My wonderful husband, Jack, has enabled my shuttle addiction over the years. He has bought me shuttles, gone hunting for shuttles at flea markets, ordered them for me online, and made them for me. He’s at it again, making more shuttles.
The three shuttles on the left are made from a branch that fell out of our Red Bud tree a few months ago. The branch was already dead, it was blown out of the tree before we cut it out. I told Jack I thought it would be cool to have a shuttle from it, and he did, too. I didn’t know the wood would be so pretty! The shuttle on the right is cherry wood.
Jack has one of my plastic Clover shuttles that he uses as a pattern for size and general shape. He cuts out the shape with a band saw and then uses a sander to finish the rest of it. Then he glues a post in the middle. Each one is slightly different in shape and height, making them one-of-a-kind. He is getting better and better, each one surpassing the previous one. When he’s done, he brings them to me to verify they work as expected, keeping the thread from unwinding when dropped to unwind the twist in the thread, and being smooth to wind and unwind. He’s having fun while improving the process.
He currently has three in process in the garage, and plans on making more. For all that I like them all, he is taking some with him to Tatting Corner’s Tat Days in July, to see what other tatters think of them. If you see him there, ask about them. He’d love to show them to you.
“I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning… Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” Miles Davis
