Happy International Tatting Day!

We had a BONUS Twin Cities Tatters Day today - just for International Tatting Day!  

We all brought some show & tell, tatted in public at our usual Caribou Coffee, and even enjoyed some chocolate, thanks to Marlene! 

I looked for my Renulek Spring 2015 large doily project (the one I stopped working on way back here and have yet to finish) to bring along to show, but I'm now in a panic because I CAN'T FIND IT! I will be tearing my sewing/tatting room apart trying to find it, but for now I'm afraid after all that sorting and cleaning of additional fabric I've thrown it away by accident.  Yikes!  I hope it's just put away nice and safe, but . . . until I find it I will worry about its possible tragic demise.

I'll tat another Ice Drop, and then I will look some more for that unfinished doily.  Calmly.  Maybe.  Actually, I may tear my cave apart.

Weekend Cave Hideout

Well, I spent the weekend in my cave, sewing away like a madwoman.  Who wants to do housework anyway?  Haha!

I've been wanting to finish this table runner since JULY - I picked it up during the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop with Mom, and even though it doesn't match anything I have, it's just cute.  During that shop hop, Mom also got this bag pattern for me - I've been trying to decide what fabric to use.

I remembered I had a few scraps of this sock monkey fabric - too cute!  I was bad and didn't cut my binding on the bias, and darn it!  I can tell how bad it is, but I guess that's what I get.  I'll just use it as is!

I didn't get much else done, but I guess it doesn't matter.  The dust and clutter will wait for me, haha!  It was relaxing to putter around in my cave with nothing else pressing.  That's what weekends are for, right?!  Now, what should I put in this bag? ...

Tatting, Quilting and Photography = My Life!

Wow - it's been over a month since I was last here, typing away!  How fast time flies.

Last weekend, our Twin Cities Tatters met and had the biggest group ever!  I think we've had 6 or so before, but we had 9 (count 'em - 9!) tatters join us and filled the table + more in the corner of Caribou Coffee.  Such fun to have so many tatters in one place to chat and tat and teach and share! We are so looking forward to our tatting retreat this summer - it will be fun!

I've been tatting away at some ice drops - I really do love Diane's creation.  I don't usually like to tat so many of one item, but they are not only enjoyable to tat, they are somewhat addicting!  I haven't branched out much from the original pattern much - I like the simplicity of the original pattern, but there are some really nice variations out there.  So I'm a bore, ha ha.

All that fabric Mom and I gathered last month from my Aunt's sewing room has been sorted and resorted.   I spent a few days with Mom just going through the fabric and sorting it into colors and groups and donations.  We ended up with 3 large totes to donate to mom's church and a couple of other churches as well. Mom shared with her quilt group also, and my daughters collected fabric for their projects, too.  I'm sure my Aunt would be thrilled to know it's being put to good use and enjoyed by so very many.

I've also spent a considerable amount of time sorting the fabric that ended up at my house - but it's been good to go through my own stash and clean that out to make room for the additional fabric.  It's crazy what we can accumulate without even realizing it!

My Sorting Room (or Cave #2 as hubby has dubbed)

Looking good better!

Yardage!

I really do save every piece of fabric, thinking it  will be put to good use in SOMETHING.  Haha.  I have enough projects and fabric to last me at least 10 years!

My Zentangle practice has been suffering lately - I haven't taken the time I'd like to for drawing.  I've been playing with camera settings instead, and have taken a few refresher classes for digital photography - so on top of work, my time has been limited.  I am so anxious for wonderful spring weather so I can get out and play with my camera again - I've been a big baby this winter, avoiding going out in the cold weather trying for frosty photos.  I did enter my 'frog in the lily' photo in a local Nature Center contest, and won a spot on their wall! I've titled this photo "Frog Spy".

Frog Spy

 I need to get over there to see it and all of the other winners displayed!

