Blooming Trellis Bookmark

The last one in the picture is the "Oops" version. The first two reflect the pattern as it is being shared. I created two different ends for the pattern version. I like to have options for changing up a pattern besides changing thread colors and sizes. I'll post the release date when I get it as well as a link to the pattern.

Challenge tats 1, 2, & 3 (new bookmark pattern)

I have finally completed the pattern. It is on its way to Georgia Seitz now to be shared during this fall's online classes. Here is a sneak peak and tats 1, 2, and 3 on the challenge for this year.

25 Motif Challenge & New Bookmark Pattern

Classes are going well and I'm even finding a little time to tat this semester. I'm working on a bookmark pattern that uses split rings and SCMRs. I've made several as I perfect the pattern for use by the Online Tatting Class. I'll put up the pictures and my challenge progress as soon as I have the pattern ready to go to Georgia--just didn't want you all to think I'm slacking off!

College classes underway

College classes are in session again, so tatting is on the back burner. I hope to get to pull out my shuttles over the holiday weekend. I'm taking one course as a special gift to myself this semester--guitar lessons. I'm not playing anything yet that you could call music, but I'm making some really lovely noise!

Butterfly Twins

I designed this motif for a greeting card several years ago.

Teddy Bear

He made his debut in the Online Tatting Class on July 22. Georgia plans to use him again during the regular sessions this fall so there will be another chance to join the how-to discussion.

Teddy Bear pattern coming soon!

I'm so excited. I finally typed up my teddy bear pattern! While testing the written pattern, I played with a few seasonal variations. Watch for a link to the pattern soon. I've offered it to Georgia Seitz for the online class, but I will provide a link to the pattern from here once it is posted on the internet.

Valeire Square Teardrop & Heart

Over a year ago, Georgia Seitz challenged me to create a heart pattern using the Valeire Square, but my brain just couldn't seem to pull it together. When we came in from our Independence Day activities last night, I suddenly felt inspired to work on it with thread and shuttle as well as paper and pencil. After ditching a few more complicated efforts that I just couldn't get to work, the simple design below was born. It is so simple you may wonder what took me so long! I certainly do.

Enjoy!

Valeire Square Teardrop & Heart by Eliz Davis: One second shuttle ring turns the square into a teardrop. Then two chain segments complete the transformation to heart.

Round 1: (Note that there are NO joins in this round.)
*R 8-8, cl. R 8-8, cl, rw.
Ch 5-5, cl, rw.*
Repeat from * to * until you have 4 pairs of rings and four chains.

Use the alligator join to climb out of round 1 and into round 2.

Round 2: (Note that you are joining adjacent rings together by joining into the picot of two rings at the same time.)
Ch 2-2-2-2-2-2+(join two adjacent rings together)

Without reversing work, tat a ring of 2-2-2-1—1-2-2-2 (to avoid the need for a second shuttle for one ring, I used the shoelace trick before and after the ring)
Ch 2-2-2-2-2-2+(join into the space at the base of the next pair of rings). Continue the progression of chains until you have joined back where you started this round. Finish as desired.

Round 3: Beginning at the second chain join past the ring of round 2, join and make a chain of 2 ds, 18 picots separated by 2 ds, 2 ds. Join to round two opposite the ring. Repeat the chain of 18 picots and join opposite to your starting point. The picture provided will be a helpful guide.

Note: Size 10 thread will produce a heart approximately 3 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches wide.

Summer Update

While I've been catching up on the housework this summer, I've also been spending some time catching up on changes in internet tatting sites. I've really enjoyed drooling over all of the lovely work I've found. A few more patterns have been added to my "must tat" stack. Tatting time is almost here! By Monday I hope to have started something. I'm ready with thread, patterns, shuttles, and even a few design ideas of my own.

Many thanks to all of you tatters who are sharing your work and your patterns on the internet. It is inspiring to visit your webpages even when I'm too busy to do any tatting myself.

Happy tatting, everyone!

Last of the animal bookmarks

School is in full swing so there has been no time for tatting lately. We have a holiday today, so I thought I'd take a minute to post a picture of the last of the animal bookmarks I completed during the Christmas holidays. I changed the pattern a bit to use more than one thread color. The swan is in white and ecru and I used a Caron Wildflowers thread for the water.

I hope to see some of you at the online class. I plan to attend the evening sessions as often as possible. I have a college class to attend during the daytime session.

Happy tatting!

Happy New Year!

My year is off to a great start. Between Christmas and the new year, I managed to shake the dust off my shuttles. My oldest daughter gave me a new Lacis shuttle for Christmas along with four new books: Dianna Stevens' Animal Bookmarks, A Tatted Zoo; Karey Solomon's Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf; Inga Madsen's 12 Tatted Fairy-Tales; and Nancy Tracy's Tat's Where I Stopped. Oh, I've just had so much fun!

And I finally finished the Cecelia doily. It is complete, pressed, and ready to deliver. The doily has 42 motifs and measures 15.5 inches by 12.5 inches.



Besides completing the doily, I've been working some of the new patterns I received for Christmas. This yellow Oak Leaf was one of the designs I received in the book by Karey Solomon. The next three patterns were in Animal Bookmarks. The snake and the cockerel were designed by Dianna Stevens and the cat was designed by Diana Howe. The last image is butterfly variation 4A from Teri Dusenbury's book, Tatting Butterflies.

