Wow, I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since Tatting Corner’s Tat Days. I still haven’t finished Pearl as I’ve been busy tatting for several other things, but everything else from Tat Days is done.
Circle be unbroken
I finished Mary Anna Robinson’s ‘Circle Be Unbroken’ covered cabone ring while we were on the way home. I’m not sure I got it quite right but it looks good, so I’m happy with it. I had fun in Mary Anna’s class. Thanks, Mary Anna!
Dona’s Christmas Stocking
I also finished ‘Dona’s Christmas Stocking’ on the way home. I made at least one wrong join on one side, but it worked out okay when I put the two sides together. I’m not sure I got the fringe at the time quite right, either, but there is an opening at the top, so it came out alright, too. This is very cute. I can see myself making more of these, maybe for my family Christmas ornament this year.
Dorset Button with Tatting #3
I worked on Mike Lyon’s Dorset button on the way home also but didn’t finish it. I actually started the center weaving again, which is still off-center, but it looks better than my first try. I made the picots on the cabone ring waaayy too big, which messed up the sizing on the outside tatting. I’m still happy with it though I’ll try to do better on the next one I make. I’m sure I’ll be doing Dorset buttons again, though I don’t know when.
I have several time-sensitive projects right now so I am waiting to finish Pearl until they are done. I’ve been seeing other people’s mermaids on Facebook, which has me itching to pick her up again, but I must be strong! I WILL finish her, but later.
I’m so excited about next year’s tatting cruise. My sister, who is coming too, and I have been talking about things we’ll need and things we want to do. Yes, it’s next year, but there’s a lot to think about when you haven’t done it before. Some of it we definitely need to start saving for. While I’m writing this post I have Dishnetwork’s Dishscape of a coral reef on the TV, keeping me in the mood for the trip! (A screen saver with sound.)
Dishscape of a coral reef
I am not associated in any way with Dishnetwork and make no income from this mention.
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.” William Cowper
I am so inspired by my experience at Tat Days that I have all kinds of ideas for new things to tat. I’m not sure when I’ll have the time to try them all! I did finish all of my projects from Tat Days except for Pearl, the mermaid.
3 Bugle Picot Motif
The 3 Bugle Picot motif is the only project I finished at Tat Days, except for sewing in the ends. It’s almost amazing that I finished it there, all the stops and starts I did. Marsha Bramson and K Boniface set up at one of the round dinner tables instead of at a long class table and I almost missed that they had started. Several people that hadn’t signed up for the class joined, they didn’t realize at first it was a class and not a tat-n-chat. Marsha and K brought all kinds of beads that we could use and there were lots of discussions going on about the class patterns and bead uses. I had trouble choosing what I wanted to do, then kept loading the beads wrong.
Bugle mania class with MarshaBugle mania with K
The class time seemed to go very fast! As I don’t use beads often I learned a lot. Did you notice how those bugle beads are used in the motif? Both K and Marsha had good suggestions and helpful hints.
I enjoyed that class so much that this week while I was at JoAnn’s I noticed they had bugle beads on sale – 40% off *smile* – so I acquired some. Now I can try the other patterns from the class.
Bugle beads
Lisa had tables set up for any show-and-tell items people brought. There wasn’t a lot, but those that brought items were very interesting to look at. I brought a few things myself to share.
Show and tell items at Tat Days
I brought the flowers and butterflies decorated bangle I made and finished it off with a prism in the center. I also brought a decorated wishbone, done without the thimble holder. Interestingly, two of the classes I took were covering cabone rings, which is done the same way I covered the bangle bracelets and the wishbone that I brought. I’ll share those projects in another post.
Did you hear? Lisa is doing another Tatting Corner cruise! It’s “Knotical Adventures” on the Royal Caribbean ship ‘Harmony of the Seas’, leaving from Galveston in November of 2023. And I get to go!! Whoo hoo! Check it out on Tatting Corner’s website.
