Hmmm...

I thought I spent a lot of time tatting today... apparently not! I only tatted one Ice Drop, and it's my pattern for Tatting Corner Tat Days, so I can't even show it to you!

So, what did I do with my time? I cleaned the kitchen, baked a cake, fixed three meals, talked to Mom and three of my daughters, called my aunt, helped Dave troubleshoot a mail problem on his iPad... I guess I didn't really have as much time for tatting as I thought I did!

Back to normal

The weather was back to normal today... no fog, just warm enough to start melting the snow... it's starting to feel like winter is winding down.

I started off the day test tatting an Ice Drop pattern for a friend. Sorry, it's not ready for the big reveal just yet!

Next, I checked my pattern for Tatting Corner's Tat Days in July one more time. I'm not ready to show this one just yet. I think it may be after Tat Days, because I want this to be a special pattern for the event.

I finished up the day tatting this little motif from one of my Japanese tatting books, Tatting Lace 101 Edging & Motif Ideas.

I've been enjoying watching the Olympics. I get really excited watching curling, and I get the wits scared out of me watching the skiing and snowboarding events. I don't know how those athletes can do that stuff!

Fog day

School was delayed for two hours this morning because of dense fog. Daughter Carol called to let me know in case I was subbing. She then let me know around 9 that school was cancelled for the day. It was a wise call. All day long the fog was thick.

You'd think that with nowhere to go and nothing to do, I'd have accomplished a lot. I didn't. I only finished one Ice Drop. Why? The ups and downs in the weather mess with my sinuses, and I just didn't feel like doing much.

I did take two naps, and I talked to each of my daughters today. Gosh, I'm tired!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Red and white... the perfect combination for Valentine's Day!

Just one...

Today was another sub day, so I only had time for one Ice Drop. Luckily, I had a pretty new shuttle to use!

Snowed in

Well, it was self-imposed. We did get quite a bit of snow over the weekend, and there were times when it was nasty. However, it was never so bad that we couldn't have gotten out if we had wanted to. Yes, the roads were bad over the weekend, but it was anywhere near the monster storm that was predicted.

Still, I chose to take the long weekend to focus on decorating quilt squares for Palmetto Tat Days. I tried to stay off the computer, because it's easy for me to get lost in space and I really wanted to finish these pieces so that I can mail them off this week.

I chose Mary Konior's Curds and Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns for this piece of sashing.

At first I wanted to tat something that resembled beer foam for this beer stein fabric. However, my imagination wouldn't work to give me what I wanted, so I looked through Tatting with Visual Patterns again. The pattern is called "Skipping Ropes." It doesn't look at all like beer foam, but I like it!

I'm not fond of skulls, and I wasn't sure what to do with this fabric. I decided to pick up on the flower motif on the skulls. One of the motifs is from one of my Japanese tatting books. The other two just kind of fell off my shuttles.

The butterfly edging is from another of my Japanese tatting books, and the tiny butterfly on the pink is simply rings. I'm sure someone else has tatted this one before. Basic butterflies really don't take much thought!

While looking through my Japanese books, I found this butterfly pattern. I took the shuttle closest to my chair, which happened to have Purple Marble wound on it. I really like this butterfly, but the size and color were completely wrong for the quilt block project.

The pieces have all been packaged for mailing, and I'll send them off when I'm in town tomorrow. I think I may tat an Ice Drop tonight. I'm suffering from Ice Drop withdrawal!

If you haven't guessed by now, I love collecting tatting shuttles! I also love using them! This little beauty is from my long-time friend, Dave Stanbrough of Grizzly Mountain Arts. Dave doesn't make many shuttles any more, so I was thrilled to be able to purchase this one! I would love to travel west and meet Dave and Jo in person. I'm not sure that's in the cards, though!

I try to avoid eBay, because I'm always tempted to bid on items I really don't need. However, when I saw this American flag shuttle, I knew it had to be part of my collection. I can be so bad! ;-)

Snow day!

School was cancelled for today because of predicted nasty weather. We didn't really get much snow last night, but it's been snowing steadily all day long. My mail lady said the main roads were okay, but the side roads are pretty bad. I was happy to stay home all day!

I was able to catch up on some housework and laundry, and then I sat down to tat this beautiful Posy Ice Drop by Nicola Bowersox. Nicola provided anther version of this pattern that includes another round, which I think I'll try soon.

If you're a member of the Ice Drops Addicts page on Facebook, you'll find the pattern for free under Files.

Today's mail included my newest shuttle, Painted Metal Tatting Shuttle - Marbled from The Knotted Vine. I love collecting new and unusual shuttles. I bet you didn't know that! ;-)

Yesterday, I received my newest fish shuttle from Handy Hands. My friend Denise ordered the same shuttle, and we both think that we were meant to own these shuttles. Denise's has pink eyes (pink is her favorite color), and mine has blue eyes (blue is my favorite color). I think it was serendipitous that we each received the shuttle that was perfect for us!