Creativity Creating more Creativity

Jon has been inspired by Mark's Lock Stitch Chain and created this design she called Wiggly. One of the best things about this challenge is that each new idea spawns several more.
Snowy has been experiencing computer problems and hasn't been able to update her blog. In the time she's been without her computer she's been busy tatting and has new motives up done in the most luscious hand dyed colours. The problem though is that she has run out of thread. How on earth do you match hand dyed colours?
Donna H has plans to do snowflakes to hang in her windows. Maybe we'll be seeing some "porcelainized" tatting soon.

Variety in Tatting

Today there is a little of everything. Mark has created a lovely cursive letter "A" with a floral embellishment and he has added part of a sleeve to Koito. Meme has posted a 2 colour doily that starts with a base by Lenore English and then branches off into her own design. The colour choice really makes the design "pop". Marilee joins the challenge and she's already posted 2 beaded necklaces. If you haven't seen Marilee's work before, be sure to check out her photo album.

We're now at 42 participants!

Wally has created a sweet little split rings heart she named "Heart 'Round the Rosie". Then she took it one step further and did the split rings as cluny leaves. Diana has added a picture of a Christmas necklace to her blog, complete with snowflake, Christmas lights and jingle bells. Clyde was at the point of adding the 15th large motif to his tablecloth when he noticed a mistake. Don't you just hate those mistakes that are at the very beginning? All those hours of work, wasted. We feel your pain Clyde. EeKoon has 2 more motives posted and her picots are very even for a novice tatter.

Another Quiet Day

There was a real flurry of creativity over the weekend and now things have become quiet again. Lori has worked another bookmark using SCMRs.

A comment was made about pictures not being visible. I have checked and sometimes the pictures are visible on the blogs and sometimes not. If you can't see pictures on one of the blogs, try the site again later.

If you think you'd like to join the fun, just set up your own blog, web site or photo album, and give me the address to add to the links on the right. Then start posting pictures of your progress. You can tat anything you'd like from original designs to traditional patterns and there's no real deadline, except that you have a year in which to tat 25 motives. You can e-mail me with your information at sharon at gagechek dot com or you can include the information in the comments below.

Snowflakes, Hearts and Windmills

Mark has another Lock Stitch Chain design created. I love the angular lines - they're so un-like tatting. Kathy has 2 new motives done, both designs from the Workbasket magazine. Donna B has a blue motif called “Windmills,” from Tatting in Lace. Jeanne used a lovely variegated shade of Flora thread to create the centre of Third Day of December from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn. You can still join the challenge, you have a whole year to tat 25 motives. They can be anything you like, either published or original designs. Just add a comment below or send an e-mail to sharon at gagechek dot com and I'll add your blog to the list of links on the right.

Lots of Motives and Some Shared Patterns

Well, I've had the screws removed from my leg, and all I can say is "Ouch"!. The day after I got home I discovered that we were getting unexpected house guests. I really didn't want to be cooking and cleaning for a crowd right after getting out of the hospital, but I'm back at my computer now and everyone has been busy.


Wally has posted a design she calls "Alexandria" using several different beading techniques. Janet has 2 new designs up and shares the pattern for her mignonette snowflake for beginners. She'll be using this for the beginner class in October. Sharol has posted 2 new variations of sun designs one of which uses beads. Jan has taken a break from tatting motives to knit sock for the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Diane has a new camera so she'll be able to show some better pictures of what she's working on. Some of her work will be going up for sale on ebay. Clyde is slowly adding to his tablecloth. He now has 14 large and 9 small motifs done. He went to the Fringe Element Tatting Day and had a great time. Mark created 2 variations of a paisley motif. His geisha has a name -Koito- which means "little thread" in Japanese. Koito has shoulders now. Another technique Mark is exploring is something he's calling a lock stitch chain. Very striking! Jon is displaying a red and green bookmark which she did have plans to add another round to, except that once she had it done she didn't want it any wider and the variations she tried she didn't like. Maybe it's a caterpillar in disguise? Riet has been tatting for her guild magazine and did a cross from the book of Julie Patterson, More crosses than you can Bear: Eye Spy Flowers for which she used DMC cordonnet special # 100. What a gorgeous cross. Barbara L has been learning to melt glass beads in a workshop and she has designed sunflower with celtic petals, although she thinks it looks more like a sun than a flower and she wants to give it a second try. Lori has done a really sweet bookmark utilizing SCMRs self-closing mock rings. Terry has posted both the picture and the pattern for an elegant and Victorian looking bell design. Snowy has had computer problems and hasn't been tatting for a while. Donna B has another motif up. This one is A Basket of Eggs, from A Pattern Book of Tatting, in DMC Cebelia #10.

