Update of starting page

On Thursday I spent the whole day updating this page.  I wasn't happy with some of the pictures (done years ago on the PC) so decided to re-draw them and look at all the techniques again.  It kept me quiet and away from the dreaded housework!!!!

This was brought on by Phyllis who I watched starting a ring and chain at Tat Days in one of my classes - which all goes to prove yet again that teachers probably learn as much as their pupils (well I do) at Tat Days.

I asked her to show me how she was doing this and I thought this was a really exciting new idea (well, new to me but probably not for the rest of Tat Land!!!).  Phyllis did say where she'd got the idea from but I really can't remember and anyway techniques are aren't copyrightable.  Only the drawings and words I use in the technique section are and who'd want to copy those, I ask myself - and you too???!!!!!

I've added Phyllis's idea to the page too - it's the second method of starting a ring followed by a chain.  A thought did occur to me - if anybody ever wants to use parts of this page as a teaching aid (ie probably just one section) then please email me and I'll 'chop it up' and send as a word document.

Just to add a bit of 'cheer and colour' to this page I'll add the pictures here too - that should tempt you to take a peek at the destructions (whoooops, I mean instructions)!!!!

A story about a bag!

Now this is a story about a bag which I saw at Crazymom's house when we stayed with her in Atlanta.  Hers was blue and it sat on a side table and just took my fancy.  It sat SO well and SO sturdily but when you grabbed a piece of the ribbon it closed over the contents and was ready to go.  On questioning (no thumb screws were used or any form of torture) Crazymom said it was in her goodie bag at Tat Days 2011.  Ah, that's where it came from!!!

So on to Tat Days - no time to find out anything about the new love of my life but back at Joanie's afterwards she said that the pattern belonged to Anne Bruvold and had been spotted here on her blog.  Another part of the mystery was getting solved.

Back home in the UK Joanie sent me a copy of the pattern and I wrote to Anne as I was STILL madly in love with the idea and asked if I could make one/some for friends.  

Here is my first attempt.  Are you in love now?  It's SUCH a clever idea and I must thank Anne SO MUCH for being so kind and letting me have a go at her pattern.  She said I could make some and sell in Etsy but that will have to wait until next Spring - IF brain cell 3 is in the right mood then.  

I actually made a few of these before putting the sewing machine away for the winter.

Oh, I did land up with a sore thumb when I was putting in one of the eyelets and 'missed'!!!!  I DO NOT LIKE eyelets - never have done and never will but the bag is worth all the pain and frustration of eyelets!!!

Do you fancy a bit of slap and tickle?

Do you fancy a bit of slap and tickle?  I do and regularly.  I do it with/to my tatting!!  What DID you think I was going to say?

OK, I'll explain.  It's my latest way of stiffening small items.  Remember the accident I told you about here?  Well the reason I could put this right was probably (and I do say probably) due to the way I have taken to stiffening my tatting.  Here's how I do it.

First of all I dampen and iron the piece/pieces (under a cloth) so that they're how they should be when finished - see a pile of bits below.

Next I take some white school glue (PVA) - notice how cheap this is for such a huge bottle.

The next step is to put a splodge of the glue into the palm of your wrinkled old hand (if you don't have a wrinkled old hand I'll come and help you - please send money for air fair if appropriate).  Now add a little cold water (not sure you can see it - top left of picture).

Mix water and glue together (below) to get a really good mix.  Note how it hides some of the wrinkles too!!!!!

Finally - and this is where it gets to be fun - take the piece of tatting and put it on the glue.  Now you slap, tickle and squidge the glue mixture into the piece.  

My hands got too sticky to take a photo at this stage but the one above was taken just before I did the final 'dry' slap and tickle to get the excess glue off.  (You'll find you can slap the excess off if you wash and dry your hands when you've finished and if the rings and picots are not 'clear' of glue.)  Finally place on a flat surface and leave to dry.

Well, it works very well for me but there's no guarantee it'll work for you!!!

Another post about our trip!

I think this will be the last post about our trip - I keep finding drafts in my blog and they've got out of order - they 'slipped' down the timeline there.

The day after the guild meeting we had another meeting at the Mall and then the following day Joanie kindly took us to the craft stores and the Dollar store too!!!  It's amazing what you can buy for a dollar (plus tax!).  Sally and I couldn't get our heads around the way tax is added at the register as tax in the UK is included and shown on the shelf.  I managed to squeeze a few more 'essentials' into my suitcase which proved to be well overfull by the time we had finished shopping that day!!

Joanie also gave me a few tubes of beads which I'm dying to get to use as they're different shapes.  I just need time - more time to tat.  Can we get an extension to each day?  24 hours just isn't long enough!

Today I'm adding some of the gifts I was given during our trip.  Sadly I've now lost track of who made them both but you can put that down to old age and stupidity!!!  Actually the name tag is very useful - it reminds me regularly of who I am!!!

Have you EVER seen?

Have you ever seen ANYTHING as pretty as this?

A shuttle holder kindly given to me by Marie Smith.  

Marie came up to me while we were at the Palmetto guild meeting and showed me a wee box of shuttle holders she'd made and asked me to choose one for myself.  That was SUCH a hard decision but in the end this is the one I chose.  It's exquisitely made.  The thread is Wildflowers by Shirley Pence.  I am going to display this little beauty with my shuttles where I can see it (and them) each day.

On another point - the tatting cupboard is now tidy and the door is shut again.  It's taken me two/three weeks to unpack and put all the odds and ends away!!!

Walled garden motif goes flourescent

I told you a while back about Gina's family bringing some of her threads to Tat Days.  Least I think I did but there again I may not!!!  Well during the regular guild meeting the following Saturday after Tat Days a bag was produced with her remaining threads in.  Well I decided that I was already heading towards a full suitcase and wouldn't look at all.

All good plans of mice and men suddenly came to a halt when I spotted some fluorescent sewing thread in the bag which was being rummaged in behind where I was sitting.  It was really weird as I'm sure Gina sent a lightening bolt to me to pick them out.  She always knew I had a strange 'take' on colours and it was almost as if she'd put them there to tempt me!!!  

Here is the Garden Motif that I taught that day worked up in them while I was sitting talking with Joanie and Sally during the following few days.  I made a huge boo boo on the one with yellow as I missed out some picots.  I decided to finish it though as I'm a stubborn old git!!!  I used the thread doubled but it wasn't that easy to tat with.  I'll certainly be playing with these threads again - you wait and see!!!!!