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!!!!!

How to find your beads

Do you ever find you keep losing your beads?  Do you wonder where you last left them?  Having trouble keeping them in one place together?  

Here is the answer - a bead bracelet!!!

This was kindly given to me by Joanie after a discussion with her husband and some really clever DIY work.  

Although this was given in jest I can see that having your beads round your wrist is a great idea.    Thanks, Joanie and Rick - the inventors of the year.

I wear this with pride and with no intention of opening it up to use the beads!!  Isn't that the silliest thing?!?!?!

Hurt feelings

Before I toddle off to do household chores this morning I must tell you about a rather upsetting incident which happened a while ago.  This is the story.

I was booked to teach a tatting class.  A few weeks before the class a picture of the piece I was going to teach was put up on the group's web site.  I arrived at the venue to start and was very surprised to have one of the members of the group approach me straight away with the finished item telling me she'd already done it!!  To say I was gobsmacked was the very least.

When I asked how she'd got the pattern she said she'd worked it out from the picture on the web page.

My question is - how would you feel about this?  Why couldn't this person wait for the pattern - especially if they were intending to come to the class anyway?

I suppose it's inevitable that a design can be copied off the internet but surely it's bad manners to then flaunt it in front of the person who's taken the time and trouble to design it, annotate it, then draw it and finally turn up to TEACH it?  I felt really hurt that somebody would undervalue my time and effort in this way.

Is it coming to a place and time now when it's not worth writing down a pattern?  Think how much time I would save and how many more projects I'd get done if I didn't write everything down.  Should we now just make something and put a picture on a site so people can copy it?  Is this the beginning of the end of copyright laws, intellectual property and the demise of respect?  I wonder.

Over to you!!!

I've finally got the Garden Wall Motif pattern up on my site and ready for you.  Here's what I finally did with it.

An accident report

Last week there was an accident in my house.  My own fault as I'd just finished reading a book and had just left the bookmark (one of my Wrap It, Flip It and Mark It ones) on the bed.  We both forgot or didn't notice it there when we stripped the sheets etc for washing.  While you're reading the book with one of these they can't get lost so this was entirely my fault.

That evening as I crawled into bed I looked for my bookmark but it was gone.  Gone to join the other bookmarks in the sky!!!  

A few days later Nick found it lurking inside the duvet cover which had been washed and left to dry out in the garden.  Look at the state it was in!!  Top picture!!!  

Now look at the picture below - I rescued it and put it back to work.  I use white glue (slightly diluted) to stiffen these bookmarks.  I wet the motif thoroughly before squidging the diluted glue into the item with my fingers.  This appears to be the answer to this type of accident as all I needed to do to restore it was to steam iron it back into shape, wet it again and squidge in more glue!!!!  I've been making more of these bookmarks for my Etsy shop - they really sell well when people realise that it's the answer to losing your place in a book or the bookmark itself.  Well, that's unless you're an OG with a dozy brain cell 3!!!

Lizbeth now in size 3

What a surprise I had one day last week when I had a mailing from Barb of Handy Hands.  Inside there was a sample reel of the latest Lizbeth in size 3 along with her newsletter too.

Yes, you did read that right - size 3!!!  Now I looked at it and thought to myself why would anybody want to tat in size three!!!  So, of course, curiosity got the better of me and I had to find out 'why'!!!  Darn that brain cell 3 for distracting me!!!!

I made up this little hummingbird with the thread and then had an 'AHA' moment (or three!!!!!).  Now I can see the 'why' of this size.  It really makes a statement about the colours and the thread too.  This little chap works out to be a full 2 inches worked in this thread.

Follow up to this experiment is an email I sent to Barb showing her what I'd done.  She asked if she could have the pattern for the hummer and I've said she can put it on her site.  BUT if you want the rest of my zoo collection (here) from Tat Days you can buy the CD from the Palmetto Tatters here.  There's a flamingo, an ostrich, a lion, a gecko, an octopus and a peacock.  All doodle sized but I'm now thinking which one to make next in the size 3 thread!!!

OK - that's the end of today's BLATANT advertising for Handy Hands and Palmetto Tatters!!!!  Do I care?  No - I only advertise what I totally believe in!

Kits from Tat Days

Now I came home with a few 'kits' from Tat Days.  Here are the results of two of them.  

I didn't bring an owl back as they flew back to Riet ready for the State Fair but they were really really cute and I will be making more.  My sister's addicted to them - see this link.  

