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. I'm really enjoying tatting these little motifs. The shuttle is another beauty from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

Rita has been releasing a few shuttles at a time over the past couple of weeks, and I was lucky enough to be able purchase Wild Sweet Pea. It's all wound and ready for the next motif in Tatting with Visual Patterns, Faith.

I'm busy packing for my trip to Minnesota. It's so hard to decide what to take. I keep changing my mind!

All sewn up

As I thought it might, it took me most of the day to sew my pile of pin cushions closed. Now they're ready for buttons!

I also found time to tat yesterday. This is Flower Patch from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. Have I told you how much I love this book? The last time I tatted Flower Patch, I used the shuttle and ball. This time I used two shuttles so that I could switch shuttles for the rings at the corners. I much prefer switching shuttles to using the shoelace trick. The shuttles are from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

The rest of the day was busy with phone calls, walking, watching tv, reading, and getting ready for my trip to Minnesota. The Twin Cities Tatters retreat is next week, and I'm really looking forward to it. I will also get to visit my two daughters who live in Minnesota. I love getting together with my family!

Pin cushion day

I wonder if there is such a thing as Pin Cushion Day?

When I was organizing my sewing room a couple of weeks ago, I came across a stack of unfinished pin cushions and the bag of wool roving I had purchased to fill them. So, yesterday I decided it was time to work on those pin cushions. It took me most of the day to stuff them, and the still have to be sewn closed and decorated with buttons. I'm guessing it will take most of the day just to stitch them closed, but I'm determined to finish them!

How many are there, you ask? There are 29. That's such a strange number. Maybe I'll have to make some more!

Oops!

I started on another of Eva Antonucci's patterns yesterday and worked on it at Tollway Tatters. I tatted a little more last night, and a little more this morning. Something didn't seem right, but I couldn't figure it out. I was almost out of thread on one shuttle, and as I was getting ready to reload the shuttle I realized that I hadn't joined the rings in the center. No wonder it didn't look right!

I'll just save this piece for some crazy quilting and start over. How in the world did I miss those joins?

Tollway Tatters, July

Despite the intense heat, seven of us managed to get together for Tollway Tatters today. From left to right: me, Mary, Kathy, Glenda, Gail, Thea, and Carrie. We would have loved to have our other tatting friends with us, but we still had a great time!

Carrie has a friend who doesn't tat as much as she used to, and she has given Carrie some wonderful shuttles. Do you recognize my shuttle envy? ;-)

Gail showed us some pieces that she did at the Tatting Corner Lace Days last week. She said she had a wonderful time, and had all of us wishing that we had been able to attend as well.

Kathy worked on a beautiful heart pattern.

I brought along one of Eva Antonucci's designs to work on, but I didn't get very far.

Thea told us about the lovely tatted piece next to her right hand. Her grandmother used to tat these, and the girls could wear them in their hair, held in place with a bobby pin. Thea worked out the pattern and graciously allowed us to take a picture of her pattern. It makes a wonderfully frilly piece of lace.

Glenda was working from my favorite tatting book, Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. We were enjoying talking so much that Glenda didn't get much tatted either!

Mary was all ready to tat. She's a needle tatter, but...

after some messaging back and forth this past week, I found out that she wanted to learn to shuttle tat. She's a great student, and she did quite well.

All in all, it was a fabulous day! We've set our next meeting for Saturday, August 17, 2019. If you're in the Chicago area, we'd love to have you join us!

Triangle love

I don't think about triangular tatted shapes very often, but I've fallen in love with this one! This was a free pattern from Eva Antonucci, shared in the Just-Tatting group on Facebook. It's a two shuttle pattern, and I think it's very cleverly designed. The shuttles are from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

Daughter Carol and I went shopping today. We mainly wanted to try and get our 10,000 steps in without spending much time out in the heat. When we were at Walmart, I found this clipboard with an elastic band. I've never seen anything like it before. Isn't it clever? I've already stacked some patterns (mostly from Eva Antonucci) to take along to Tollway Tatters tomorrow!

Masquerade... again

Since I can't find the Masquerade piece I tatted a few months ago, it was time to tat a new one!