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” Richard Branson
Lisa, at Tatting Corner, hosted her 2022 Tat Days July 7-9 in Chesterfield, Indiana. This is the first time I was able to go, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! My husband took several days of vacation so he could go with me. We left on the 5th and took a leisurely drive to Chesterfield. I attended classes Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and he took it easy.
Every day of Tat Days could start in the shop. Anyone interested in beginner needle tatting or shuttle tatting could go early to the shop (Tatting Corner) and get lessons, or just join the tat-n-chat.
Needle tatting lessons at Tat Days 2022A bit of chatting at Tatting Corner
I was so busy tatting and chatting in the classes that I didn’t take many pictures. Here’s one picture of the large room we had all the classes in. We had our meals here as well.
Tat Days classes 2022
On the evening of the 7th Mike Lyon, the Shuttle Commander himself gave a seminar on encasing tatting in resin. My husband got a picture of his back when he took a picture of me. Mike is in the background on the left. He taught several different classes during tat days. I took the one on making Dorset buttons.
Seminar on encasing tatting in resin
Doing the resin pendants was fun. The longest part, besides the drying time, was making sure you eliminated all the bubbles before the resin hardened. Nan discovered that a light on them helped us to find those pesky bubbles.
My tatting pendants
My husband joined this seminar though I furnished the tatting. He was the designated stirrer of the resin and did a fine job. My tatting was very simple because I kept putting off making them. They still make pretty pendants. Most other tatters had tatted a bit more complex pieces. I might have to do something a bit more fancy next time.
I only finished one of my class projects while there. Well, except for hiding the ends, which I did at home. I completed two more projects on the way home, and am currently finishing the outside of the Dorset button. The hardest, most complicated one, Pearl, I’ll do after that. So far she’s looking pretty good, but I was very glad I was at the class with it, I needed the teacher’s help! I’ll be sharing that another day.
I am so happy I was able to go this year. I was able to see several people I had met at Palmetto’s Tat Days years ago and met new friends. The hardest part was remembering everyone’s names! Overall, it was a wonderful experience! Looking forward to next year. I’ll be sharing more about our trip in the next several posts. Hopefully, soon!
“The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.”Denis Waitley
I haven’t tatted anything new this year for the occasion, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been enjoying the season.
Patriotic runner
Last year I made a runner for my daughter that I was unable to get to her by the 4th of July or her birthday. It was eventually delivered in November in time for Veteran’s Day. She was able to use it this year for Independence Day. She loves decorating for this holiday.
Patriotic birthday runner
She does such a great job of making her house look festive!
It’s amazing where you find people showing their patriotism. A local farmer showed his 4th of July spirit with these large hay bales.
Patriotic hay bales
My dog also dressed for the occasion.
Bonnie dressed for the 4th
We celebrated the holiday at my daughter’s house last night with family and friends, tonight we’ll do it a bit more locally. We celebrate and thank all of those that have fought for the freedoms we have.
Today I’m packing for our trip to Indiana tomorrow. I’m going to Tatting Corner’s “Artful Tatting” Tat Days at the end of the week. My husband took vacation so he could come with me. Looking forward to seeing all those fellow tatters!
May you all have a happy and safe Independence Day.
“A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.”Bill Vaughan
Yes, it has been several weeks since I posted – again! Just when I think I’m getting into a schedule, life happens and everything changes. Then I get out of the habit and I don’t get around to it. I’m sorry, I’ll try to do better!
I have been doing some tatting. I added a bit more to my purse.
Added tatting on my purse
I thought it needed a bit more than what I started with. This vertical strip I put in stiffener before sewing it onto the bag. Now I have something to compare with the method I used with the others. I’ve had several nice comments about my purse since I put it on. 😊 I think I have the stitch count figured out for the square, now on to writing it out.
On the way to making the square, I also made a round medallion.
7 pointed medallion
It’s kind of a snowflake but it looks a bit off. I think it would look better if I’d made it with six or eight points instead of the seven that I did. To me, this looks a bit wonky, not just because it is blocked badly. I’ll probably go back and play with it another time.
