Tag: Tatting Tea Tuesday

Tatting Tea Tuesday in May

A few weeks ago my tatting group got together at Sherry’s house.  She surprised us with tea and brownies served on a beautiful tea set.

Tea on Tuesday on wandasknottythoughts.com

Everything had butterflies – the teapot, teacups, and napkins.  Even the napkin holder was a butterfly.

Butterfly tea in May on wandasknottythoughts.com

I don’t remember the flavor of tea she had found but it was delicious!  The brownie bites were even gluten free so I could have some, too.

She amazed us with her thoughtfulness.

After sipping tea and nibbling brownies we got down to tatting.  Carla was able to come, so there were four of us.  Carla was worried about being too far behind but she remembered much more than she thought she would.  Becky worked on her napkin edging and Sherry her heart.

Tuesday Tatters in May on wandasknottythoughts.com

I brought several books with snowflake patterns to look through.  Becky is thinking about trying a few.  I also brought a sampling of LIzbeth thread.  We are talking of making an order together.  Not that I need anymore thread, but they could twist my arm.

We have still not officially come up with a name for our group.  At the moment it has defaulted to ‘Tuesday Tatters’ as that is how several of us put our meetings on our calendars.  We usually meet on Tuesdays but we’ve been known to meet on other days, just not as often.

We all had a lot of fun at Sherry’s house.  The June meeting is at my house.  On Tuesday.

“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.”

Chaim Potok,   www.brainyquote.com

 

Tatting Tea Tuesday flea market find

Wanda's Knotty Thoughts tatted teacup doily
 Tatted Tea Cup Doily © Wanda Salmans 2014
Another find from our flea market stop last week was this pretty demitasse tea cup and saucer.  I’m a fan of roses on tea cups though this is quite different from the ones I purchased for the auction.  I didn’t really need it but it was such a pretty set. 
The doily is the one I made when I was inspired by another tea cup with roses. I just noticed it is also the same horn shuttle that I used in the other picture.  I’ve made a start at the pattern for this doily, but there is still a long way to go before it is ready to share. 
I’m having to slow down on my tatting a bit. I got carried away and didn’t take breaks like I should have which made my arm sore.  Nothing serious, just have to do some arm and hand stretches a little more frequently and take it slower so it will get better.  I’m using some of that time to work on writing out patterns. Typing uses the hand and arm a bit differently than tatting so I’m taking a tatting break and still working on tatting 🙂
I also am anxious to work on a few of those stick pins I found at the flea market.  I have several ideas percolating in my head, I just need to decide on the colors.
  
“Tea is quiet and our thirst for tea is never far from our craving for beauty.”
James Norwood Pratt
www.quotegarden.com

Oh, look! It’s a puppy!

The other day we happened by a yarn shop in Wichita called “twist”.  Some yarn shops have a few things that are of interest to tatters like me that don’t knit or crochet so I stopped in.  They didn’t have any shuttles though they did carry several shades of Nazli Gelin Garden 10 thread, the brand I am making my vest out of. But sometimes you can find some interesting things with the accessories – the stitch markers, tip guards, that type of thing.
And look what I found – a puppy!
A tiny pair of snip scissors shaped like a puppy.  They had these in kitty shape also, but they were down to green puppies and orange kitties and orange is way down on my list of favorite colors.  It was suggested that I make sure it works okay before I bought it as sometimes they don’t cut well.  A few snips on a scrap piece of yarn proved I had a good one and it was mine.

This is a regular-sized Clover shuttle beside it so you can see that it’s a pretty small pair of snips.  Just the right size to carry in a tatting kit. I’m pretty sure most airlines wouldn’t have a problem with these.
We had a wonderful Easter this year.  The weather was wonderful and most of the family was able to get together.  On one side of the family we had dinner and an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, then Sunday after church we had lunch with the other side of the family.  
A few weeks ago I mentioned I had an idea for all the Rainbow Splash Easter eggs I was making.  Believe it or not I was able to put it together just in time for the weekend. My version of an egg tree, except mine had bunny faces and baskets on it, too. 

I found it a bit difficult to take a picture of it, though.  Far enough away to get the whole thing in was almost too far away to see what was on it.  It actually looked pretty good as decoration.  
Then I decided to share with family. I took the tatted pieces off the tree and glued them to wood shapes then put magnets on the back.  At each of the dinners I let the women of the family have a choice of one.  (The kids were busy with Easter egg treats and the guys were – guys)
The magnets were well received. At least no-one turned then down 🙂

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’m enjoying a cup of Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Green Tea in a cup decorated with cherry blossoms.  It has a very “spring” feel to it, with all the blossoms.  The cup and saucer are edged in a light green that just matches the green in one of my tatted doilies. 