False starts

Earlier this year I tatted some pink motifs. I put them some place really safe (meaning I can't find them), so I'm starting over... and over... and over again. I'm blaming it on the heat, although I've been in the air conditioning most of the day. I finally gave up on Carnival from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. It's not a difficult pattern. I just kept getting it wrong!

Size 20 Lizbeth #621, Dusty Rose Lt., shuttle by Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design

I finally moved on to Flower Patch from the same book. I'm glad I was able to complete it. I was beginning to think I'd forgotten how to tat!

Trying something new

Oops! I forgot to publish this last night!

Yesterday was a totally nonproductive day for me. Today I went gangbusters! I talked on the phone with my mom and my daughters, shopped for groceries, went to the bank and the post office, drove to Kankakee to shop some more, went to lunch with daughter Carol, and then drove home to try something new.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a YouTube video on Teneriffe lace using a disk of straight pins as a loom. I knew I had some of those in my sewing room, and I found them while I was organizing over the weekend. I got to work with some size 20 Lizbeth that was right by my chair.

Mine didn't turn out full and fluffy like the one in the video, probably because she used a fine yarn and I used thread.

I think I need to go through my stash and find some nice yarn to use. The technique is really pretty simple, but a little bit of fluff would make them so much prettier!

Hot spell

We're having a bit of a hot spell here in Illinois, and I don't deal well with heat. Still, I managed to tat an Ice Drop today.

I also managed to finish up four more Origami pouches that I found when I was cleaning up my sewing room.

I spent a lot of time looking at all sorts of things dealing with honey bees: fabric, cross stitch patterns, jewelry, honey, bees wax. I really didn't have a reason for looking at these things. It just seemed like a natural choice for a hot and lazy day!

Functional

I had hoped to get down to Anderson, Indiana for Tatting Corner's Lace Days, but it didn't work out. Yesterday was spent helping daughter Carol out at her house doing storm cleanup, and today Dave needed to get supplies ordered for getting back to work next week. This is the longest vacation Dave has ever taken (July 4 through this Sunday), and it was important to do things that he wanted to do. I have a lot more free time than he does!

I decided to push myself with my porch walking since it was nice and cool this morning. I walk in 15 minute spurts, which is about all I can handle. In between porch walks, I managed to finish the week's laundry, clean the kitchen, and tat!

I wasn't sure if a light blue glass gem would look good with Boysenberry Dk, but I decided to give it a try, and I like the way it looks!

After finishing my porch walks, I decided it was time to tackle my sewing room. Daughter Joanne and granddaughter Eve did so much to help get me on track a few weeks ago. It was time to move the project along. My sewing room is now functional! No, it is not completely clean or organized, but I can now walk through the room, sit in my chair, and I have room to sew!

I love having Origami Pouches on hand as project bags. I've even been known to give them as gifts. I found these five partially done, and I spent the afternoon finishing them. It pays to get organized!

Shuttle love

It's no secret that I love my shuttles, and this is one of my favorites!

It's my birthday shuttle from two years ago, made by Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I love personalized shuttles!

I purchased this shuttle from Rita at Palmetto Tat Days two years ago. It was a thrill to meet Rita in person!

While doing my porch walking today, I got to thinking that my little ice cream table has to potential of becoming a pattern for a tatted doily. Do you see what I see?

I spent a lot of time looking at cross stitch patterns online while Dave worked hard helping daughter Carol. I'm really much better as an overseer! ;-)

This is one of my favorite cross stitch pieces, and it's one of the last ones I did before taking up tatting. I know I've stitched a few small pieces over the years, but nothing as beautiful as this. Now that I have a little more free time, I'm thinking of getting back into stitching again. Why not?

Yesterday

Yesterday was such a lovely day! Dave and I went on a wine tasting tour in southwest Michigan, something we haven't done for several years. The weather was perfect!

I didn't take any tatting in the car with me. It was what Dave called a "you and me" day, and it didn't seem appropriate to ignore him for tatting. I did start an Ice Drop before we left, and I finished it in the evening.

