Category: edgings

Done and Delivered

Way back in July I was working on a runner for my daughter’s birthday. It didn’t get done by her birthday, which was expected due to starting it too close to the date. And then I ran into the problem of the length of the table is longer than anticipated, which caused other issues. I have been working on it over the last few months, but part of the problem was deciding exactly was I was doing. I finally figured it out and finished it!

To make the runner longer I planned to put an insert in the center, but what that insert was going to look like I had trouble deciding. I had the edgings done for a normal rectangular runner back in July, though I never attached them because I didn’t know how I was going to end up cutting the material. I finally came up with an oval for the insert.

birthday edging pinned on wandasknottythoughts
Center edging pinned on

This picture shows the center with the edging pinned to the material, so it looks pretty wonky. You can see that it is pretty large. One of the issues of coming up with the shape was to somehow make a pattern of the size I wanted. I finally used a serving platter. Then I had to sew it, oh boy.

The center edging pattern isn’t exactly like the end pieces due to the curve. I also used size 10 for the blue (Wedgewood Dark, Lizbeth #656) in it where the end pieces I had used size 20, though the red (Terra Cotta, Lizbeth #673) and white (Natural, Lizbeth #602) were in size 10. Why I had to make all the edgings so complicated I don’t know! Simple rings and chains would have gone so much faster!

After I got the center this far I kind of stalled out. I was afraid of making a mistake with the truck material or coming up with something I couldn’t finish. My sewing skills are minimal, mostly just straight(ish) lines. The two sides were going to be attached to the curved center. What had I gotten myself into? I hemmed and hawed with this for weeks – ok, months – before just doing it. I did cut out a paper pattern first, to test out the look.

Truck runner center on wandasknottythoughts
Truck runner center

I finally sewed the two sides and figured a way to attach them to the center. I’m hoping the tatting and the cute material will distract everyone from looking too closely at the sewing, LOL!

Truck runner edgings sewn on wandasknottythoughts
Truck runner edgings sewn on

The ends were much easier! Why didn’t I keep the center edging more like this? I just have to keep changing things up!

Truck runner finished on wandasknottythoughts
Patriotic truck runner finished

This is the finished runner on my table. It turned out nice. Her table is a rectangle so the ends will hang just a little differently. This patriotic truck-themed runner birthday gift was supposed to be for July and Independence Day, now she’ll have it for next year. I had jokingly told her I might have it done for Veteran’s Day, November 11, which amazingly I did. I finished it yesterday and took it to her today so she could put it out for tomorrow.

My daughter loves it! She sent me pictures of it on her table and it looks good. I’m so happy she’s happy with it and that I was able to deliver it before Christmas. Or next July.

Tomorrow, November 11, is Veteran’s Day here in the USA. To all the veterans out there, thank you for your service.

A few facts about Veteran’s Day from History.com

Veterans Day occurs on November 11 every year in the United States in honor of the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 that signaled the end of World War I, known as Armistice Day.

Veterans Day commemorates veterans of all wars

Great Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World War I and World War II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day, while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November).

Third China Hutch Edging Done!

It’s done! I can hardly believe that I finished the edgings I wanted for my china hutch.

3rd china hutch edging done on wandasknottythoughts
The 3rd china hutch done and on the shelf

I started making these edgings on May 30, 2020. It only took 93 days from starting to mounting the third edging on the last shelf. I’m delighted with how they came out.

3rd shelf china hutch edging with doors shut on wandasknottythoughts
All three edgings on with the china hutch doors closed

I’m pleased with the look of the china hutch with the doors closed. Though trying to get a good picture of it with the glass reflecting everything is not easy. This was the best I could do this time around.

This project is one I’ve thought about for a long time but was never motivated enough to start until this year. This china hutch belonged to my grandfather and was given to him by his parents. He was a bare-bones guy, never one for frills. Once I got it I always thought edgings would be a nice finishing touch. Thirty years later I finally added the tatting, and I was right.

