Done and done!

I finished binding my quilt Thursday morning before school... 7:05 to be exact... and I left the house at 7:10!

On Saturday I made matching pillowcases. It took me all day to make four pillowcases... too much time on the phone with friends and family, plus laundry. Somehow, the house cleaning never got done. : )

On Sunday afternoon I washed all the sheets and re-made the bed with my beautiful new quilt. Luckily, it was nice and cool last night!

Then tonight, best of all, I finished my blue doily! I am thrilled with it! This is Project #1 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. The finished size is 12" in size 50 Altin Basak, color #363. It's 12" in diameter. I think this is the largest piece I've ever tatted! I don't think I ever would have attempted this piece without inspiration from Barbara Payne. Thank you, Barbara!


Now, I think I'll take a little time to catch up on all the blog posts I've been missing!

Hangin' off the edge!

My blue doily has grown to the point where it hangs off the edge of my computer! This round was the most difficult for me for one reason only... each of those little flower motifs cupped terribly. Thank goodness for Best Press and a little shot of steam! If I had noticed the cupping while I was tatting, I think I would have increased the stitch count from 3 to 5 on the short chain either side of the flower.

Still, I can't complain. All worked out well, and the good news is... I only have two rounds left! Time to wind the shuttles!

To blog, or not to blog...

That is the question! If I take time to blog, I have less time to tat. If I don't take time to blog, I lose touch with all my blog buddies. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I'll soon be ready for retirement. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE my job! However, there are days when I just want to stay home and tat, knit, crochet, sew, quilt, read... my list goes on and on!

Since I haven't been blogging much, I have accomplished a lot! Just look...

I finished a Lily-sized shrug (girls 7/8)...

and I started an Eva-sized shrug (girls 9/10).

I made a little progress with Corinne's doily, which I really like...

and I finished a little over half of the next round on my blue doily. Some day I'll figure out why some of my pictures rotated, and I'll find out how to fix the problem! : )

I also received some wonderful surprises in the mail!

JennyPennyPoppy sent me a blue Kanzashi flower. I love it, and some day I will make one... or two... or three... Thank you, Jeanette!

I received a lovely thank you note from Jane along with this beautiful cross. Believe it or not, I was just thinking of purchasing a frame at Hobby Lobby specifically for framing a cross! I think the frame I had my eye on will be perfect for this beautiful piece. Thank you so much, Jane!

Oops! Here's another picture that won't rotate... grrr! Kelly sent me a beautifully tatted piece in my favorite color... blue! She also sent me a piece of fabric so that I can decorate a shuttle. I was totally surprised! Thank you, Kelly!

I guess I really have accomplished a lot in the past week... so, again... to blog, or not to blog? What do you think?

At last!

I've finally found some time to tat!

The beginning of this school year has been unusually busy. My schedule changed three or four times, and I've had to adjust my yearly library/computer goals because of the number of times classes will meet. Just about the time I thought I had everything straight in my mind (and my plan book), our building principal would apologetically tell me that she needed to make another change. It looks like everything's on track now, so hopefully I'll be able to develop a routine that allows more tatting time!

I picked up my shuttles and my blue doily yesterday, and I was able to complete another round today... only three more to go!

I'm really enjoying having a large project to work on. There's something very relaxing about finishing a section of each round in between other activities. However, I am feeling a very strong urge to tat snowflakes!

I'm going to try and be good and finish this doily before starting another project. Or maybe I should finish one of the three hankies I'm working on, or the beaded bag, or the star afghan, or... oh, dear! It looks like I've bitten off more than I can chew again! : )

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!

And another two rounds...

funny... each round seems to take a little longer! ; )

And then it could be that I've been a little distracted...

putting together 9 patch squares for my quilt.

I wonder how I'll get anything accomplished when school starts four weeks from tomorrow. The summer is really flying by!

Two more rounds!

I really haven't felt motivated to do much with all this heat, but I did manage to complete two more rounds of my doily!

Sporadic Internet and cell phone service are driving me crazy. Can it be due to the heat? I guess time will tell.

More inspiration!

This time I was inspired by a facebook post by Barbara Payne. She had a lovely coaster, and I asked for the name of the pattern. Believe it or not, I have the book!

It's funny that sometimes patterns seem so difficult to me until I see what someone else has done. Why is that? I guess I have to see that someone other than the designer is able to follow the pattern!

This is the first doily pattern in Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. If I'm counting correctly, I have ten rounds to go, so this one will take me a while to complete. The thread is size 50 Altin Basak, color #363. So far, so good! Thanks for the inspiration, Barbara!

I also had the urge to bling yesterday.

This time I decided to make a personalized shuttle for myself. Can you see the sparkly little "D" in the middle? Of course, I had to add a touch of blue!