I did make up the pendant which came in a goodie bag and which was kindly donated by Vicki Clarke of this blog.  I'm now wondering if this pattern is in the book she's posted about.  Very pretty and easy to make too.  Can't wait to see the rest of them.

Below that is a pretty pair of earrings but I can't remember when I was given that!!!  I do know that it's a clever little pattern by Barbara Hevener who can be contacted if you email me privately.  I'm sure she won't mind.  I thought the base of this little wreath was truly clever - thank you, Barbara.

Gina's work at Tat Days

One of the most poignant moments of the Palmetto Tat Days was meeting Gina's daughter and sister.  Gina and I had talked about us meeting up at this event when we met last July.  I'd told her I was going to apply to become a teacher.  As you know last winter was dreadful living through her illness and to lose her was such a shock after her being told she was in remission.

Laurie and Linda very kindly came to Tat Days and brought a wonderful selection of her work.  The pictures below show some of the display although the items had to be seen to be appreciated fully.

The elephant in the third picture is amazing and no picture could ever do it justice.  It's Gina's version of Pam Palmer's elephant and the thought and skill that she brought to this piece raises it to a new height.

A huge thank you must go to them and the Palmetto tatters for putting on this wonderful display.

A selection of Gina's threads was brought by Linda and Laurie (both talented crafters too) and I'll tell you more about those next week.

Guild meeting and last American post - almost

On the Saturday after Tat Days it was the regular Palmetto Tatters guild meeting and I had the privilege of teaching there.  I taught the motif which you can find here.  

The most interesting part of this day (for me) was the location of the meeting - at the Lexington County museum.  Now I always think of a museum as being a place that you see exhibits IN but this place was also where you could go INTO the exhibits too.  Here's a link and below some pictures of the buildings and the members of the guild.

I had to show you the picture of Marie and her grandson tatting a spider which he gave to me afterwards and which I've also added below.  What a dear young lad he is.  Do you know, I've never seen Marie without a smile on her face.  

The week after Tat Days

During the week after Tat Days Sally and I were taken by Joanie to visit Pam and Bonnie at their homes.

Riet stays with Pam who has home full of ladybirds (or ladybugs) and Katharine joined us too for a while.  We met several members of her family as they popped in and out to visit all day.  Another day of delightful tatting and chatting.  I've added a picture of Hope at the top of this post as she was at Pam's but sadly we had to take her to the airport the next morning so she could go home.  The picture of her was taken at Joanie's as I didn't get many taken at Pam's - too busy tatting and talking!!!  Ah, we also talked iPads too - Hope is holding hers!!  Sally and I both took ours on our travels and they proved very, very useful.

Bonnie makes the most WICKED ice cream (double yummy) and again a lot of tatting and chatting was done with visits from Pam, Riet, Karen, Gloria (+ her daughter) too.  Hope I haven't missed anybody out!!!  The second picture shows some of us admiring Bonnie's wonderful garden and the third picture shows just some of the amazing baskets she makes.  A VERY talented lass is Bonnie.

Sunday and the end of Tat Days

Time to say goodbye to old friends and new and leave Toccoa and return to 'normality'.  You can see Hanna and Sara waving in this picture with other friends too.  

No, wait, it's Sunday and that MUST mean meeting up at the Mall!!!  Some of the Palmetto tatters meet up each Sunday (as and when they can) at a Mall.  They are regulars there and they move the furniture so they can tat and chat.  In the second picture you can see some of us.  Well, not me as I'm behind the camera, of course!!!

After that it was back to Joanie's for a well earned rest and more tatting talk!!!

Joanie spoils me rotten each time I go there as she feeds the hummingbirds which I LOVE to watch.  I've added a movie of one of the little chaps down below.  Least I think I have as this is my first attempt at adding a movie to blogger!!!

There are SO many things I haven't mentioned in my reports and that I keep remembering at odd moments.  Like the singing and the rhyming.  The giggles with friends.  The total commitment to tatting and all things related.

Saturday at Tat Days

Before I start - I had time to re-open the Etsy shop yesterday with some new things and some new (lower) prices.  If you want to take a look then it's here.

Lessons went fine again, I think.  The top two pictures are of Martha Ess who was taking a picture of me whilst I was taking one of her and the other guy who I was privileged to meet is Randy Houtz of the Shuttle Brothers.  What a lovely man - I wanted to make him my 'toy boy' but I'm not sure his wife would approve!!!!