I can’t remember where I got this set, from my mother or at an antique shop (most antique shops around here carry a lot of things that aren’t strictly speaking antiques). It’s Rosina bone china from England, though it doesn’t specify the design.   It is adding a bright, spring accent to my tea today. 
“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.”
Chaim Potok
www.dumb.com

Teacups on the side

Happy Tatting Tea Tuesday! What kind of tea are you drinking today?  Maybe in a pretty cup?

Today I sipped coffee instead of tea and checked out a few blogs instead of actually tatting (but the day isn’t quite over) but I did some planning on my projects – that counts, doesn’t it?

A couple of weeks ago my mother asked if I would decorate two bags for her, like the ones I did at Christmas (here and here).  One was to be for an aunt of mine and one for herself (I did give Mom one for Christmas but she liked it enough she wants another one ☺),  I had several projects going already but how could I say no?
The bag body is about six inches square (without the handles).  The request was to do something with tea cups.
This is the first one I decorated.  I looked on-line for a teacup shape that I liked then made it a size I thought would work for the bag. Then what to do with it?
I thought something to show it was a tea cup instead of a coffee cup and maybe some flowers.
The second one I did mostly the same, just different colors and arranged things a little differently.
I tried something different for the material of the cup shape than I did before.  For the ones I did at Christmas I coated the back of the material with fabric glue and let it dry so I was able to work with it without it fraying while I cut it out.  This time I went looking in the sewing aisle, thinking I was going to get some kind of fusible webbing.  Then I saw this Peel n Stick fabric fuse.  As I don’t expect the bags to be put into the washing machine I thought this would work well.  And it did.  I still have several sheets left so I can make more 🙂
I had already been looking at these books for some ideas on other projects, which came in handy for coming up with flower ideas for the bags.


Now the requested mice are done and the bags are finished I can get back to my other projects – something about Easter eggs….

Did anyone stay up to see the Blood Moon last night? It was a pretty awesome sight! I went out just after 1:00 AM (local time) when it had just started and a few times from then until 3:00 AM, about the middle of the eclipse. I didn’t get any pictures of it 🙁 but it was great to be able to see it.

The moon, the stars, and a cup of tea
Let’s sit and sip and watch the night go by
Side by side, just you and me.

Not over the rainbow

Rainbow Splash thread that is.  I keep making things with it!
A couple of weeks ago, one of my grandsons asked for a ‘rainbow mouse’.  I didn’t think I had any thread  that quite fit the term ‘rainbow’ so I sent my daughter the email address of Handy Hands and asked them to choose a thread.  They thought #184, Rainbow Splash was just perfect. 
A small order to Handy Hands and I had a ball of the requested color.
“Morgan Mouse” © Wanda Salmans
#184 Lisbeth Rainbow Splash size 20
I’m somewhat picky about variegated threads. I think a lot look really great on the ball but then am unhappy with how they work up.  I also am not usually happy with threads that have a lot of different colors on them, preferring shades of similar colors instead – like all blues, or pinks, or whatever.  But I am very happy with Rainbow Splash!
I needed four mice, two going to each of my daughter’s houses, so I had to make a couple a little different.  One of the mice (second from the right) has blue eyes, and the one on the right has Flora #207 size 20 for the rings. It wasn’t an exact match but I don’t think my granddaughter will object.  You’ll also note that I used washers in the center instead of jewelry findings.
After finishing the mice I had still had thread on the shuttles.  Being spring with Easter on the way, what better way to use such bright, spring-y thread than Easter eggs?

 Simple ring and chain button Easter eggs in #184 Lizbeth Rainbow Splash size 20
I have a package of bright-colored buttons in colors that were right in line with the Rainbow Splash thread.  These button Easter eggs are so quick and easy I just couldn’t stop making them. They are very nice little doodles to make while in the car. I added a pin back to several of them and gave one of them to my mother.  She really liked it. I actually have an idea to use these, we’ll just see if I have time to put it together. Before Easter 🙂

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I had just a drop of tea
☺
The teacup is part of a doll-size tea set I found on Ebay. Isn’t it cute? So dainty with such pretty flowers.
The shuttle is a decorated Boye shuttle.
Rainbows, Easter eggs and flowers – it must be spring!
“I’ve always taken ‘The Wizard of Oz’ very seriously, you know.  I believe in the idea of the rainbow.  And I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it.”
Judy Garland
www.brainyquote.com

