I'm still having fun with Ice Drops!

Today I finished this one, based on #48 in Patti Duff's Minitats. I love the way this one looks! Red is Mom's favorite color, so I'm guessing she'll really like this one, too!

In case you didn't remember, my favorite color is blue! I decided to try layering sequins. I love the colors, but I think the scale is off. From now on, I'll save the large sequins for larger glass gems.

I thought of granddaughter Eva as I worked on this one. Turquoise is her favorite color. What's yours?

Back and forth

I did a little back and forth today... reading, tatting, reading, tatting... you get the idea.

I like to check my email first thing in the morning, and my friend Denise sent me a picture of her latest Ice Drop, adapted from Vida Sunderman's Tatted Snowflakes.  I know the book is still available from Handy Hands. I do own it, but it's somewhere very safe, and I can't find it right now!

I also spent time looking at the patterns in Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath. This is Edging 2. My sample is in size 20 thread, mainly because that's what was next to my chair. I love the pattern, but the rings are too large for my liking in size 20. Some day soon, I'll probably try it in size 80 thread, which I think will be much more appealing. The recommend size is 50, but my size 50 is all the way upstairs!

I also spent time with Patti Duff's Minitats, looking for patterns that I thought would work with Ice Drops.

This is an adaptation of #5. I'm starting to grow fond of pink!

If you have a copy of this book, treasure it! It's no longer available.

This is an adaptation of #7 from Minitats.

I got myself into a bit of a muddle with the last join. I managed to get the picots caught in the ring, and the more I tried to fix it, the more tangled it got. Luckily, I remained calm and untangled my mess!

This one is an adaptation of #11 from Minitats. The gem is a bit smaller than the ones I've been using, a mere 1/2". So I reduced the number of rings to 5.

On the Patti Duff side, I also reduced the size of the small rings. I think I could have left them as written, though.

If you're on Facebook and have any interest in Ice Drops, we'd love to have you join us on the Ice Drop Addicts page. We truly are a group addicted to tatting these little ornaments!

What a week!

All of my company has gone home, and they left just in time!

The good news is, we're all safe and sound. The bad news is, three confirmed EF-1 tornadoes hit our little rural community Monday night around 10:30. From what I've heard, two houses and two barns were damaged, but there were no injuries. We were without power from about 10:30 Monday night until about 11:30 Wednesday morning. We had one pine tree uprooted, but no other damage. Whew!

Now, how about some fun news?

Aileen in Singapore contacted me about swapping for some of my blinged shuttles. Look at the goodies I received in return!

I've joined the Tatting Shuttles Addicts page on Facebook, which can be very fun/dangerous. I saw a picture of some pretty little flat shuttles made by Daniel and Heather Meng (www.facebook.com/mengsparacord). I contacted them, and I was able to purchase these beauties. The lighter one is maple and the darker one is oak.

I tried them out right away. This is motif #7 from Patti Duff's Minitats. The thread is Manuela, sent to me by Aileen.

I'm saving my Minitats motifs in this cute little tin. Some day I'll catch up to my friend Carol in pursuit of tatting all of the Minitats.

I spent time weaving every day this past week. My goal was to weave fabric for a bag each day, which I accomplished. Today I sewed the bags together. I think they're adorable! They're big enough to hold a cell phone, keys, and a small wallet. Mom taught me how to make these bags. She's making them for a fund raiser held each fall in her retirement village. I wonder how many I can donate/sell for the cause?

Dear Fox...

You just had to dare me, didn't you? Well, guess what...

I did it! I used size 20 Lizbeth, seed beads that looked blue at 6 this morning, but lavender at noon, and a doodad center, of course! The pattern is motif #1 from Minitats by Patti Duff.

I chose to work on it today, because I knew I'd have moral support... Tollway Tatters!

We had lots of fun sharing, tatting, and chatting. Granddaughter Eva acted as my photographer...

however, I took a picture of her so that we could get just the right angle!

Eva worked on her chains today. She's not quite ready for rings... maybe over Christmas break!

Daughter Alison...

worked on the same Minitats motif that I worked on...

without the doodad or beads. I think she did a great job!

Denise was glad to have a day to relax and tat with friends.

She worked on a doodad snowflake... sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished piece. It didn't turn out quite the way she expected, but it was very pretty!

Dear, sweet Sue Anna arrived with gifts in tow... a new Aerlit shuttle for each of us!

Sue Anna's tatting is so beautiful! I hope to tat as well as her some day! Sue Anna also shared pictures from her bobbin lace retreat in October. I was supposed to attend, but had to back out, because the middle school play was moved to that weekend. I hope to go next time!

Carol got tangled in construction traffic and arrived later than she wanted, but all was good!

She showed us a beautiful bell that she had tatted, and... lucky me... she showed me an alternate method of tatting split rings that I can do! She also gifted each of us with a new Aerlit shuttle with extra bobbins.