During a break in lessons I wandered down to the lake which I told you about.  So pretty and SO peaceful too.  The final lesson (the Squared Away pendant) went far too quickly too.  Was I really there?

In the evening we had an ice cream party.  For some reason the Palmetto Tatters seem to think I like ice cream!!!  Wonder why?  Oh, that was my second bowl of the yummy ice cream!!!  Can you see the M & M's?  I LOVE that candy.

Tat Days - continued

My other class (you've seen the first one) for Stinky the skunk seemed to go well too although it's always hard to tell.  I forgot to take photos of the students during the class - bummer!!

On Friday evening there was the banquet.  A fantastic time was had by the OG!!! Georgia did her usual auctioning of the wonderful quilts that she and Erin had assembled.  Boy did I SOOOO want to win the cherry blossom one.  Sadly I didn't.  

Hanna played the violin beautifully during the banquet too.

The lovely wheelbarrow below is one of the table decorations at the banquet.  Isn't it pretty?  We were given a small packet of 'seeds' which turned out to be more gifts.   Ooops, sorry but I forgot to tell you about the goodie bags that were given to all participants AND a second one to the teachers. They were both full of wonderful items.  There was an Aerlit shuttle, a Starlit shuttle and a ball of thread in a holder which were kindly donated by Handy Hands.  Vicki Clarke had also donated a pendant kit too.  What a lovely idea.  The bags were put together by the Southern Belles who then kindly donated the money which was assigned to them by the Palmetto tatters back to the scholarship fund.  Sadly I didn't get round to talking to them all. Here's their Facebook link.  I believe they did some of the table decorations too but I may have 'lost the plot' there.

Heading towards Tat Days

Thursday saw a leisurely start before starting out to Toccoa and the fun of Tat Days.  First we went to Mary Mac's for lunch before driving the two hours to the venue.  

Tat Days is held in a lovely place which you can see here with a beautiful lake 'down the hill' which can also be viewed from the dining room.  The food was great and plentiful too.

First of all was the teacher's meeting and I had to abandon Sally for that.  I was a bit worried as she knew nobody there but when I came out I had to go looking for her and found she'd already started making friends.  

The two of us then set about setting out the pob a bobbin shuttles and assorted roly poly bags in the vending room.  A room to be avoided if you didn't want to drool over threads, shuttles, books and assorted other items in there!!!  I spent lots of dollars in there!!!

Later we watched Martha demonstrate her home made bead loader in the gathering room.

Friday morning saw my first lesson in which I learnt something new from Phyllis and I will be telling you more about that later.  I was gifted with some lovely pressies too.  Thanks, Phyllis.  I was chuffed to bits.  The second and third pictures are some of my students - the dance was due to a successful split ring!!!!!  The fear of split rings was vanquished during the lesson!!!!

Oh, perhaps I should make it clear - I was supposed to be the teacher but I also learnt from my students as usual.

Where DO I start?

Well, at the beginning, I suppose!!!  The first stop on our trip was at Frankfurt where we had to transfer planes to take us on to Atlanta (top picture).  Must say that Lufthansa and the experience at this German airport were really good.

In Atlanta we were lucky to be able to stay with Crazy mom (her house is the second picture) who isn't the least bit crazy at all.  OR maybe we're just as crazy as her?  We were lucky enough to intrude on Larry's birthday celebrations (one of her stooges) and had our first ever taste of Velvet cake.  Yummy.  So yummy I forgot to take a picture!!!  Sandra, the stooges and husband are all great to be with but we nearly kidnapped their new kitty called Lilly!!!  We were searched before leaving on Thursday!!!  Well, not really!!!

The following day we rested up as we'd had an extremely early start from the UK and were to say the least - tired!!!

On the Wednesday we met up with Hanna and Sara who were staying in Hotlanta before going to Tat Days (see third picture).  These two lasses (wonderfully fun people to be around) had come over from Sweden and I'll tell you more about them later (from left to right - Sara, Hanna, Sandra and my little sister, Sally).  A visit to the World of Coca Cola, The Varsity and other places all made for a great time in Hotlanta.

Home again!

Sally and I got home to my house yesterday about noon.  All flights were on time and the trip was almost uneventful except for an 'incident' mid flight which was not much fun.

As I gradually unpack I will share my trip pictures and some of the Tat Days too although you may have seen and heard a lot from the others who were there.