TGIF!  I'm tired after a busy week, and ready for some power relaxing.  Or crafting, whichever occurs :)

Heirloom Quilt

Today was a beautiful Minnesota winter day!  Sunny and almost 40F degrees - crazy warm and melting what snow and ice remains.  I took a little drive and met my folks at my Uncle's house, where my cousins were doing some cleaning out of many years' accumulation.  My sweet aunt passed away last summer, and her sewing room needed to be emptied of fabric and various quilting supplies.  My uncle thinks it's "junk", so I just teased by asking if he was SURE he didn't want to take up sewing?!

Since Mom is a quilter, my cousins offered the fabric stash to her, and I went to help pack it up.  Every cupboard we opened had more fabric - enough to fill both of our vehicles to bursting! This was after my cousins had taken what fabric they wanted, of course, but it didn't appear to make a dent. My aunt sewed everything from lingerie to lined suits to winter outerwear.  And quilts.  

Speaking of quilts, my aunt also had a quilt top that was hand-pieced by her great-grandmother, who would be my great-great grandmother, sometime during her life in the late 1800's.  My aunt then added the batting and backing and hand-quilted it in 1993.  My great-great grandmother was from England, I believe, so it is not clear where the quilt was pieced or exactly when.  But it is very patriotic in red, white and blue, and certainly could have been made during the US Civil War.  Who knows?  But it's fun to wonder and look at.  The fabric seems like a looser weave, and is vibrant in color for being so old.  I wonder if it is patriotic in color as a choice, or if the colors were the most available at that time?  In any case, a very fun thing to see!  Mom will take it to show her quilting friends - what a treasure.  My cousin will eventually hang it in her home, as it fits with her patriotic decor.

I just love seeing heirlooms, and wondering about the people involved.  What was she like?  How did it get here?  With her, or with her daughter?  Was it treasured, or just stuffed away to finish 'someday' like so many of my own projects.  Was it for someone or something special? 

What a treasure, to be sure!

 

 

 

Twin Cities Tatters Retreat and THREAD!

Well, the Twin Cities Tatters very first (annual??) retreat is booked for the end of July with 8 tatters attending!  Michelle and I are hoping this will become an annual retreat - it will be so fun to spend a couple of days with other tatters and share our common addiction interest.  I am SOOOO looking forward to this!

Mom has some wonderful friends that always think of me when they come across certain fabric and / or thread.  They know I will use it, or make sure it gets into the hands of those that will.  I received a shoebox of thread with a pouch of crochet hooks at Christmastime from one of those friends, and decided to send her some tatting as a thank you.

The box has plenty of white thread - which is wonderful for snowflakes, or to mix with some Lizbeth variegated threads.  I added some variegated thread to make this coaster from the 'New Tatting' book by Tomoko Morimoto.  My intention was to make 2 coasters for the gifter, but it turned out a little small for a coaster in my opinion, so I'll send it as one pretty motif :)  I've also never tried a pattern with bare threads before - they are daunting to me because I'm afraid I will not get them even.  I need practice for sure, because they didn't come out the way I think they should be.  How the heck does one get them right so they are nice and taut? Ergh.

I also used some of the size 80 thread to make this little cross.  Uff da - that is some tiny thread for my eyes to work with!  But this pattern is perfect for the tiny thread - I've made it before, and as a bookmark it practically covers an 5 x 8.5 page with size 20 thread!  The pattern actually calls for size 40 thread - it's Mary Konior's Large Cross from her 'Tatting with Visual Patterns' book.  [Of course I've never tried it with the correct size thread - ha ha!]

And, in other news, I have ANOTHER new grandpuppy!  OMG, puppies are adorable.  But naughty, too!  You certainly forget about those days of chewing-and-biting-and-potty-training.  Those needle-sharp little teeth HURT.  Nelli is an ivory lab, like her big brother Rambo - who isn't particularly thrilled with his pouncing, annoying little sister!

She's pretty snuggly when she's sleepy, though!