Marilee forgot to wear her tie dye t-shirt, but we didn't mind... she had gorgeous tatted jewelry that coordinated beautifully with her outfit!

Marilee was doing some experimental tatting, which looked fabulous, of course! Marilee gave us each a wonderful woven dish cloth filled with... chocolate! To top it off, she brought along some of her luscious threads for us to purchase. She is our favorite vendor!

Barbara was full of smiles and fun stories, as always! She showed us some beautiful bobbin lace that she made on the retreat in October. She's always so gracious... a real joy to be around!

Barbara was working with a metallic thread that kept breaking on her. With her great positive attitude, she was able to laugh about it. I think I would have chucked the thread and used something else, but Barbara kept on trying!

All in all, it was a fantastic day!

So, dear Fox, thank you for the challenge, and know that even though you were not with us in person, you were my inspiration for the day!

Note to self: for the next Tollway Tatters meeting, do not have Saturday hair!

Which shuttle did I choose?

Why, the blue of course!

...Caribbean Sky to be precise. I tatted up another pendant in size 20 Lizbeth, Purple Dk #633 so that I could evaluate my newest purchase. I give this pretty little shuttle 5 stars. First, I love each and every color. I'm glad I have one of each. Second, I love the fact that the bobbin actually fits on the end of the shuttle. It made winding so much easier. Third, I love the clickety click click click as the bobbin moves. It's a little stiff, but I don't mind. To me, that's an indication that it will last for a long time!

I finished another Azalea Med Doodad Snowflake last night... two more to go, and I'll have a set of six. It seems to me that since snowflakes have six points, each set should have six snowflakes. What color should I use next? Just thinking ahead! ;-)

A little more pink...

I moved on to Motif #2 in Minitats by Patti Duff. I really like this shade of pink! Maybe it's because my mother had azalea bushes in the front yard when we were growing up in Philadelphia. I loved those azaleas! My husband tells me azaleas won't survive here south of Chicago. I may have to retire further east and/or south! ;-)

This is motif #2 as shown in the book. I think I should have made the first picot slightly larger, and I prefer slightly larger picots around the edges.

This is my second attempt with a doodad in the middle and a jump ring attached to one of the outer picots so that it can be worn as a pendant. I thought it was a little too loose, so I decided to add picots to the rings.

I like the look of the one without the joining picots better, but the pendant with the joining picots is much firmer.

Isn't it amazing how much can be accomplished with one more hour of sleep? 

Pretty Pink!

I've been following Lelia's 25 Motif Challenge using Patti Duff's Minitats with great interest. I've tatted quite a few of the motifs from this book, but I've never looked at it as a starting place for a challenge before.

Today, I decided to see which motifs might be adapted to work with doodads. This is motif #1, and the doodad I used worked perfectly... no adaptations necessary! I did practice frontside/backside tatting on the motif with the doodad. I only messed up once, and I was able to fix it before moving on to the next ring.

When I purchased these doodads (stock #H20-9029MB) from Fire Mountain Gems, I didn't realize that there was an indentation in the center. Luckily, I had a pink crystal that fit the indentation perfectly. I just hope I used the right glue! ;-)

The thread is size 20 Lizbeth, Azalea Med. The finished size is 1 3/4". Don't you think the motif with the doodad would make a pretty pendant?

Playin' around

While Dave has been busy re-roofing the house, I've been playin' around in my sewing room... that's a very loosely used term as I haven't done much sewing in a long time! I'm supposed to be cleaning and reorganizing, and I have done some, but I keep finding long-lost treasures! Saturday I found my Weavette looms, which I've had for at least two years, maybe longer. When I first bought them, it was a nostalgia thing. I loved using my Weave-It when I was a kid (who knows what happened to that loom!), so when I saw looms that fit in the palm of your hand advertised, I heard my name being called! Did I order one? No! I ordered every one made by Buxton Brook, along with the handy dandy tote and pattern book! I was so excited when my looms arrived... I sat right down to weave! The first piece was a disaster. I barely read the directions. What did I need those for? I was an expert weaver when I was 10! Of course since the first piece fell apart, I quickly lost interest. Saturday, I decided to do something really rash... I read the directions. As you can see, this time I was successful!

I thought it might be fun to use up some of my yarn stash to make bookmarks embellished with tatting. Although the pictures seem to show the tatting pretty well, I think my little mini-tats look lost on the coarse weave when viewing it in person. Both tattings are from Minitats: 69 Petite Motifs by Patti Duff. The purple one (Flora size 20) is #1, found on page 21. The blue/green piece (hand-dyed thread, size 20 from Yarnplayer) is almost #6 on page 22. I say almost because the motif in the book has 6 rings, rather than the 5 I made. I just didn't think a 6th ring would fit!

Next weekend is the Lake Country Harvest Art Fair. I plan on going with my daughter Alison, and I hope to meet Marilee (a.k.a. Yarnplayer) and see lots of her beautiful pieces!