We’ve had a temporary pastor for our church for the last several months. We said a fond farewell to him this last Sunday as our new pastor will be here this weekend. I added a cross bookmark to his card.
Graduation bookmark
For some reason, I kept breaking the thread while making this. I think it came out okay in the end.
I have a whole list of items I want to tat but am finding myself not getting to them. I need to knuckle down and get started but my mind keeps going in random directions, not accomplishing much at all. Hopefully, I’ll soon become more focused.
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”Greg Anderson
I’m doing a bit of cleaning and changing on my blog, specifically my patterns. I’m moving them from a paid server to Google Docs. I’m doing it mostly in the order they are listed on My Patterns page, so if you’re looking for a pattern and get an error or a message saying it’s not available, let me know by email and I’ll get it for you.
While moving my patterns, I’ve noticed that some of them need to be updated. I guess I have a summer project now. I’ve also noticed how many things I’ve not made or finished the patterns for. I think my summer is full!
I have a cloth purse that I use once in a while, a rather plain purse. I’ve thought about putting tatting on it off and on but never really made an effort to do it. This last week I made a square medallion that I decided would look good on it.
Square medallion on my purse
One of the reasons I’ve not added tatting to something like this is I’m always thinking how dirty it will get, and if not attached right, will come off at corners and edges. My solution – at least until it proves me wrong – was to use fabric glue to stiffen it before sewing it on the purse. I did not stitch down every picot, though I suppose that would be the correct thing to do. (I thought I had the medallion centered and square, but I guess not.)
The other side looked a bit bare after that. When I remembered where I had put the balls of thread I made another square in the same colors.
A medallion and edging on a purse
This medallion looked better turned a few degrees than having it sit square like the other side. Then I thought it needed something on the top flap but not a medallion. So I made an edging along the same lines as the medallion. I’ve made one more edging to go up that one bare side, but I still need to stiffen it before sewing it on.
I’ve been doing some reading the last couple of weeks. Not listening to audio books but reading a paperback. This story is about a house in my hometown, Newton, Kansas. It was built back when the town was new and is still standing today and still has people living in it, though I understand it was empty for a time.
We the House
Besides it being about a local subject, the way the story is told is unique. It is told from the perspective of the house, mostly by way of conversation with a painted portrait of a woman that is hung in the house. The story starts in the 1880’s and goes until about 2010. It is a quick read but enjoyable.
I looked up the address of the house and drove by it the other day. It is about a block away from Sand Creek, which is an important feature in the book. The house is now surrounded closely by other houses, and the creek is much different than it once was. To protect Newton from flooding the creek was made much deeper in the 1960’s and had a dam installed at the south end. I find it hard to imagine the creek different than it is today.
This is obviously a book of fiction, but some of the events in the book are from the history of the town. It came out at the right time, as Newton is celebrating it’s sesquicentenial anniversary (150 years) this year. I talked about the party the city threw on the actual anniversary date that I went to here. Newton is having another celebration tomorrow, June 4, 2022, with bands and rides and other fun things. I’m planning on going if it doesn’t rain.
We celebrated Memorial Day this year with trips to local cemetaries with family, then had the family come over for lunch and games after that. For all that the day is set aside to remember those who died in service to our country my family always visited the graves of our other relatives, too. My mother always grew small containers of flowers for each of the graves we would visit, then we’d drive to the different cemetaries to leave the flowers and tell stories about their lives. My husband and I were not good about continuing that tradition, but this year was a bit like those times I remember from childhood. Except this time I was the one telling the stories.
Memorial Day flowers
“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
It’s that time of year again, graduation for kids of all ages. One of my daughters recently graduated from college and a niece from high school. Different circumstances, different types of gifts to be given, don’t you think?
We gave our daughter one of our winnings from the auction we went to a few weeks ago. I didn’t think to take a picture of it before giving it to her but imagine a bottle of wine and wine-related items. She was happy with it.
For my niece, I gave something a little more in line with my usual graduation gift, a bookmark, to go along with a book and a bit of cash.
