Shamrock love

St. Patrick's Day will be here before we know it, so it's been easy to focus on greens!

This one was finished early this morning, and I'm tempted to keep it for myself!

I had fun playing with fabric again today, making a pin cushion and two more pocket tissue holders.

I finished the Masquerade motif from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.  I do like the way it turned out, but I got to thinking that maybe it's a bit too fiddly for a runner.

Rather than dwell on the motif, I decided to tat another St. Patrick's Day Ice Drop.

It's so much fun choosing charms for the backs of the Ice Drops.

In my search for a motif that's less fiddly for my sister-in-law's runner, I tried this one from Jan Stawasz's Tatted Treasures.

This is another contender for the runner, but I decided to keep searching.

My next test tat was Eightsome Reel from Mary Konior's A Pattern Book of Tatting.

I think I'll do a bit more searching and test tatting, but this might be the motif I choose. It's simple enough to remember (important for tatting multiple motifs), yet it has enough interest that I don't think I'd become bored with it. The best part of this project is looking through my books, one of my favorite pastimes!

Celebrating

Dave and I celebrated our 36th anniversary today by upgrading our cell phones and router. Replacing Dave's phone was really a necessity. He uses it for work and it has been doing weird things for almost a year. Upgrading our router is our latest effort to improve our Internet access. I'll get it hooked up tomorrow, since we're both online tonight. My phone was working fine, but Dave wanted me to have a new one, and I was happy to oblige. Hopefully, all this new technology will keep us better connected!

I did spend a little time tatting today,

...as well as sewing. I decided to make a hanky pin cushion to go with the little fabric basket. I'm not at all happy with it. It's way too big... 6" square. I can't imagine anyone wanting a pin cushion that large, but I could be wrong. I had to use four times as much fill as I do with my 3" pin cushions, and the fill is the most expensive part. Now I know... no pin cushions out of a full hanky!

I spent most of the morning organizing my tatting shuttles. I did take pictures, but they're so dark, I think I'll wait and take better ones. I'm sure you're all aware that I have far more tatting shuttles than one person could possible need, but let me tell you, even I am overwhelmed by my collection!

How's the for a tease? ;-)

Out of sync

Apparently I shouldn't try to blog, fix rotated pictures, talk to my daughter, and cook dinner at the same time! I was just re-reading my earlier blog post, and I realized that three of my pictures were missing. I must have neglected to click on something...

A few weeks back, I won a drawing from Clyde the Mad Tatter. Clyde and I share a love of HDT (hand-dyed thread). I have long admired his tatting, and I was thrilled to win this beautiful doily!

I've been showing it off to my friends, Clyde. They're all impressed with your beautiful tatting! Thank you so much! This is a doily I will cherish forever!

Lelia and I met at the Downers Grove Lace Day. She is so sweet, and she takes on so much to promote all sorts of fiber arts! She even took the time to tat this beautiful little heart for me. Thank you, Lelia! Your friendship and thoughtfulness mean so much to me. I hope to see you in Peotone on Sunday!

Another tatter I greatly admire is Frivole. Have you watched her videos? Her movements are so smooth and fast, and everything she tats is beautiful! Recently Frivole posted pics of some adorable pin cushions she made. I was so surprised when I opened the mail last week and found this little beauty, along with a bit of Frivole's beautiful tatting and a lovely bee charm. Thank you, Frivole! Your thoughtful gift made my day!

Now I ask you... am I the luckiest girl around, or what? I think I'll take some time to tat tonight. : )