I must drop it at etats and then get back to my shuttles. There is so much more I want to do before school starts again next week and everything gets set aside again.

Happy tatting in the new year!

Can't believe it is December already!

I haven't managed to tat a stitch since I finished the little bits and pieces for the Palmetto tatters. College classes have kept me very busy. I did find ways to get a little tatting play into my work though. One of my classes was a Microsoft Applications course. When I needed to create a database in Access, I started one for my tatting patterns! When I needed to create a Power Point presentation, I featured tatted snowflakes with "Let It Snow" playing in the background. I'm looking forward to shaking the dust off my shuttles during the holidays. I'm eager to finish that doily I showed you in my April 14 post. Can you believe I got that close to being done and it still sits unfinished?

Happy Holidays, all!

Tatting for South Carolina State Fair is ready!

I counted them just for fun. My personal goal was 100 pieces to mail to the Palmetto Tatters to be given away during their state fair next month. Drum roll, please........104 pieces! I'm afraid that if I postpone the mailing much longer I'll wind up missing the deadline. So they are ready to go out in tomorrow's mail. I love doing little projects to empty my shuttles or to just fill the time when I want to tat and haven't any particular project in mind. I give them away, but often wind up with more than I can use. This is a worthy project, reduces the stash, and resulted in a rather nice pile of empty shuttles. I had been wondering where all of my shuttles were. Now I know!

Tatting & school

No pictures for you today. So sorry! But I have gotten a few things done.

My classmates and I delivered our first prepared talks tonight--a personal introduction with a visual aide. My visual was a quickly framed collection of some of my bookmarks. There was plenty of laughter as I told them about the morning my "I love tatting" t-shirt inspired a man to flag me down to ask me if I was a tatoo artist.

Georgia Seitz's request for mini tats to be given out at the South Carolina State Fair was a good excuse for an "empty those shuttles" challenge to myself. I have close to a hundred pieces ready to mail--many of which were already done. I'll try to get a group picture for the blog before I send them off. I've still got quite a pile of shuttles that need to be emptied so I can use them for something else.

Happy tatting, my friends.

Fall Routine

I started college this summer! Biology and College Algebra are out of the way and more adventures await me. But my tatting really suffered as did this blog. There just wasn't time for all the things I wished to do. As I'm getting ready for the new routines of Fall, I'm also printing off my Online class notes for tomorrow in hopes that I can work that into my schedule. I so hate to miss one of Georgia's wonderful classes. And there is to be another 25 motif challenge! Much of my tatting this year will probably have to be motifs and the challenge will help to keep me motivated.

I encouraged a new tatter this summer. I showed her the shuttle tatted double stitch, but can claim little more than that in her education. She was highly motivated and used the wonderful internet resources available to all of us to move right along. I can't say enough good things about those resources and I thank every one of you who make them available.

Happy tatting, everyone! I hope to have some goodies to share with you real soon.

Busy Summer

Summer is always a time to get those projects done than I just can't find time for during the school year. My big plans for completing some of my tatting patterns and mastering some new techniques has been pushed aside for some college courses and home projects. I'm pleased with what I've accomplished and excited about what I hope to have done before school routines begin again in less than four weeks.

But with the return of routine, I'll also have more time for tatting. So I'm going to get back to work on my home projects and I'll be back here in a few weeks.

More patterns using the Valeire square

The online class will explore two more patterns using this square tomorrow!
Note: There seem to be some problems with the links to these patterns. So sorry! I'll see what I can do.

Valeire Square

Patterns based on a square motif from Tatted Yoke No. 4 in Fifteen Tatted Yokes and Camisoles Finished on Satin, Book 9, by Anna Valeire, published by E. C. Spuehler in the early 1900s.

Valeire Square Instructions
(Shuttle and Ball)
Diagram

Round 1: (Note that there are NO joins in this round.)
*R 8-8, cl. R 8-8, cl, rw.
Ch 5-5, cl, rw.*
Repeat from * to * until you have 4 pairs of rings and four chains.

Use the alligator join to climb out of round 1 and into round 2.

Round 2: (Note that you are joining adjacent rings together by joining into the picot of two rings at the same time.)
**Ch 2-2-2-2-2-2+(join two adjacent rings together)
Ch 2-2-2-2-2-2+(join into the space at the base of the next pair of rings)**
Repeat from ** to ** until you have joined back where you started this round. Finish as desired.

Missed the class

Well, I missed both sessions of the Online Class today, but I had a wonderful day with my husband. A tire went out on the trailer we were towing and that put us much later getting back than expected.

I got some good tatting done on the way home though! I was working on a bookmark pattern by Julie Patterson when I was struck with another idea using the Valeire Square. Thanks, Julie, for the inspiration. I got the design worked out on paper and had the test piece almost finished when daylight finally gave out. My picots are not as even as usual because of the bouncing around of the vehicle, but you'll get to see it as is when I get it finished. I want to test it in a smaller thread as well before revealing the results.

By the way, I just read the log from the class sessions. I love the ideas that were floating around for the ice cream cone and look forward to trying some of them myself. I can hardly wait to see your ice cream cones as well as your responses to the design challenge.

New Pattern & Challenge

It's up! Georgia has posted the challenge and the instructions. I can hardly wait to see what changes and designs result from this. So go tat one of Anna Valeire's squares and make yourself some calorie free ice cream.