TTT on International Tatting Day

Happy International Tatting Day!
Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday and International Tatting Day, I had Celestial Seasonings “Country Peach Passion” herbal tea steeped in the tea-for-one teapot my daughter gave me.  And a couple of pieces of chocolate.
The shuttles shown are four that I decorated yesterday.  They are cream colored Boye shuttles, the two on the left decorated with scrapbook paper, the two on the right with material.  They came out pretty well.
These are paperclip bookmarks I have made for International Tatting Day.  I’m hoping to pass out a few of these to people today.  I’ll be going out a little later to hopefully do some TIPping (tatting in public). 
Some of the patterns I used are:
‘Dove‘ by JoAnn Stearns
‘Little Fishies‘ by Sharon Albers
‘Bunny Face’ by Wanda Salmans (me) on my Patterns page
‘Basket Paperclip Doodle’ by Wanda Salmans (me) on my Patterns page
‘Butterfly’ – unknown
A decorated button – a doodle
Flowers – a doodle
Basket Paperclip Doodle 
© Wanda Salmans 2014
I hadn’t found Ellen Lai’s cute Spring Basket so I made my own.  I don’t think it’s as cute as hers, but it worked up pretty quick.  I’ve added it to my Pattern page if you’re interested.
So, what are you doing for International Tatting Day?  Are you going to try a little tatting in public? Maybe eat a little chocolate?
Whether in public or just at home, I hope you take a little time to tat just for yourself and enjoy the day!
Happy Tatting!
“Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.”
Dale Carnegie
brainyquote.com

A change in plans

Last week I came to work with everything I needed to start a button bracelet during my lunch time.  Or so I thought.  I got everything out to start and realized I had forgotten the buttons!  When I started bemoaning the fact I couldn’t start my project my husband started looking around my office and I asked him what he was 
looking for. “Washers” he replied.
Washers – why not?

Lizbeth black in size 20, silver beads, and 7/16″ washers

I decided to use washers so I could start the bracelet instead of waiting.  I think they look pretty good in this bracelet.
I was re-making this bracelet to write up and diagram the pattern.  Using washers instead of 2-hole buttons changes the look as the rings are more spread out on the washers than they are on the buttons.  The beads also change the look a bit.  I’m thinking that the long chains need to be shorted to be the same length as the other chains if washers (or something other that 2-hole buttons) are used.  I’m not well pleased with my closure method, where a washer fits through a ring, so I need to come up with something else.

I wonder how well washers take paint? They would be easy to come by and then could be painted to color coordinate with different threads and beads.

I had meant to have the pattern ready for today, but it isn’t quite.  Almost.  This bracelet was supposed to be the picture used in the pattern, but the pattern is diagrammed for a 2-hole button. I guess I’ll just have to make another bracelet.

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’m drinking TAZO Zen Green Tea out of a mug with snowflakes on it. No, we don’t have snow today (at least not yet – the temperature is 70º F) but I like the shape.  The chance of real snowflakes outside?  It’s supposed to get colder tonight, with a chance of snow in some places not too far away.  Whether we get any or not – we’ll see.  


“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.”
Denis Waitley
www.brainyquote.com

Tatting Tea Tuesday on a Small Scale

This week I’ve been tatting in small thread.  
This is Gütermann silk quilting thread. in color 386.  I bought it last August when I bought the Perfect Quilter thread.  I have been carrying it around with me for a while but had not even put it on a shuttle until about a week ago.  Other than being so small as to be hard to see it is easy to tat with.  I only broke the thread once while working on this piece (so far!) and it actually broke about four inches from the ring I was closing.  I have to work on this when I have lots of light, as much for the size as the color. It’s been fun working in such fine thread though challenging, especially as I’m working on my vest between times, which is in size 10 thread.  I’m finally remembering to number this for my 25 Motif Challenge – I think it’s number 11.
Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I had a cup of Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice tea with a touch of honey out of a big mug, not this little cup.  This is a demitasse cup and saucer that my mother gave me.  The cup is 2 ¼” tall, which is how I know it’s a demitasse (meaning ‘half-size’), or child size, cup.  I didn’t realize that the size of a cup determined what it is!  Did you?  I’ve always thought it was a tea cup if you drank tea out of it 🙂  Today while trying to correctly spell ‘demitasse’ I found a blog that describes the history of the cup and saucer and how their sizes define their use.  If you’d like to learn more check it out here on the blog “Demitasse Cups & Saucers”

