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!