Double heart bookmark with a book of devotions
My picture has the bookmark covering a bit more of the title than I had planned, but the picture on the front helps show why I chose to tat something with hearts.
Double heart bookmark on a paperclip
This is my January Heart pattern with split-ring tails joined to a large paperclip. I think this will be easier to keep in a book than a loose bookmark would be. This is not only holding a place in the book but is also holding a bit of cash. What college student can’t use that? I gave this to her at her graduation party, but she mostly got cards (probably with money) and didn’t open them at the party.
I’ve been doing some other tatting this week, but not much is coming out as planned. The last few days I’ve been tatting while watching it rain. They say it’s supposed to end tomorrow – and then the heat and humidity arrive. I guess it is the end of May, so I should expect it.
In July I’m going to Tatting Corner’s Tat Days. My husband and I will be driving out. While I’m tatting he’ll be checking out what’s to be found in the area, then joining me for the evening meals. I’ve not been to one of their Tat Days before but am looking forward to it. Who else is going?
Green wheat in the rain
“Potential is like a summer crop. If it don’t rain, it don’t grow.” Charles Oakley
While at a second-hand store a while back I found a bundle of bangle bracelets for a couple of dollars. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them at the time, but I was sure I could come up with something. So I bought them.
Bangle bracelet on wandasknottythoughts
They were all about the same diameter but different thicknesses. I washed them and then sprayed them with a clear sealer so they wouldn’t tarnish or discolor any threads I might use. I set them aside until I could think about what to do with them.
I have seen people make dream catchers out of almost anything that is round but that didn’t appeal to me at the moment. A few years ago I attached snowflakes in the center, however, I wanted to try something a bit different than that.
Ring of purple
I like this idea of joined rings on the outside, though it is kind of tedious joining those rings together. Then I ran out of thread and can’t find the ball. Okaaay, so on to something else.
Ring with spokes in the middle
How about rings and chains on the inside? I tatted on the ring with size 10 thread and added the first round of chains in 10 also. The rings and chains on the next round are in size 20. These two rounds were done multiple times as I tried getting a stitch count that didn’t buckle and crowd each other. Then what was I going to do in the middle? The spokes hold it tight and give it an interesting look.
Ring of flowers and butterflies
The idea of putting flowers on the ring was something that kept coming back to me, but what flowers and how to attach them to the ring? I covered the ring and did the chain on the outside while I thought about it. Then I played around with leaf ideas while I thought about it. The flowers and butterflies were made with the shuttle leftovers from other projects, so I just chose the colors I thought would work. I laid them on the ring with the leaves several ways before I attached them. I used fabric glue instead of trying to sew them on. Much easier than trying to sew them on.
3 Rings
So what do I do with these rings now? I will finish the purple one whenever I find the thread, but then what? This one and the one with flowers could be picture frames I suppose. Or just hang all of them up as is as decorations the way they are? Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that.
This weekend, after many delays and postponements, I was finally able to meet up with Sherry Ashberger, a fellow Kansas tatter. She contacted me years ago through my blog with the suggestion of meeting her somewhere halfway between where we live. That never worked out because of our schedules at the time. A few months ago she emailed me again with the suggestion of getting together. Things beyond our control kept us postponing a meet until at last this last weekend it worked out!
Me and Sherry
Sherry has skills with drawing programs and she thinks she might be able to assist me with diagramming my patterns. What a great idea! We met up at a local Freddy’s and visited for several hours. It was so wonderful to finally, finally get to meet! I think we’ll be seeing more of each other.
I get no compensation for mentioning Freddy’s
My apple tree bloomed from the last week or so of March through the beginning of April. I thought I’d lose all chance at apples with a late frost, but I had a lot of blooms after, so I’ll probably have a few. Whether I’ll get any apples or the birds and bugs will get them all is yet to be seen. But the blossoms were gorgeous!
Apple blossoms
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep.” —Scott Adams
We were invited to go with my husband’s family to a local Catholic school auction fundraiser this last Saturday. It’s a pretty big deal and they go all out for it. The theme was ‘Off to the Races’, as in, the horse races.
