Bookmarks, Dragonflies and Tatting Fun

Ruth has posted an Easter celebration cross which has butterflies at the ends of the arms. Very clever! The pattern has been included in the Tatting Pattern Calendar. Thanks to Ruth we've had 3 months on wonderful patterns to work with. She'll be gone for a bit so the April patterns may come in chunks as she gets access to a computer for uploading.

Mark has completed his Gaillardia bookmark and it's absolutely stunning. I don't have enough fingers and toes to keep all those shuttles straight for this one. While you're taking a look at it, don't forget to check out all the pictures of the costumes he, and his wife Kim, did for 'Oliver', the high school play. In addition to tatting this challenging piece, and making costumes, Mark was also the official photographer.
Laura has been practicing on some mignonette tatting. I love how lacy and fast mignonette is.

Eliz is working on the Cecelia doily and figures that it will take 48 motives to complete it and she's already in the middle of #9. It won't be too long until it's done. Will it need an outer edging to pull it all together? A little picture play gives a rough idea how the pieces fit together. Pretty.

Melissa didn't get her information on dragonfly patterns fast enough, so she created her own. Way to go Melissa! It looks great on the quilt block too. Melissa's other project, embroidering a chihuahua on a shirt for her MIL is also completed, making for a happy looking puppy.

Useful Tatting

Ruth has completed her rainbow and shown what it would look like reflected. The Peep bookmark has been added to the Tatting Pattern Calendar so that we can all have Peep bookmarks for Easter.

Jon created a design to be used as a cover for a jam jar, but she notes that it could also serve as a cover for potpourri and the same design can be used as a coaster for a candle or a hat for a doll. One design lots of options.

Maria has finished her 25 motives. During the challenge she had some computer problems and was forced to post many of her motives all at once so we only got to see a few of them. That's all right, because now that she's done she thinks she'll try it again. I don't think anyone has finished their 25 and just quit. I think we're all addicted to just tatting more and more lace. Maria turned one of these motives into a pin and the other one into a pendant.

Laura doesn't have time for tatting - she's too busy snapping pictures of Isaac. If you had this happy face in your living room you'd be snapping pictures too.

Charlene's tatting often gets used as embellishments on her crazy quilting and now she has her tatting organized on her new blog so we can she the laces more clearly. She's been working on onion rings, but isn't quite satisfied with them yet, and she's working on a lovely collection of spiders. Lacemakers can relate to spiders, they're not just for crazy quilts. The little owls will certainly add some interest to a quilt block too. Her most recent motif is Martha Ess' version of Birgit Phelps' Simple Angel and yes, she is lovely.

Melissa has been working on her CQ block and it looks lovely, but it needs some tatting!

Peep, Motif, Edgings and Applause

Ruth has created a darling little chick in the grass. Her Peep bookmark looks like it would be quick to do.

Snowy has completed motif from a previous issue of the ring of tatters newsletter. She has done it in a very pretty variegated thread with a green border that makes it look like a flower. She has also posted a picture of some beautiful blackwork done by a friend.

EeKoon has completed some needlework that has been a WIP for quite a while. She has also done some bead work, but hasn't been tatting very much recently.

Marty and her sister have teamed up. Her sister has dyed some onsies and Marti created some lace to match for their niece's baby . She hasn't been following a pattern, just letting the lace go where it wants. All of these edgings were created with one strand of Signature pink ombre machine embroidery thread and one strand of Gütermann pink 100% cotton sewing thread. What a lucky baby.

Eliz has been busy lately. Her daughter decided that she'd rather have a doily made up of square motives rather than an oval one. She decided on Cherie Wheeler's Cecelia Doily motif and Eliz is anxious to get started on it. In the mean time she created some variations of her mini cross not only to make some quick bookmarks, but also to add as tassels to larger bookmarks. Tassels really finish off a bookmark but I have to confess that I don't bother with them a lot of the time just because they are so fiddly to make. I much prefer Eliz's little mini cross instead of a tassel. As if she didn't already have a lot going on, Eliz has also created another little flower motif. This one is called Applause Flowers.

Tatting fun with critters and flowers over the rainbow

Ruth has been painting rainbows in thread. Everyone's heard the story that a leprechaun's pot of gold can be found at the end of a rainbow. So first Ruth tatted clouds, then came the pot of gold and now there are rainbows. Her niece wanted it done in split rings and Ruth thinks that one looks like a kite. The other isn't complete yet but it would make a marvelous rainbow for a picture when it's done.