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” Earl Nightingale

Miscalculations

I have finished tatting the third china hutch edging! I’ve even finished blocking it, but I haven’t got it in the cabinet yet.

I noticed on the first two shelf edgings that they might be just a bit shorter than I planned. So I made the 3rd edging a bit longer. Maybe too long. I’ll find out soon.

China hutch edging edges on wandasknottythoughts
The edges of the first two edgings might not really be long enough

For a bit of a change and to answer a question I was asked about making one, I decided to make an Ice Drop, specifically Diane Cademartori’s Basic Ice Drop. (You can check out all of her adventures on her blog Lace-Lovin’ Librarian.) I’ve made it before, but this time I goofed.

Ice Drop mistake on wandasknottythoughts
The center isn’t quite right

This gem is the same size I’ve used before, but this time I didn’t do something quite right. Maybe the joining picots are too short. Or maybe the gem is just bigger than the one I used before, even though they came out of the same package. Whatever I did, or didn’t do, I’ll have to find a different center if I want to finish this ice drop.

I can’t say that either of these miscalculations are mistakes. With the china hutch doors closed, which they are most of the time, you can’t see either end of the edgings, so I’m not unhappy with them. The Ice Drop can be saved, I just have to find a different center. Let’s just call them learning experiences.

“Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.” Billy Wilder

Second Edging Complete!

Yes, it’s true. I’ve completed the second china hutch edging AND put it on the shelf!

Second china hutch edging on wandasknottythoughts
China hutch 2 shelves done

The top one is the first one, the bottom one is the second. It looks like I should have made one more repeat for the length, but I’m not going back. It doesn’t have as many repeats as the first one due to picot length. The second one is a bit more consistent with the length of the joining picot in the first row. I might be able to adjust the way it lays on the shelf to fit the width a bit better.

Second china hutch edging w/doors on wandasknottythoughts
Two edgings are done on the china hutch

With the doors closed, the way they are most of the time, you can’t see that the edging does’t quite reach the sides. The first edging needs to be straightened just a bit, LOL! I’ll get to that later.

I am still working on the third shelf edging.

Third china hutch edging not quite done on wandasknottythoughts
Still working on the third edging

I’m on the second row of it, too. I just keep running into things that need to be done that are more time sensitive than the edging, both tatting related and otherwise.

In the otherwise category, I’ve taken care of a couple of the grandchildren several times that I hadn’t planned on. Whether at their house or our house there are other things to do than tat. My granddaughter likes watching videos that show how to make Barbie accessories, so we’ve made a few of those. Good thing I have a bunch of crafty things handy!

“You don’t have to get things done all the time to be productive.” David Harsanyi

Old UFO found

While looking for something else (I can’t remember what) I found some tatting I started several years ago. Okay, it looks like I started and pretty much finished, too, except for tying off the last ends and clipping all the tails I left. They’re obviously edgings and at least five years old – I have no idea what I made them for. They are not very long, about 9 inches when blocked like this, and 3 1/4 inches wide. I’m sure it’s DMC size 30 ecru as I used to do a lot of tatting in it and is one of my patterns. I used to make a lot of cloth runners with tatting at the ends but they were usually at least 12 inches wide but I suppose they could be for that. Maybe for two small wall hangings?
I’m not sure what they were for originally but I’m sure I can figure out something to do with them. A UFO (UnFinished Object) that is actually finished – how cool is that?
While surfing the web the other day I found a darling little purse idea. Over at MeiJo’s Joy she has a tutorial for making the cutest little pop-open purse. It really caught my eye because of the shape of the pieces the purse is made of – they’re shuttle-shaped! And she did such a cute job of decorating it. I keep thinking it would be so cute to hold shuttles.
Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I enjoyed a cup (or two) of Apple Spice tea, very yummy. And I actually got a little tatting in!
‘Be who you are and say what you feel…
Because those that matter… don’t mind…
And those that mind… don’t matter.’