No New Motives Today

For the first time since the challenge began, there were no new motives posted today. I was tempted to scan one of the motives sitting on my desk, just so there was something to post, but none of them have been finished or blocked and like Lori, I've been working in crappy white thread to try out these designs, so I think I'll wait.

Just a minor note, I may not be able to post again for a while as I'm going into the hospital tomorrow to get some hardware taken out of my leg.

A New Design

Mark has filled in the collar on his Geisha. Maria has designed her first earrings and tatted a snowflake from a Brazilian magazine called "Mãos de ouro" which means "wonderful hands".

Luscious laces

More Celtic letters, today Ruth has posted the letter Y. Not a motif, but Gail has found a lovely tatted doily in an antique shop. Mark was looking for something a little different and so he has created a trefoil motif using a 2 colour zigzag chain. Very interesting. Work is also progressing on the Geisha who now has a neck and the beginnings of a collar. Donata can't remember who designed the little heart she has done, but it's a sweet design that wouldn't take too long to complete. Barbara has posted another variegated lavender motif for the pashmina shawl. This one is from Tatting with Ann Orr, a Dover book.

Tatting Meetings are for Tatting

Eva's tatting meeting was well attended with 61 participants. They had 4 different patterns to work from and a vendor as well. Eva didn't talk much this time, she was too busy tatting the 2 little angels she has added to her group.
Sharol has a new sun motif posted this one has a twisted effect in the rays of the sun.

Square, Star, Butterfly and Spinning Wheel

Jon was creating a 5 point star that worked better with 4 points. Then by changing the position of the picots it worked out to the 5 points she wanted. With her left over thread she created a frill to wrap around the top of the cookie jar. I wish my left overs looked like that. Riet created a lovely looking butterfly, but she wants to find a better way of moving from wing to wing and maybe make the body a little fatter. I don't know about needing a fatter body, I think it looks good the way it is. Medallions, snowflakes and hearts generally start and the centre or along one side and then move in a logical progression from the inside out, or from the side around. Since butterflies have a body and 4 wing segments, they often have to be made in 5 pieces. As tatters, we don't like pieces, they mean a lot of extra ends to hide. Designing a butterfly that looks like a butterfly and can be done in one piece from beginning to end takes a lot of planning and often several trials before you're happy with the results. Maria has posted her 4th motif. This one is from a Burda magazine. Two of her previous motives still need to be completed, which is hard to do during lunch hour. Donna B has posted a motif that is an eighth of the “Cloudburst” design in A Pattern Book of Tatting and she wonders what the whole thing would look like if it were done in alternating white and black. I guess she'll have to tat 7 more slices of this pie to see. She has done all of her motives up to this point in black. Also posted today is a motif called Spinning Wheel from the same book, this time in red.

'N', 'X', Crosses, and Little People

Ruth has added a beaded N to her collection and the letter X. Lynda wasn't happy with the way the pictures of her crosses looked, so she has added more and scanned them to get sharper images. I love the variegated thread she's used.
Jan has added another Mini Tats motif. This one she has coloured using watercolours. Wasn't there a tatter who used felt tip pens to colour their tatting?