Eva posted pictures of another tatting meeting. The information isn't in English, but look at the awesome tatting on the table, it's just gorgeous from the huge lace container, the egg decorations and tiny chicks to the doily with the 3D daffodils. They're "must see" pictures. don't forget to click on the individual pictures so that you can see things close up.
Gail has posted a bouquet of spring daffodils from her garden. Very picturesque in a contrasting blue teapot.

Mark has been working on a Maltese Split Ring bookmark. Working on bobbin lace has given him experience with keeping his threads in place. He's using 4 shuttles for this little gem.

Jon has done another variation of he mignonette doily. This one has daisies in the centre and although it could be done with one shuttle, look at all the ends you'd have to hide! Jon did the sensible thing and worked the outer row of daisies using split rings. Smart move Jon. She's also working on the blue doily, doing this round with split rings to create a broad band of rings.
Azie is involved in a number of exchanges and has just completed work on stitching some flowers in pink and purple.

LaRae listed some Wikipedia fun. Search for events on the anniversary of your birthday.

Charlene has moved her tatting to a new blog. If you've ever tried it you know it's not an easy thing to do. For anyone with links to her blog please note the change of address. She has been doing a lot more tatting recently and wanted to post it separate from her other interests. Are we guilty of addicting yet another person? We wouldn't do that would we? You bet! in a heartbeat! Charlene shows us the rings and chains she did to add to her CQ blocks, A split ring lanyard she made, a hanky edging with an embroidered heart, a dragonfly, a caterpillar and a tatted swan mounted on a CQ block.

Pamela has gone from tatting flamingos to tatting giraffes. She has tatted Jane Eborall's doodle giraffe, Inga Madsen's giraffe from her book 'Tatted Animals' and Jane's large size animals that came out about 5 inches tall when done in Flora size 20 thread. It's getting to be a regular tatted zoo.
Eliz had plans to make some Mini Tats but left the patterns at home. She had to resort to designing something on the spur of the moment. Here are her dancing flowers which will appear in the tatting Pattern Calendar soon. I love the flowers and the name. Aren't they adorable! Melissa is working on a spring challenge quilt block.

A Collection of Tatting

Ruth has posted a cloud flower the pattern for which is shown in the Tatting Pattern Calendar. All these clouds need is some blue sky and kites to fly in them.

Sue has posted the Snow Flower Flake which is being studied in the online class. The design used both downward shuttle joins and Catherine wheel joins.

Marty completed one of Jan Stawasz' designs using a combination of one thread of Coats hand quilting cotton thread in variegated pastel shades and one thread of Signature polyester machine embroidery thread in variegated bright shades. The effects are beautiful and she had enough thread left over to make some cute earrings. She notes that adding beads to the hook helps to integrate them into the design and these nylon hooks she has used have several advantages.

Eliz had a lot of waiting room time and she has managed to finish off her 25 motives. She used Katie Verna's Flowers on the Vine bookmark with a few variations, Mark Myers patriotic bookmark, Kim Millar's laced bookmark and Betsy Evans' Small Tatted Heart. She'll be baaack, I can already hear the gears whirring as she thinks of new things to tat.

Melissa has been tatting Birgit Phelps heart. She did it both in size 10 ecru cotton and in size 8 perle cotton. The both look great.

Tatted Giraffe, Swan, Hat and Rocks

Ruth has posted a picture of her great grandfather in front of the house he built for his family. Old pictures always make me nostalgic.

Gail has the next round done on the doily and it's looking spectacular.

Sharon has been too busy painting to do much tatting but shares a test piece.

Carol has posted a picture of her puppy after she applied a stained glass treatment to it.

Marilee made some polymer clay "rocks" and used them to create a bracelet.

Laura tatted a giraffe, one of Jane Eborall's patterns, for for Isaac's room and needs to do an African scene to mount it in. She has also shown another friendship doily and an update to the picture of all of the doilies. This is interesting to watch them grow.
Charlene had a bit of trouble getting the swan going in the right direction, but this design by Lindsay Rogers turned out really well.

Eliz has been working on getting her patterns into the computer and in the course of it discovered a one shuttle heart pattern by Heidi Nakayama and a hat pattern of her own that will be shared in the Tatting Pattern Calendar.