The white shuttle is another gift from my mother, found at a yard sale. All of the variegated  pink and white thread was wound on it, extending way past the edges of the shuttle.  I don’t know how long it had been wound but, surprisingly, the tips are still tightly together.  In fact I’ll probably have to work on it a bit if I want to tat with it. Unwinding the size 70 or 80 thread wasn’t bad but going the other way took a lot of effort.  There are no markings on the shuttle to say who made it.  I’ve seen similar ones before but I don’t remember where or what brand they were. It has a very smooth surface, is about 3 inches long, and in very good condition.  Both blades are slightly marred in one place along the edge, but other than that it looks brand new.  As it’s already wound and has a ball thread I guess I’ll have to see what I can make with it.  How about a demitasse doily?

“You can often measure a person by the size of his dream.”
Robert H. Schuller
http://thinkexist.com


I linked to Artful Affirmations

TIAS and Tatting Tea Tuesday

We’ve reached the end of the 2014 TIAS.  It was a lot of fun (when isn’t it?), with a sailboat at the end. 
 The “Knotty Thought” in Lizbeth size 20 # 130 Island Breeze and # 657 Ocean Turquoise Dark
I must have been a bit psychic to choose threads that go so well with a nautical theme don’t you think?

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I bring you progress on my vest.
I picked it up again – finally.  I started it in April of 2013, got as far as finishing the collar then put it down and didn’t pick it up again until about a month ago. Since then I’ve put about 20 hours into it. This is the center of the back.  I’m hoping that my ideas for this work out. 
Today I’m drinking Peppermint Tea with a touch of honey out of a cup I found at Goodwill.  It stood out amid quite a variety of cups and mugs in it’s color and decoration, the only one of it’s kind there.  The cup caught my eye, with it’s blueberries and blossoms.  I thought it was Corelle but it has ‘epoch’ on the bottom. So for the whopping price of 50 cents I brought it home. It obviously doesn’t hold as much as one of the mugs I’m used to drinking from, but I enjoy using it. 
Did you know there is quite the connection between sailing ships and tea? There was a time when clipper ships brought tea from China to England.  The tea clippers actually raced to be the first to make it back from China.  Those ships must have been quite the sight to see.  There is only one of the clippers left, the Cutty Sark, in dry dock in London. How much easier it is to get tea now, but without the romance of sailing ships!

“Happily, one great tea clipper has survived and is now in dry dock at Greenwich in London. Cutty Sark, launched from the Clyde on  22 November 1869, was one of the last tea clippers to be constructed.  Built for John ‘White Hat’ Willis, she was intended to win the annual clipper race, although in fact she never beat her biggest rival, Thermopylae.  The decline of the clipper tea trade meant that Cutty Sark only carried tea until 1877, but she survived many later incarnations, and is now the only remaining tea clipper in the world.  Small to modern eyes, Cutty Sark is nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful, and a visit offers a fascinating insight into the life of a tea clipper.” 

from the UK Tea Council
The Cutty Sark at Grenwich in London

I linked to Artful Affirmations for her Tea Cup Tuesday

It’s Tuesday

The 2014 TIAS continues
The most often guessed is a sail boat but I’m not sure, Jane can be pretty sneaky! (in a good way!)  Whatever it is we are more than halfway through.
I have been tatting but don’t have pictures of what I’ve spent the most time on.  I do have this little piece made with Coats Cotton Machine Quilting thread.  I don’t really have a plan for this piece but I had the thread with me (why? I found it in a drawer and stuck it in my box…) so thought I’d try working with it.

And it was very trying.  I usually tat with size 20 thread and I’ve got a project going in size 10, so working with this was quite a chore.  I would get about three rings and a chain done then break the thread on the next ring.  Today I very consciously made my stitches and pulled the rings closed very carefully. Success! The thread didn’t break! 

Last week Tuesday I didn’t have to go to work due to snow and bad roads.  We got somewhere between eight and ten inches by the time it was done.  And it hasn’t melted yet!  Which is very unusual around here.  Then Sunday night we got another two inches.  But the sun is shining today and they say we’ll get above freezing maybe tomorrow.  By Sunday it should be in the 60’s (ºF) and the snow mostly gone.

We found some lovely tea related images from tea loving Grace in Italy - which we have put together as a montage and thought we would share...I haven’t been doing Tatting Tea Tuesdays much lately, not because I haven’t thought about it but I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee instead of tea.  Including today.  But I did get some tatting done and I’ve found a blog that’s all about tea cups!  If you also like tea and tea cups check out Artful Affirmations.  

                                                                              image from Pinterest