Major Projects

I blinked, and look what Ruth has posted. The letters R, H, V, W, and Celtic daggers jewelry. She announced the completion of her 25 motives and the imminent availability of the Celtic patterns at the end of August, and I didn't think she would be showing us any more pictures, just to keep us in suspense, but apparently I was wrong. I must remember not to blink any more :-)
Lynda has made some more small crosses that she will forward on to Tami.
Clyde now has 13 large and 9 small motives completed for his tablecloth and he has posted a picture showing what it looks like with three rows done. Seeing the small motives sandwiched between the large ones gives a better idea of how the tablecloth will look. It will be a spectacular piece of work. It takes so much discipline to tat the same motif over and over again often enough to make a tablecloth. The first few motives require concentration as you figure out the pattern, but after a while it can get boring and for that reason it's harder to tat something as large as this. Row after row, motif after motif, it's easy to lose you place and make a mistake. I find that when I take on a large project like this. I break it down into smaller shapes so that if the finished object was going to be 4 feet by 3 feet I might make smaller units 1 x 2. Then if I get bored, run out of thread or have some other reason to quit I have a usable product whereas an object 4 x 1 is less practical.
Mark's geisha now has a face. If you haven't been following the progress of the geisha, go back to the September 6th posting of the sketch Mark is working from. I don't think she's going to qualify as a motif. She looks more like a unique creation.

Left or Right?

Gail has been working on the TAT 2 button sampler, wishing that all those years ago her grandmother had taught her right handed. Most of the time it doesn't matter, but as Gail has discovered, every once in a while, tatting right handed is easier. I usually encourage left handed students to try right handed tatting, just so that on those odd occasions where it does matter, they don't have to go through mental gymnastics to achieve the desired results. Mark has been busy. His geisha has hair and he has also done a leaf that can be utilized with flowers, as necklace or earrings or joined together to make larger items. EeKoon, having learned to tat 3 whole weeks ago has made a remarkable little motif she named Ribbit. It's a take off on a frog closure and incorporates Josephine knots. Nothing like trying a new technique like JK and designing your first piece of tatting all at once. Don't you love beginners who jump in with enthusiasm.? She has also posted her third motif.

Hand Dyed Threads

Janet has a 3rd version of her daisy, more like the effect she wants. Lynda has posted a small tatted cross. In the wake of 9/11 several tatters have made small crosses, hearts or angels to be distributed to the families of people who have lost loved ones. One proud Mom collected angels to be sent to her son in the military so that he could give them to the soldiers he provided medical care for. Tatters are immensely caring people. In spite of all her difficulties with the break-in and getting things replaced, Riet still managed to create a marvellous little daisy picot butterfly. Snowy has posted her 5th motif using some lovely hand dyed thread. Hand dyed threads can have closer colour repeats which look lovely in tatting. The colouration of the thread appears to be similar to the Valdani perle cotton thread that Donna used on her cross and star which isn't all that surprising since the Valdani is also a hand dyed thread. Colours on screen can be deceiving and others may not see any simillarity.

Wild Roses and Crowning Hearts

Diana has been having trouble posting to Blogger and she's moved her blog to Blogster.com and notes that she has her latest necklace listed for sale on ebay. Jon has been working on two interlocking hearts and her daughter named the design Crowning Hearts. Kristie has modified a star pattern adding small split rings between the arms. Then she took the centre of the design and turned it into earrings. Donna B has her second motif done, a pattern called "Wild Rose". Donna H re-did yesterday's motif properly with all 5 arms.

3 new designs from Janet, Gail & Donna

Janet has created her own daisy pattern with a more realistic petal. Gail notes that tatting is so much better than cleaning, and to prove it she posts a lovely variation of Mary Konior's Queen of Hearts. Sharol took a break from tatting sun motives to complete a dragon she had been working on. Jan has re-done her snowflake from yesterday in a lovely variegated blue and comments that she thinks she's in love with Aero shuttles. (Me too.) Barbara has added another lavender motif for her pashmina shawl. This design is from Tatting with Anne Orr, a Dover Needlework Series. Donna started a 5 pointed star as her first motif, but realized when she was working on the third arm of the star, that she had only done 4 picots on the central, starting ring. After a very slight modification, the star has become a cross. Many new designs begin this way. Tatting is so labour intensive, we don't give up on mistakes, we get creative with them. Knitting and crochet can easily be ripped out, while tatting is carefully undone or cut off.