Pinwheels, Kites, Palms and Easter eggs

Look what Ruth has created - Lucky the Leprechaun.

Gail is tatting away on her doily. It's one of those designs where there are 2 parts to it connected by the row she's on now. Since she's determined to work it all in one piece, she has a zillion markers on it to hold her joining places. Clyde has been tatting Easter eggs but since he's going away on holidays he won't be able to tat a lot of them.

Mark has finished making the costumes, props and stage painting for the school play, but he still has a wedding cake to make and then in April he has to teach a workshop at the GLLG in Grand Rapids, MI. I'm out of breath just talking about it.

Jon has created a button kite for the Tatting Pattern Calendar. Look at the flying tails on it!

Carol has plans to make a life size basket of poinsettias. She has just finished the bottom of the basket which she plans to add 6 inches of sided to. She's doing the flowers a la Scharf and has already completed 6 red and 3 green ones. In addition she made a present for a friend and has plans for another project in the works. In short she's been one busy tatter.

Laura got her friendship doily back for the 6th round, it's the one middle right. She though she'd show us all of the doilies together. What a splash of colour on a dreary day.

Dawn has been having fun tatting from the tatting pattern calendar. Charlene has tatted a button motif, a new technique for her and the Palmettos palm tree. Melissa is busy working on a CQ block.

Tatting for spring

Sharon designed a shamrock bookmark for the newsletter.Charlene tatted a spray of Nell Corns' morning blossoms. They do look spring like. It feels like spring in this part of the world, and it seems strange to think of people elsewhere getting ready for winter.Sylvia is working on a sun catcher. The first trial isn't quite right. It looks like the pieces I create when designing. If I start out and a bit doesn't work I keep going and modify the next repeat. I may end up with 4 or 5 versions all on the same piece of work. I have bags dull of half done pieces that look just like that.

Tatting of all kinds

Gail's doily centre is visible now. I haven't seen the magazine that it comes from but the centre is gorgeous and the colour is lovely. Gail is going through the challenge of working it without having to cut the thread.

Diana had the opportunity to post some pictures of the things she has been working on. The tatted lady is from the Big Book of Tatting by Darlene Polanchic. She also tatted a collar pattern that she added some motives to so that it was large enough but the picture doesn't do it justice.

I forgot to mention yesterday Sharon designed a square motif that started circular.

Marilee had problems with her blog and moved it, so if you have linked to her old blog don't forget to change the addy. Marilee designed a beaded shamrock and sent the pattern to Ruth to be included in the Tatting Pattern Calendar. She shows how the shamrock can be used as a hair ornament. Great design!

Laura has completed another round on the friendship doily and it's growing row by row.Charlene has posted a link to a petition on her web site.

Marty has posted some doodles she was working on. Sometimes a randomly tatted bit just works into a wonderful design - and sometimes it doesn't. Now you get to see what a 'that didn't work' design looks like. On the other hand she did this really nifty bookmark design, she's not quite satisfied with it, but I think it looks good.

Sylvia's daughter crocheted her sweet little wrist bag to hold her thread. The design has rings on both sides of the bag so that the thread can come through the bag but the ball stays firmly inside. This is so much better than playing "chase the ball".

Leaves and flowers everywhere

Gail has been tatting in spite of swollen fingers, but exactly what she's working on is a mystery to me since Blogger won't let me see the picture.

Jon has added 3 more rows to another doily she was working on, so for it looks great.

Elizabeth has posted her 3rd motif, a yummy flower design on another necklace. Elizabeth is having to deal with this being a busy season at work and her boss, who is also a friend passed away recently so it's been very hard. She's right though, tatting is very therapeutic in more than one sense of the word.
Laura's been having fun tatting shamrocks from different patterns. The ones pictures were done with different brands of size 20 thread. She likes the middle one best even though it isn't really green. Me too.

Charlene has been spending time in the garden planting roses.

Marty tatted Kersti's Tatted bookmark with beads in two shades of pink, one a machine embroidery thread and the other a polyester sewing thread.

Eliz was riding on a bus with a load of teens on the way to a concert and managed to teach one of the Moms to tat. No pictures of it, but very productive none the less.

Melissa shares a picture of the daffodils blooming in her garden. It'll be a while before there's enough snow gone for my flowers to bloom, but the tatted ones are with me all year long.