I've finished the button ornaments for Jon! I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. No, I didn't write out any patterns. I probably won't have time to write patterns until after Christmas.
Here are all seven ornaments together. I want to get them to Jon this week so that he can enjoy them on the tree.
On to my next project!
When Jon asked if I could make t-shirt quilts for his sons Alex and Nick, I was ready for the challenge!
Jon told me there was no rush, but I found that this was a project I couldn't stop working on. Little did I know that I'd be able to finish both blankets in a week!
I had to cut some buttons off of some of the shirts in order to be able to sew the blocks together. Jon is a very sentimental guy, so I decided to tat some Christmas ornaments for him using the buttons. I'm not using patterns, just seeing what I can do on the fly. I'm pretty impressed with the way they're turning out!
Daughter Carol's significant other, Jon, has requested t-shirt quilts for his two baseball lovin' sons. I've wanted to try a t-shirt quilt for years, so I agreed to give it a try!
My dining room has turned into quilt central. I'm hoping to have all of the shirts cut apart and backed with fusible interfacing by Thursday so that Carol and Jon can arrange the blocks when they're here for Thanksgiving.
These won't be traditional quilts. Carol and Jon found some beautiful polar fleece at JoAnn Fabrics on Thursday. I picked it up on Friday, and the polar fleece is ready to go. Yesterday, Mom and I went shopping for muslin and interfacing. I made pretty good progress yesterday afternoon, so I think my goal is achievable!
So, why did Mom need muslin?
Mom finished an Irish Chain quilt top for my brother David's teardrop camper. We took it to a quilt shop for the quilting. It turned out so well, my sister Janet requested one. I have plenty of fabric around, except for muslin. Luckily, Mom loves to go shopping with me! We have everything ready to go for Mom's project.
Yes, we have turned into Quilt Central!
I used up the last of my green thread and green ribbon today. Once again, I underestimated the amount of thread left. I had hoped to get two or three Ice Drops out of the remaining thread, and I managed to get four! I did have to use the shoelace trick and do some finger tatting to finish up. I guess I'm free to move on to another color!
Just one picture, that is! It took me all morning to tat two Doodle Ice Drops. Little things like taking attendance and monitoring the hallway seemed to take extra time today!
The glass gems for these two Ice Drops are slightly larger than the 3/4" gems that I love. I have a hard time just disposing of pretty glass gems, so I adapt instead! Can you see the adaptation? There are 7 rings instead of 6. I much prefer the 6, but sometimes change is necessary!
I just realized I hadn't blogged since Thursday. I guess I was having too much fun tatting! This is Snowflake #4 from Robin Perfetti's new book, Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes. I love this design!
I've also been busy tatting Doodle Ice Drops.
I still have thread by my chair, so I haven't gone into my stash to look for new colors.
Today, I finished off the ball of red. There was a tiny bit left, and I managed to tat a little five petal motif with it. I had to finger tat the last ring.
There's a little bit of green left. It will be interesting to see how many Ice Drops I manage to make. I think there's enough for two more. I could be wrong!
I felt like tatting with red today. Red is Mom's favorite color! This is the tatted bookmark pattern found on the back of the Moonlit shuttle package. It can also be found on the Handy Hands web site. My first thought was to put this in one of the plastic bookmark sleeves that I purchased last year. The tassel would go on the sleeve rather than on the tatting. Then I realized I would have to remember where I safely stored those bookmark sleeves.
Instead of spending time searching, I added the tassel!
I felt the need to tat another Doodle Ice Drop. All in all, I think I had a pretty productive tatting day!
I'm not sure where I went wrong, but I know this cross looks terrible. Mom says I should keep it, because someone who doesn't tat will love it. It looks a mess to me. I've tatted "Monica" from Tatted Bookmarks ~ cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn before, and it was beautiful. Maybe my mistake was in tatting it in size 80. Whatever the reason, I need to tat another and make it look right!
We had a very busy weekend! On Saturday Mom and I went shopping for Christmas fabric with daughter Carol. While we were out having fun, Dave took advantage of the warm weather and started putting up outdoor Christmas decorations. The lights won't go on until after Thanksgiving, but it's nice to get a head start before the weather turns cold!
My brother came to visit on Sunday morning. After he left, Mom and I got busy knitting. My second border is coming along nicely. Mom is almost finished with her third panel. Mom was right... the second time around is much easier!
I now have another cross bookmark ready for Christmas gift giving. This is "Camilla" from Tatted Bookmarks ~ cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. This one was a challenge for me. I think it's beautiful!
Mom suggested we have a Christmas fashion show. Mom may be able to wear her shawl at Christmas, but I don't picture myself being able to get that much done, especially since I've been working on the first border since August. I'll give it my best try!
I had two false starts with Snowflake #3. I don't know what my problem is with reading patterns lately. I think I'm too confident in my ability to look once and know what I'm doing. Guess what? I've found that I really need to pay close attention to the pattern!
I spent the afternoon tatting. This is Mary's Bookmark from Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. I've tatted this one before in multi-colored thread, which I think is wonderful for this pattern. However, red was by my side, and I was too lazy to walk into the next room to choose a different thread!
Fortunately, I started my day right with a Coronavirus Button Cross, pattern by Laura Blanton. It's nice to start the day feeling good about your tatting!
It took me all day to tat this Workbasket cross. I can't believe how many mistakes I made and how much time I spent untatting! I started at 6 this morning, and didn't finish until around 5 p.m. You'd think with that much time put in, I'd have a tassel for it. My tassel making skills are poor, so I need to find a finishing touch that works for me.
This one is in size 20 Lizbeth #671, Christmas Red. It's about 4.5" long and 3.5" wide. I played around with the length of the chains, changing the stitch count on either side of the picots from 5 to 7. I think it looks nice, but I think I'll go back to the original stitch count for my next one. Let's hope the next one doesn't take me all day to tat!