Do remember to check out the individual blogs from the list on the right. There are so many marvelous adventures in tatting happening, I can't begin to show them all here. If you don't check out each blog on your own, you will be missing out. Don't forget to comment when you visit the sites. Whether the tatter is a beginner or a seasoned designer, comments are always appreciated.

Yesterday's post

This is yesterday's post a little late, I started it last night but was just too exhausted from the family reunion to complete it.
Sharol has 2 new sun motives done, showing what the sun looks like whenher back yard gets to 138 degrees. 138 degrees? How can you breathe when it's that hot? It's definitely not tatting temperature. Jan has 2 new motives completed and she's trying to stretch herself, tatting right/side wrong/side. It's hard to remember to keep the wrong side up when scanning. Riet has had a terrible week. Monday she got the news that her 47 year old cousin died from cardiac arrest like her eldest son did last November. Hug the 2 remaining sons Riet, our thoughts and prayers are with you. As if that wasn't enough tragedy, Tuesday night her home was broken into, the downstairs area ransacked, lots of things stolen including the projects she did for the challenge and 4 Hinton shuttles and special shuttles attached to them. One bright spark in the week, her youngest son mailed the first pictures of the baby they are expecting in March 2007. In spite of all of this Riet has posted a square motif using the daisy technique that she will combine with Hardanger for a workshop. Barbara L has her first motif posted, a stunning butterfly from "Il Lavoro Chiacchierino" No 11. She has plans to attach her tatting to greeting cards and hopes that the Challenge will help her to have a supply of cards ready for when she needs them. That's something we can all do. I received so many precious hand crafted cards when I had the accident last year, each one of them was special and appreciated. Lori has done 5 motives using the same centre configuration and she's been working with some unspecified thread, which she notes isn't very good, but she used in for experimenting rather than spoil good thread which is harder to find. Kristie finally got her scanner fixed so she could take some pictures of the laces she has done, a yellow motif from an older - J.P. Coats tatting book from the 1920's, a cross bookmark she found half finished in her basket and completed and a small white motif, just to use up the thread on she shuttle. Also posted is a doily she entered in the county fair which won first prize.

Steady progress

Clyde just finished another large motif, that makes it 11 large and 9 small completed and he is now on the third row of the tablecloth. Only 26 more rows to go! Mark got the front roll of the geisha's hair done. Donata has a really cute bookmark posted, a curving band of green winds in between pink daisies. This one got missed being mentioned yesterday. Jeanne joins the challenge today and she has plans to tat 25 different designs by 25 different designers, and post links to the designer's websites on her blog. Her first design is a leaf.

Blogs Brimming with Beauty

Werner has added a snowflake motif from Wally's Tat-Along site
Lynda has a gorgeous variegated leaf motif in progress. Clyde took a breather from his monumental tablecloth, to tat a heart motif for the Ontario Fringe Element Tatters Group. Mark has completed the face for his Geisha. A motif is a recurring theme, so that means there needs to be more than one Mark... Terry was trying for a 6 pointed snowflake using Bina Madden’s Celtic Picot when she created this 5 pointed star. The pattern is included on her blog. Memé started a spiral motif from a Japanese publication and accidentally refilled her shuttle with a slightly different colour thread. Interesting effect, it looks like half of the motif is in shadow. Donna B has finished the last of her UFOs and posted her first Challenge motif, the “Whirligig” from A Pattern Book of Tatting, done in basic black. EeKoon has posted her first motif and she just learned to tat 2 weeks ago! Congratulations EeKoon, tatters who have been tatting much longer than that haven't taken the plunge yet and EeKoon's work is very consistent for a beginner.
One other interesting note, a counter has been added to the Challenge page.

It's a quiet day

There seem to be some days where everyone is furiously tatting new motives and other days where things are quiet. Today has been one of the quiet days. Not everything is being shown here, so do take the time to check out the blogs for yourself. Many of these blogs are rich not only in tatting, but also in other fibre arts.

Mark has posted a sketch and the beginnings of a new creation. Not exactly a motif, but maybe a whole new style of tatting? Kathy took a basket edging pattern from a 1916 needlework magazine and did a mirror image to create a colourful bookmark. Donna B is still finishing off and posting some UFOs before she gets down to the serious work of tatting motives.

