Tollway Tatters

We did it again! Thanks to Sue Anna making the arrangements, The Tollway Tatters met at the Hinsdale Oasis for a day of tatting, chatting, sharing, and eating. Can you tell we had a great time?

Sue Anna got to take the picture, because she has the longest arms. That's Sue Anna in the front. Clockwise from Sue Anna... my friend Denise, me, Barbara, and Marilee.

We celebrated International Tatting Day one day early. Although after our discussion regarding Leap Year, maybe we met right on time! 

Mid-day at the oasis...

is so much more fun than Black Friday crowds!

This isn't the greatest picture, but hey... I was holding my phone and taking a picture at the same time! From left to right... yours truly, Marilee, Sue Anna, and Jean.

We met about 10:30 and shared stories, laughter, and tatting goodies until about 3:30. We had a vendor come up and ask us what we were doing. One of her customers thought we were knitting for her! Ha! Ha! The vendor had heard of tatting, but didn't take us up on our offer of a free lesson. We certainly had enough supplies with us!

Michelle, are you sitting down as you're reading this? I was able to teach Marilee how to tat a single shuttle split ring! Me! Can you believe it? Sue Anna jumped right in and taught us both a neat little trick to make the SSSR even more easily. I'll have to play with it to see if I remember what she taught us. Sue Anna is a treasure trove of information!

Jean is a newbie, and she spent quite a bit of time perfecting her flip. We were all thrilled that she made her very first ring while spending time with us! Unfortunately, Jean doesn't have a blog... yet! We'll have to keep working on her to get her to blog. I do think she's addicted to tatting. How could she not be with Marilee as her teacher?

Sue Anna surfed the Internet on her iPhone to check out Etsy and various blogs. She is so much fun to be around! I wonder if she knows I call her Sue Anna the Enabler when I'm at home? She enabled all of us to tat with very generous gifts of Lizbeth and hand-dyed thread. She even gave me some shuttles to bling. I know she's waiting for the Random Number Generator to choose her number!

Marilee shared some of her hand-dyed thread with us. Her colors are beautiful! She also graciously autographed our copies of her new book, Tatted Jewelry.

Here's Jean working on closing her very first ring!

I'm probably leaving something out, but we did have a wonderful day together! Ladies, thank you for driving so far so that we could spend some tatting time together!

Sue Anna the Enabler

When Sue Anna and I drove to Cincinnati to visit Jane, we had a lot of time to talk, and we did! We talked tatting, school, blogging, family, religion, politics, and bobbin lace. You would think we had known each other all our lives! 

Sue Anna and I met in person for the first time at the Downers Grove Lace Day in June, and the focus was bobbin lace. Sue Anna had wanted to take the bobbin lace class, but it was filled. Lucky Sue Anna owns the video Successful Bobbin Lacemaking for All Occasions with Christine Springett, which is the accompanying video for the book Lace for Children of All Ages. Sue Anna told me how good the video was, and she offered to lend it to me.

Anyway, the video arrived last week, and I finally had time to watch it on Saturday. Sue Anna was right... it's wonderful! I finally learned the correct way to fill my bobbins... so much easier than what I was doing, and the hitch actually held! I watched it from start to finish. I found Christine Springett's voice very soothing. I love English accents!

Sue Anna also included samples of Gold Rush embroidery thread... luscious! Blue, two shades of green, pink, white, yellow... all sparkly colors! She also included some silver beads for eyes. Yes, she's an enabler!

I learned a lot from doing this snake. First, it is easier to undo bobbin lace than it is to undo tatting. You see, when I got down past that third bend in the body, I discovered that I had missed a pin further up. Sigh... time to undo more than half of what I had accomplished. When I reached the part where the pin was missing, I discovered that I had missed another pin further up... more to be undone! Okay, I reached that missing pin, only to discover that there was another missing pin above the eyes! So, I learned that I can also undo bobbin lace with beads woven in! In addition, I learned the importance of tensioning at the end of each row. The second time through, my snake had far fewer lumps and bumps!

He doesn't show up very well, but I am very pleased with my snake. I'm sure the kids at school will get a kick out of him. In fact, I think I'll have to make another!

Thanks for enabling me, Sue Anna!

Note to self... learn how to use your camera!

Paying the piper his due...

I've spent this morning cleaning. I figured I had to catch up since I've been having so much fun this summer! What fun, you may ask...

Well, I've finished another round on my doily.

My progress has slowed down. I tatted for too long, and my arm protested mightily! Lesson learned... a little here, a little there, and I can accomplish so much more!

On Tuesday, Sue Anna called me and asked if I wanted to drive to Cincinnati with her to meet Jane. I thought... are you kidding me? Of course! I would love to! was my eager reply.

I wanted to do something special for these two special ladies, so I decided to make some Dorset bags, also known as origami pouches.

Lucky for me, I have some stash!

These fabrics are from a fat quarter pack I found at Hobby Lobby a while back. I'm not normally a pink person, but I do like pink and brown together!

Sue Anna picked me up at 6:00 Thursday morning, and we made it to Cincinnati around 10:30. Unfortunately, we forgot about the time change, so we were an hour later than Jane expected. I think she forgave us! ; )

We spent the afternoon at Panera Bread, enjoying each other's company. Although I only met Sue Anna in person in June, and this was my first time to meet Jane, it was is if we had known each other forever!

Jane showed us some of her beautiful tatting. It's so much prettier than any picture!

Sue Anna and I took lots of pictures and video clips with our iPhones. Jane showed us how she organizes patterns and photos on her iPad. We're such geeks! ...and I mean that in the nicest way!

Do you see that Pop-A-Bobbin shuttle by Sue Anna? She has quite a collection of them. I am sooooo envious! Well, I'm a little less envious now, because Sue Anna gave me one of hers. Lucky me! : )

We did have a lady come up to us and ask us what we were doing. I believe she said her aunt used to tat. We offered to give her a lesson, but she declined. It's very flattering to have someone come up and ask about tatting!

We asked some young ladies in a booth near us to take pictures, which they graciously did!

We had Jane home by 6, and we had the pleasure of meeting the very handsome Nick!

Sue Anna had me home by 9:30, and she was home before midnight. That just goes to show that there's a world full of fun to be had in one little day!

So you see, I really have been having too much fun, and it's time to pay the piper his due. Bedroom and bathroom are done... off to the kitchen!

Meeting of the minds...

or at least the like-minded! Sue Anna, Marilee, and I met at an oasis on the Illinois toll road for a fun-filled day of tatting, chatting, and sharing. I think the photos say it all...

A table loaded with tatting supplies,

Marilee designing a new piece,

Sue Anna winding thread for a future project,

threads from Sue Anna and Marilee...

all in all, a wonderful day! Thank you Marilee and Sue Anna!