Views of the garden

 

Dave spent most of yesterday working in the back garden yesterday.

He pulled up and re-set the brick border, power washed the fence, and roto tilled the weeds.

It's the perfect little oasis!

The bugs don't seem to bother him. I, however, attract them like a magnet. After spending about five minutes outside admiring his work, I came back into the house with three mosquito bites and a spider bite. I think I'll be enjoying the garden from our sun room!

My sister Janet and I spent the day antiquing. She was looking for wall pockets for her garden, and I was just browsing. We found a little shop about 20 minutes away that I didn't know existed. I asked about tatting shuttles, but the owner and his wife had never heard of them. I pulled my little bag out of my purse and demonstrated. They were fascinated! I had two Curds and Whey bookmarks finished in my little pouch, so I gave one to the owners wife and the other to another customer who was also interested. I love being able to share my tatting!

Janet and I then headed to a much larger antique shop where we hit the jackpot. I found a beautiful Longaberger basket just the right size for holding a project. Janet sound some beautiful depression glass wall pockets, but decided to pass. We headed home to show Mom what we had found, and then started looking on the Internet for wall pockets and baskets. After seeing some of the online prices, we headed back to the antique shop with Mom in tow and did some serious shopping!

Janet purchased her wall pockets. Mom found a lovely little cut glass dish, and I purchased ten baskets and a Longaberger basket stand that holds ten baskets. My purchase came to the same amount as I was going to spend on one basket online. Dave had a great idea... fill the baskets with gnomes at Christmas and he will light up the tree. I think retirement suits him!

Movin' along

 

I finished round 6 of Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz right before heading off to bed last night. I didn't think I had accomplished much today, but when I took a photo it looked like I really had accomplished quite a bit. My morning was taken up with some necessary chores: laundry, banking, grocery shopping, and a little household organizing. 

My sister Janet arrived around noon. None of us had eaten lunch, so Mom, Janet, and I went out to eat and picked up some carry out for Dave. After that, there was dinner prep, kitchen cleanup, and then some well deserved rest on the front porch. I really don't know when I had time to tat as much as I did.

Janet's granddaughter has been doing quite a bit of painting on tiles this summer. When Janet was down visiting earlier this summer, she took my very faded garden gnome home with her and asked Abigail to restore him. She did a beautiful job!

Now that Dave is retired, we've decided to implement some of the ideas we've talked about over the past several years. Last summer, Dave updated our porch railing. There really was nothing wrong with the old railing. We just wanted a fresh look for the house. We talked about using the old railing as a garden accent in our hosts bed in the back yard. Dave started on this project Wednesday afternoon, and it looks like we'll get to check this one off the list tomorrow. Of course we then need to select the next project!

Sharing

Today I was reminded of the importance of sharing. I'm not talking about sharing patterns. That's a big no-no in my book. Instead, I mean sharing what I have learned from patterns, mistakes I have made and how I corrected them. So...

This is my progress on Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. First let me say that I LOVE this pattern. The center (in blue) is the most intricate first round of a doily I have ever tatted. 

The only problem I have had so far, is that I forgot to tat the last section of chain on the first round. I did go back and add it, but it would have looked nicer if I had tatted it in the first place!

So, why the sharing part? A long time tatting friend asked me today for help with Jan Stawasz's Monster Doily. I call it the Masterpiece Doily, but since many in the tatting world call it the Monster Doily I am using that term so that others know what I'm talking about. 

My copy of the pattern is tucked away somewhere safe. I am in the midst of reorganizing once again, and I'm not quite sure where I placed it. However, when my friend sent me a picture of the part she found confusing, I knew just what she was talking about. I went back to my blog posts from July 2015, sure that I had made note of my problem and how I solved it. I had not!

Is it too late to start making notes of problems and how I've fixed them. I think not!

Harmony

The summer is flying by! Daughter Joanne and family arrived last Tuesday and will be leaving this Thursday. Dave and I are having great fun with all the activity.

Tatting time has been limited, but I did manage to finish Harmony from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Baiukiewicz. I've been too lazy to through my thread stash, so these are still colors left from Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I think I might tat this one again so that I can incorporate some more bright colors. 

On to the next project!

Hannah

It's been a busy week around here. We have family coming to visit next week, so we've been working on lots of projects around the house. Dave has been busy outside, and I've been busy inside. Of course, I still found time to tat!

This is "Hannah" from  Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. The finished size is 8". I used leftover thread from Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I do love these colors together!

Ta da!

I am so pleased with the way this doily turned out! Even Dave thinks it's beautiful, and he doesn't often comment on things I've tatted.

I started this doily on February 22, daughter Andrea's birthday. This one goes to her. 

I used size 20 Lizbeth in the following colors: 623 Raspberry Pink Lt, 170 Pineapple Parfait (2 balls), 679 Lime Green, 696 Autumn Orange Med, 657 Ocean Turquoise Dk, 695 Bright Orange, and 183 Orange Crush. 

The finished size is 30.5". This is the second largest piece I've tatted, the largest being Jan Stawasz's Masterpiece (some call it the monster doily) that I finished January 1, 2016. That one is 32".

So, what's next? I think I'll return to Laura Bziukiewicz's book Bonded with tatting ~ doilies. I have "Star of Bethlehem" started, but I need to find where I put it. I think I'll move on to "Hannah". It will be a quick and easy tat in comparison to Renulek's Spring Doily 2024!

 

Finished on the 4th!

 

I just finished tatting Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 a few minutes ago. I achieved my goal!

Tomorrow I will wash and block it. Then I'll post a final picture. This was a very enjoyable pattern to tat, and I'm glad I spent the time focusing on it.

I think it's time for some simple projects!