It's a Fan, or maybe it's a Tree.

Diana has completed a fan design by Denise Giles. Lori has posted another 6 inch motif. This one is what she was trying to achieve with the last one. Is it a mistake or a design variation? Barbara, Sanguine Tatter, has posted another variegated lavender motif. Donna has completed some UFOs that she needed to get out of the way before starting the challenge.

Terrific Tatting

Janet has created a button celtic snowflake she'll teach to a beginner class. Gail has done Vickie Reynold's Black Magic Cross, an adaption from a Mary Konior design. Jon made a motif that didn't lie flat. She re-tatted the motif adjusting the length of the inner chains and then added 2 more rows to make a small 12CM doily. Then she made another motif with interesting positioning of split rings.

Check out all the new additions today!

Wally posts a motif called "June Flower" that will be part of a book called "Quickie Tat" that she'll publish later. There's a green snowflake on Ruth's page. Green was all that she had so this snowflake looks like it's Irish roots are showing. Janet has created a Light and Dainty snowflake and posted the pattern. Jan found a Photo Keeper at Wal-Mart that's just perfect for displaying her motives and she's begun mounting them. What a neat idea! Clyde is making progress on his tablecloth and has posted a section showing both large and small motives. He has 10 large and 9 small motives done. If it gets to the planned size it will have 150 large motives and 126 small motives. My thumbs are aching just thinking about it. I bet it will be gorgeous. Riet has posted another daisy picot motif, this is a double sided star in blue and white. It's such an interesting effect. Lori has posted another one round 6 inch motif that she has designed. I have a hard time designing a one round motif that's 3 inches across and Lori has just completed two 6 inch motives. Wow! Snowy has posted 2 more motives and add information on where the patterns come from. She's using such wonderful colours for her motives. Meme joins the challenge from Chile and she has posted a motif with a block tatting centre. Meme has lots of other tatting to explore on her blog.

While the pictures on the blogs are beautiful to see, sometimes it's nice to know what's written. Click HERE to go to the Babelfish site for translation. Tatting uses specific words that aren't translated, but you can usually figure out what it means.

Don't forget to leave comments on blogs or e-mail people to let them know you are looking at their tatting. Part of the fun of this challenge is telling people your thoughts about their tatting and their designing.

International Tatting

Ruth has posted a purple bracelet - it's for sale. Contact Ruth if you are interested. Jan has posted her 4th motif, one of the Mini Tats that Jan did several times until she was happy with the results. Mark has added another stunning motif to his collection and then used graphics software to see what it would look like as a tablecloth. Nivedita joined the Challenge from India and has completed her first motif, a design from the Blomqvist and Persson book. Barbara has her variegated lilac motif placed on the lavender pashmina shawl. Her mother is going to love it. Maria is in Potugal and had to change her blog address, but now she has 3 motives on the go. Her designs are from a Burda magazine that she is thrilled is in Portugese. Maria is concerned that we won't understand her English, but she has nothing to worry about. Tatting with an International flavour and everything is all so delightful.

Guidelines for the 25 Motif Challenge again. Tat 25 motives within the next year. A motive can be a medallion, snowflake, heart, bookmark, butterfly, earrings or any small piece of tatting. These articles may be tatted from published patterns and it's always nice to know where the pattern came from, or they may be designs that you have created. If you have designed your own motif you can post the pattern, but please respect copyrights and don't post the pattern for a published work without the author's permission. There are public domain patterns available on which the copyright has expired for a list of these books in PDF format click here. So that we can see your progress you need a website, blog or photo album where you can post your pictures. Blogger where this blog is hosted is very easy to set up just click on the logo at the top of the page and follow the steps. Remember to write down your Username and Password so that you can get back in to it the next time. To have your blog address added to the links on the right click on Comments below, giving your blog address and your name, or send an e-mail with the information to tatdlace#gagechek.com changing the # to @ and your name and blog will be added to the list at the earliest opportunity. From time to time the pictures on your blog will be copied and showcased here on the Challenge blog.