I knew I didn't have enough of Tie Dye Blue from Sherry Pence to tat a Doodle Ice Drop. I didn't even have enough to tat my basic pattern. So, I opted to tat the one pass method, which eliminates the chains that snug up to the glass gem. I prefer the look with the extra chains, but I didn't have any other options. I had less than a yard of thread left. Talk about cutting it close!

Taking it easy

Dave is on vacation this week, so we're taking it easy. We had some friends over for breakfast today, and then we just enjoyed the beautiful weather. Dave worked in the yard, while I enjoyed reading and tatting with the windows wide open.

I decided to stop hoarding my hand-dyed threads and start using them. The thread is Tie Dye Blue from Sherry Pence aka Lady Shuttle Maker. The shuttle is from Veronica of TattingShuttles on Etsy. This is a Doodle Ice Drop I'm going to keep! 

Mad dash!

Daughter Joanne and family decided to leave today so that they could take the long way home. They wanted to visit Galena and the Field of Dreams in Iowa. That meant I had to go in to a tatting frenzy to finish promised Ice Drops!

Yesterday morning, Joanne chose which buttons/cabochons she wanted for her Ice Drops.

She chose carefully, knowing that there was no way I could tat around all of the buttons/cabochons she had purchased before she headed home.

Although I'm very happy tatting my Doodle Ice Drop pattern, Joanne likes the ones with lots of picots. I made sure that she was able to take at least one of her favorites home!

I also did a little experimenting with size 40 thread. This snap button is quite a bit smaller than the glass gems I normally use. By switching to size 40, I was able to follow my pattern without changes in stitch counts.

I received a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday. Elaine and I have talked on the phone, and she has ordered several Ice Drops from me over the past couple of years. She found this tatting book in an antique shop and thought of me. You know I spent time looking through this book today!

I was able to get one quick picture with granddaughter Sophia before everyone took off this morning. I would have liked to get pictures with the twins as well, but there was just too much activity and additional pictures were forgotten. Joanne many come down again in August, so maybe I'll get some pictures with the twins then.

We didn't need it, but we had heavy rain showers this afternoon. I love to read when it rains, and today I finished Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's fiction, but it's based on real people and events from the early 1900s. I enjoyed it so much, I ordered the next two in the series!

Friday already?

I can't believe it's Friday! It certainly has been a busy week. On Tuesday, Joanne and I drove about an hour to pick up her husband Jan. On Wednesday, we drove about an hour to pick up Joanne's new computer. On Thursday, daughter Alison drove down to spend the 4th of July holiday with us. Daughter Carol and Jon also joined us. Today, my sister-in-law and her husband are coming over for a visit. Alison will head home tomorrow, and Joanne and family will head home Sunday. There's been so much activity here for the past month, I'm afraid I may feel terribly lonely next week!

Granddaughter Kara requested a red Ice Drop. She told me red is her favorite color. I'm sure Great-grandma Green will be excited to learn that someone else in the family loves red!

Kara chose the thread, glass gem, and ribbon. Before my grandchildren arrived, I don't think I finished an Ice Drop all in one color.

Sophia needed a new Ice Drop as well. She chose one of the shank buttons that daughter Joanne purchased. I'm not sure I would have but those blues together, but Sophia is thrilled with her choice and that's what matters!

Ice Drop day

Today was filled with Ice Drops! First, I finished an Ice Drop with a shank button.

I purposely used a shank button so that I could use it as a small brooch.

I had these button pins in my stash, and when I saw them I decided they would be perfect for an Ice Drop brooch!

When Joanne first arrived a few weeks ago, she decided I needed some fancier centers for Ice Drops. She will be the beneficiary, of course!

She's very pleased with the first one. I have quite a few to go!

My sister Janet came down to visit one more time before Joanne heads home. She really liked my red, white, and blue Ice Drops, and she asked me to make one for her granddaughter Abby.

Gavin wasn't able to come along, because he was on a Boy Scout camping trip with his dad. We didn't want to leave hime out of the fun!

Grandson Janko fell in love with this white glass gem with a splash of yellow. He chose white thread and a white ribbon. We're not really sure why!

Kara has requested a red Ice Drop, and I'm pretty sure Sophia will be asking for another. It's a good thing I enjoy tatting Ice Drops!