Heart #2

 

I can't believe it took me two days to tat Heart #2 from PDF Hearts Shuttle Tatting designed by Halyna Tkachuk from Gail Weaver. The pattern is not difficult at all, but I kept getting lost in the twists and turns which led to making foolish mistakes. 

I will be tatting all three hearts in the set in size 20 Lizbeth #103 Tutti Fruitti. If I have time, I will tat each of the hearts again in either a solid pink or red. I'm sure the solid colors will show off the patterns much better.

On to Heart #3!

Heart #1

 

PDF Hearts Shuttle Tatting designed by Halyna Tkachuk from Gail Weaver kept popping up as a suggested item on Etsy. There are three hearts in this set, and I decided to give them a try. This is Heart #1 in size 20 Lizbeth #103 Tutti Fruitti. I'm not usually fond of small motifs in multi-colored threads, but this one appeals to me. 

On to Heart #2!

Thinking ahead

My friend Denise and I are going to help the Beecher Public Library by displaying tatting in February. We went to the library to look at the display cases, take measurements, and brainstorm ideas for the display. What could say February better than hearts and snowflakes?

The display cases are in the entryway of the library. Seeing the current display helped spark some ideas.

Denise suggested framing two larger doilies to set on top of the display cases, similar in size to the pictures that are up there now. She also suggested two trees to display snowflakes and possibly ice drops and button ornaments. 

Denise and I talked about a heart shaped box or tin to go in the display. I ordered a Whitman Sampler, but the cardboard box was a mess, so it went into the trash. Of course, Mom and I ate the chocolate first! Mom did some more searching online and found this Dove chocolate tin. I'm not sure if we will use it, but it sure is a handy place to store tatting for the display!

I started search heart patterns, and decided to start with Clover Drop Heart from Nancy Tracy at Be-stitched. This one is tatted with size 20 Lizbeth #644 Boysenberry Dk. Denise loves pastels, and so do I, but I think a few darker pieces will help set off the display.

You can expect to see hearts, ice drops, and snow flakes popping up here for the next several months!

Cosmos

 

I finally finished Cosmos from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This took me almost a month to complete, not because it was hard or complicated, but because I've been working on multiple projects. Maybe I should start focusing on finishing one project at a time!

Finally!

 

I finally finished round 7 of Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I'm not going to complain about how long it took me to finish this round. After all, we do have other distractions in our lives, and I had a great long weekend with my mom and sister!

Views of the garden

 

Dave spent most of yesterday working in the back garden yesterday.

He pulled up and re-set the brick border, power washed the fence, and roto tilled the weeds.

It's the perfect little oasis!

The bugs don't seem to bother him. I, however, attract them like a magnet. After spending about five minutes outside admiring his work, I came back into the house with three mosquito bites and a spider bite. I think I'll be enjoying the garden from our sun room!

My sister Janet and I spent the day antiquing. She was looking for wall pockets for her garden, and I was just browsing. We found a little shop about 20 minutes away that I didn't know existed. I asked about tatting shuttles, but the owner and his wife had never heard of them. I pulled my little bag out of my purse and demonstrated. They were fascinated! I had two Curds and Whey bookmarks finished in my little pouch, so I gave one to the owners wife and the other to another customer who was also interested. I love being able to share my tatting!

Janet and I then headed to a much larger antique shop where we hit the jackpot. I found a beautiful Longaberger basket just the right size for holding a project. Janet sound some beautiful depression glass wall pockets, but decided to pass. We headed home to show Mom what we had found, and then started looking on the Internet for wall pockets and baskets. After seeing some of the online prices, we headed back to the antique shop with Mom in tow and did some serious shopping!

Janet purchased her wall pockets. Mom found a lovely little cut glass dish, and I purchased ten baskets and a Longaberger basket stand that holds ten baskets. My purchase came to the same amount as I was going to spend on one basket online. Dave had a great idea... fill the baskets with gnomes at Christmas and he will light up the tree. I think retirement suits him!

Movin' along

 

I finished round 6 of Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz right before heading off to bed last night. I didn't think I had accomplished much today, but when I took a photo it looked like I really had accomplished quite a bit. My morning was taken up with some necessary chores: laundry, banking, grocery shopping, and a little household organizing. 

My sister Janet arrived around noon. None of us had eaten lunch, so Mom, Janet, and I went out to eat and picked up some carry out for Dave. After that, there was dinner prep, kitchen cleanup, and then some well deserved rest on the front porch. I really don't know when I had time to tat as much as I did.

Janet's granddaughter has been doing quite a bit of painting on tiles this summer. When Janet was down visiting earlier this summer, she took my very faded garden gnome home with her and asked Abigail to restore him. She did a beautiful job!

Now that Dave is retired, we've decided to implement some of the ideas we've talked about over the past several years. Last summer, Dave updated our porch railing. There really was nothing wrong with the old railing. We just wanted a fresh look for the house. We talked about using the old railing as a garden accent in our hosts bed in the back yard. Dave started on this project Wednesday afternoon, and it looks like we'll get to check this one off the list tomorrow. Of course we then need to select the next project!