I Will Do It!

 

I have begun two TIAS before but never completed them.  I never let anyone know how far I had tatted or that I had even begun.  This year is different.  I will complete this TIAS!  (Completion is a 2017 goal.)

 

TIAS: Tat It And See, Jane Eborall.

 

 

I am on day 4, waiting for day 5.  No idea what I am tatting.  Also, I had no idea what a ZigZag chain was.  It took me watching three videos before I understood it.  Thank you to the people on You Tube who demonstrate tatting.  I cannot remember who I watched and which one finally clicked in my mind.  I was able to tat the ZigZag chain on the third try.

 

 

My quilting cousin Kathy, her friend Betty and I have begun another "support each other" endeavor.  It is related to UFOs and WIPs.  I will let you know more in my next entry.  I need to take some photos but it is to grey today to get a nice photo. 

One of my goals in this endeavor is to look at my time.  It took me a bit more than an hour to figure TIAS day 4 out.  That is the time for viewing the videos and untatting my work three times.  The final tat only took about 10 minutes.

Have a great day.

A New Year Begins

I did not complete my 2016 motif challenge.  I did only 12 motifs and only 13 posts for 2016.   

Here is 2017 and I begin again.  My first motif is a set of heart earrings for Sweet Thing #3  They are made from the pattern Butterfly Heart by Irene Woo.

 

 



 Have a nice day.  It is cold but sunny here.



Motif #12

 

I have had the fortune to find the most wonderful star to tat.  Joelle Paulson at leblogdefrivole has this star pattern, Crystal Star.  You have to find out how she has made the join of the beads.  It is like, WOW, why aren't I that smart.

 

Here is my first star.  I didn't quite follow her directions (which are excellent, it was me).  I didn't have enough thread to join the last bead.  I needed just a smidge more to get that bead joined.  Now that the picture has been taken, I will take apart this star and reuse the beads.

 

 

Here is my second star.  Once again I didn't follow directions.  Look at 12 o'clock and 7 o'clock.  I missed some joins (what was I thinking of, surely not tatting the star).  As I said before, now that the picture is taken, I will take apart this star and reuse the beads.

 



 

 

Here is my third attempt at the star.  Now I am paying attention and I love the results.  The beads in the center are just amazing to me.

 

  

I have done three more and have several yet to do.  Every year the girls (sweet thing #1, #2, and #3) have received a Christmas tree decoration.  This is the one that they will receive this year.  Will also share with others in Christmas cards. 

 

May you all enjoy your evening.  I will be working on Crystal Stars.

Courthouse Steps

In 2015 I decided that I would make quilts for my nieces and nephews.  Ben received his during the family gathering for Thanksgiving 2015 (his was a surprise).  I do not have any pictures of it that can be put on the computer.  (They are paper pictures, I was not thinking of keeping a record of my quilts then.)  

Megan's quilt was next for 2016 completion.  I sent her two ideas that I thought she might like (in techniques that I wanted to try).  She chose the Courthouse Steps as her pattern (she is a lawyer).  She said she liked the colors pink and green.  Sweet Thing #3 and I went looking for material. I sent Megan pictures of the materials as I found them and she gave me free rein to use which ever ones I liked.  Here is a short story of the quilt.

It began on February 19, 2016, the first block.  For quilt as you go, I sew the material strips together as I sew them onto the batting, making each block.

  

 

 Here is the last block, last strip of material, just before it came off the machine.  The last block was done on April 20, 2016.  The blocks were sewn on my 1971 Elna Super, wonderful machine.





Now I have a pile of 66 squares.  The quilt is 8 rows of 8 squares alternating colors of pink and green (I only used 64 squares).  22 different materials were used, 3 blocks made from each fat quarter of material.

April 25 2016 the blocks were all sewn together.  I did not sew the backing to the quilt until June 9, 2016.  (First, time is moving, pause.)  I did a herringbone type stitch around each block (didn't take a picture).  I thought that that would be enough to keep each square from moving.  But, I wasn't happy, so I hand quilted each courthouse square (the little grey one in the middle of the block).  I liked how that held each courthouse square in place.  With the quilt as you go you just have to attach the backing to the already machine quilted quilt.  It is great for log cabin or courthouse patterns.  Here I am using my 2015 Elna Expressive 900.  I have it place up to the dinning room table so the I have table support for the quilt.