Glad I don’t live in Oklahoma

You’ve probably heard by now that Oklahoma had a 5.6 earthquake Saturday night. Did you know they had a 4.7 Saturday morning? And a 4.0 Sunday morning? Then they had another 4.7 last night. They’ve also had about 25 smaller ones, probably aftershocks, in between. I didn’t feel the first ones, but last night at work I heard the last one. It made the metal stairs beside my office rock and knock against my (inside) window. I thought someone was trying to be funny and scare me as the stairs are behind me right outside my office (inside the factory). I didn’t see anyone and just thought “funny, ha ha” until a few minutes later I was being asked if I felt the earthquake.
I wasn’t thinking of earthquakes at the time but stormy weather. We were having heavy rain and thunder but Oklahoma was having it worse, including tornadoes, hail and flooding.
Yep, that’s right. They were having tornadoes and earthquakes the same night.
I’m glad I don’t live in Oklahoma right now! I haven’t heard of people being hurt in all this so I hope everyone in Oklahoma is okay.
This morning for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’m having a cup of
coffee 🙂 This time change is a pain. Okay, so we fall back and gain an hour. Someone tell my internal clock that it’s now 7:00 AM instead of 8:00 AM!
Today I’m sharing this handkerchief that my mother gave me. It is from her aunt, though I don’t know that my great-aunt tatted it. The hen and chicks edging was made first then sewn on, easily seen as several picots have come loose from the edge. The outside picots were curled a bit, as usually happens, so I pinned them out, though I didn’t take the time to iron the hanky itself.
I’m thinking of how best to display this and several other tatted pieces I have from other family members. Maybe a shadow box?

“There are two big forces at work, external and internal. We have very little control over external forces such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness and pain. What really matters is the internal force. How do I respond to those disasters? Over that I have complete control. ” Leo F. Buscaglia

The evolution of a snowflake

Journey of a snowflake found on wandasknottythoughtsI started work on a snowflake the other day and it went places I hadn’t planned on. In fact, I didn’t really like it. But I kinda liked the idea of it so I did it again with a little change.

I liked it a little better but I still wasn’t quite happy with it. I had made both in white size 30 DMC because I had shuttles already wound. Maybe another color or two would look better? Which could be a little tricky because I kept switching shuttles in different places. In one color that’s not noticeable but with two colors it would be. But I decided to try it with blue and green size 30 DMC, also because the shuttles were already wound.

Another little change later and I was much happier! It looked more like it belonged that way than the previous versions. The small points between the long arms really changed the look. The center was also changed, made a little smaller. I did have to switch the shuttles in a few places to get the colors how I wanted them. I’m tempted to make another one and not switch the shuttles so it will be easier to write down the pattern. I’m going to consider these for the 25 motif challenge as #3, 4 & 5.

I’m now working on the “coily” (coaster or doily?) that BoB the Bike designed. I saw it on his website and thought it would be fun. It’s in pink – maybe to go under the rose bouquet I received from Lorena. But then again, I have a friend who’s birthday is coming up that might like it…

Edgings and Ideas

I’ve been trying to organize pictures on my computer and found a couple of edgings that I really enjoyed doing. They were added to the bottom of magnet boards I made for friends’ birthdays.

One friend does Renaissance Festivals and at first I didn’t quite know what I would use as background. Then I found some wonderful dragon and castle material. This is one time I actually used beads and then added dragonfly and “gem” magnets.

The other one is really into elephants. Material with elephants, the one’s I found anyway, were rather dark. So I used material with bamboo plants on it so she could see her elephant magnets. The edging was in gold. I think the green really set it off well.

Both recipients were happy with their gifts. And I had a lot of fun coming up with edgings that looked good with the material.

I have been getting a lot of ideas lately seeing all the great things other people have been doing on eTatters and their blogs. The problem is there is so little time to try them out! Christmas is coming so I do have that excuse to sit down and tat because of needing gifts. Now, if I could just stay home from work I’d have a lot more time for the important things.