Off to the races, ready for the crowd
You don’t have to dress up with the theme, but where’s the fun if you don’t?
Jack and I all dressed for the races
When I think of horse racing I think of the Kentucky Derby, where I’ve seen (in pictures and on TV) the ladies dress up in fancy hats and outfits, and the guys wear bowties. For us ladies, my sister-in-law and I went to my mother’s house where she graciously allowed us to choose from her many hats. We chose a couple of hats and one for her friend that was also going to be there. We had a lot of fun, almost like playing dress-up just choosing them.
That was the easy part. Now for the bowties. My mother had one bow tie, a clip-on, that my husband wore, but I needed four more (I volunteered). I had hoped that it being prom season there would be someplace local that would have inexpensive (cheap) bowties, but I couldn’t find any place at all that carried any bow ties. My next choice was to make some. I checked out Pinterest and found a few places that had patterns and ideas, so it was off to the store for some material and the findings I’d need.
I chose to get materials in black and white with a mix of small patterns. I know I can use leftovers for other things, at some point. I had a list of items I thought I needed, so that was quick. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I was getting too complicated. I’d be lucky if the guys would put them on in the first place, let alone wear them the entire evening. I ended up just folding the material, ironing it to shape, and hand stitching a few stitches to hold them together.
Bow ties in black and white
I didn’t find any of the clips to hold them to the collars so I used black strips of material with velcro on the ends. I ironed interfacing to the material and folded the edges in. By the time Saturday came around and I needed to finish them, I realized the band around the neck would be hidden so they didn’t have to be that finished. I think they came out very well.
Two guys in bow ties
My husband’s brother came to the dinner in a Hawaiin shirt, shorts, and sandals but he let me help him put on one of the ties. He wore it all night! My husband was the only one of the five guys at our table who even tried to dress up for the theme, but all of them wore the bow ties all night. I was very surprised – and pleased. They didn’t even put up much of a fight, LOL.
Family in hat and bow tie
There were some people, men and women, that really got into dressing up. There were others, like us, that kind of dressed up, and a few that didn’t. It was a lot of fun watching the crowd.
The school has done fundraising auctions every year for years, with a different theme each year. This is the first time my husband and I have gone. The school had both a silent auction, which was online before dinner and a live auction after dinner. I won several items in the silent auction I didn’t expect to. We didn’t even try to win anything in the live auction, the items were bid up pretty high pretty fast. It was fun to watch, though.
Besides making the bow ties for the dinner this last week was very busy, with no time to tat. The grandkids have had several track meets each and I’ve helped at my mom’s house. I’m hoping this week is a bit quieter.
We’ve also had some severe weather close by in the last few days. Friday was the first time I’d ever gotten a dust storm warning. When the cold front came through there was a dramatic drop in temperature and with it came the dust. Down the road visibility dropped to zero due to dust.
Dust storm
The camera cleaned up this picture a bit, it was much worse than it shows. If you were outside it immediately became harder to breathe. The front carried this dust a long way. We didn’t have a tornado, but you may have heard that the town of Anderdover was hit by one the same day we had the dust storm. That is south of us, and just east of my daughter’s house. The threat of severe weather was close enough that we stayed ready to head for the storm shelter all evening but the wind and the dust were the worst we experienced that night.
We have threats of severe weather again tonight. For the next several hours we’ll be watching the weather, ready for whatever comes – or doesn’t. But what should I expect, I live in Kansas and it’s spring.
Thank you to everyone that expressed their condolences about my family. It is greatly appreciated.
“To its devotees the bowtie suggests iconoclasm of an Old World sort, a fusty adherence to a contrarian point of view. The bowtie hints at intellectualism, real or feigned, and sometimes suggests technical acumen, perhaps because it is so hard to tie. BowTies are worn by magicians, country doctors, lawyers and professors and by people hoping to look like the above. But perhaps most of all, wearing a bow tie is a way of broadcasting an aggressive lack of concern for what other people think.” Warren St. John