Due to the hot summer that we had, (Second pause, excuse?) it took me until October 31, 2016 to cut the backing to match the quilt.  The next day the binding was sewn on to the quilt.  I began hand sewing the back of the binding to the quilt that night.  I would work watching the news, football and other TV shows.  Three hours each night over four nights and the binding was done on November 5.  I was very warm while sewing on the binding, the quilt is on my lap as I work.  I guess that make me the first to be kept warm by this quilt

I needed to show it finished to my quilting cousin so it was not shipped until November 11, 2016.  It should arrive in Missouri tomorrow.

Another quilt done and finished.  I enjoyed the quilt as you go method and would work with again.  Now I have two QOVs (Quilts of Valor) to back, machine quilt and then they will be given away.  Am putting my FWQ (Farmer's Wife Quilt) blocks together and then it will be quilted, not yet sure how.  Jessica, as soon as the QOVs are done (by end of the year, if not sooner) your Wedding Ring Quilt begins.  After Jessica, I have three more niece and nephew quilts.

Have a great day.  Tatting update with next post.

Boxes and Leaves

I saw a triangle shaped thread catcher on several blogs this summer.  I liked the idea of a thread catcher but I needed a bigger opening.  I found the pattern for a square box from Tina Craig at Seaside Stitches posted in 2013. Lace-Lovin'  Librarian shares the pictorial directions on her blog.  I enjoy making these boxes.  I used a 10 inch square of fabric from some Layer Cakes by Moda with a layer of left over quilt batting in between.  30's Playtime 2015 is one of the material collections.  I cannot seem to find the label from the other one. 

 

 

 I have put a box at the cutting table, each sewing machine (three), the serger and my tatting/hand work nest (as my family calls it).  I have given them away to Sweet Thing #3 and her roommate, my cousin and friends.  I really do enjoy making these.  The box with my cheater glasses is the box that has my "applique tools" in it.  Somehow a second pair of scissors ended up there.

 

 

I have begun making some boxes for Christmas.  These are made with a 12 inch square of material so they are a little bigger.  I will be using Christmas buttons to hold down the corners on these.  These five are the first that I have sewn together and machine quilted.  I just have to sew them into squares and fasten down the inside and outside.

I found this Maple Leaf Motif (my #11 motif) from Tammy Rodgers aka GreenFuzzer from 2001.  I have enjoyed making them and can make one leaf during the time it takes for half a foot ball game on TV.  The one with the tail was my first and you can see that I did not make my joining picots small.  I did it with the other two and it looks much nicer.  Shall make two more tonight during the game.  The thread is Lizbeth's Autumn Spice # 136, size 20.

 

October?!

I cannot believe it.  Where did the summer go?  Here in the Berkshires it was hot, humid, and dry (no rain, not good).  So not like our usual summer weather.  I fell into a thread and fabric inertia.  (I also fell into a "what gardens" inertia.)  Now our weather has come to a wonderful fall pattern (maybe even a bit cooler).  I am back to the threads and fabrics, kicking myself that I did not get much done this summer.  (Really kicking myself that I have so much to clean up in the gardens.  I now need to put them to bed before winter.)

Here is a horse from Tatted Animals by Inga Madsen (#9).  He has been named Sterling, after a horse that my daughter and I had owned.  He was our last horse, a wonderful old grey gelding.

 

Also, my favorite cross to tat.  The Split Ring Cross (#10) by Jane Eborall, pattern from 2004.  I have made many of these for family and others.  Making these was how I learned to do the split ring and I enjoy it.  Someday I will enjoy the split chain. 

 

Just finished breakfast and heading to the gardens before I can touch any material or thread.  52 degrees outside and grey and cloudy, good outside working weather.  I will be back sooner, inertia is leaving.

Have a great day.

 

It's July!

I cannot believe that the 4th is this weekend, or Monday to be correct.  I am behind in my posts.  I wanted to do two a month for 2016 but have only done one for May and now only one for June.  I need to catch up and quickly.

This is the table runner that I made for the 4th last year.  It is a pattern from Shabby Fabrics and was a kit from Keepsake Quilting.  Sometimes, when you see a material combination that you like, you have to buy the kit.  They give you more than enough material to make the runner and you have left over material.  I had enough material to make two sets of stars.  The second one is bordered in the same blue material that I was able to find at my local quilt shop.  This was done with fusible applique and then machine quilted, a gold metallic thread for the starburst lines. 



On my Butterfly Doiley, row nine was completed with only two untats.

Row ten has begun for the second time.  I did five repeats before I reread the directions and saw that I was doing it wrong.  I had to cut it off and begin again.  Thankfully I looked early.

Happy Fourth of July to you all.