Tatting

In 1973 I was an RN in Rochester, NY.  A good friend that I worked with had a Grandmother who tatted.  I asked if she would be willing to teach me how to tat.  She was and taught me how to make the Double Stitch and turn it into a ring.  (I still have the shuttle she used to teach me.  One of my treasured possessions.)  She told me that was all there was to it, the Double Stitch.  I made lots of rings, but I knew there was more.  

In the early 2000s I was thinking, what will I do with my hands when I retire?  Would quilting, knitting, embroidery be too expensive when I retired.  What would I do to keep my mind and hands working.  I re-found tatting.  Watching the internet helped but I found a great intro book:  Learn to Tat with interactive DVD by Janette Baker.  The Double Stitch is still mainly all there is to tatting but it is what you do with it that makes it amazing to me.

Renata Niemczyk (Renulek) has a tatting Blog: Frywolitki,Tatting,Chiacchierino.  Every spring she offers a doiley pattern in rounds, rows, on her blog.  Ziva is on the 2018 doiley that sits on the back of my chair as an antimacassar.  I had put the doiley there to look at it and Ziva hopped up.  It remains there to this day.

Antimacassar: a small cloth placed over the back of a chair or sofa.  A washable, decorative fabric blotter.  They were used to protect the chair sofa material from the hair oil that was used by men in the Edwardian and Victorian times.  I just love that word.

 The 2018 doiley was made with a Size 20 Lizbeth 6-cord cordonnet thread.

I like this pattern a lot and decided that I would tat it again but in a Size 40 thread, finer in weight.  I started it October 2022 and then after 6 rounds there was a pause.  (Darn squirrels.  I don't even know which one it was.)  Renata has put out her 2023 Spring Doiley pattern and I decided I wanted to tat it.  Well, I cannot until this one is finished.  So, I will finish. 

Here is my tatting box.

The doiley and shuttles at the beginning of round 8. 

The inside of my tatting box: tiny crochet hooks, little scissors, picot gauges, and filled bobbins to go into the shuttles.  Also, orange stick, red material circles, thimble and small finger pin cushion.  Hmmm, why are they there?  Let you know next week.

Enjoy your threads.  I hope to link up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

289

That is how many seasons that I have been here on earth.  (I like marking my life by seasons.  It is experience richer than years.)  You would think that being around for so many seasons I would remember things.  Not so.

My 1985 Quilt had a wool batting.  Wool batting of 38 years ago is different than wool batting of today.  Not as washable for sure.  

1985 Quilt has been taken apart and so much happier.  I could feel it relax as I unquilted it.  The next three pictures show you the batting after it was taken apart and placed on the block it belongs to.  

You can see how much it shrunk!!!

The batting used to go all the way to the outer edge of the block border. 

I am not a person who labels her quilts, but I have changed my mind.  (Terrible way to learn this.)  All of my quilts will now have the type batting listed and washing instructions.  

1985 Quilt has stayed together very well as I was taking it apart.  It was all hand pieced and quilt as you go.  I need to get a new backing and will use wool batting, 2023 version.  It will once again be hand quilted.  The quilting will be easy as the stitching marks remain.

Heartfelt Quilt center is now done.  I need to measure and place a 2-inch border of the sashing material.  Then to make 148 half square triangle blocks using the border material and the left-over reds.

I am supposed to be documenting my slow stitching.  Does tatting count as slow stitching?  That is what I will be working on when sitting today.  Shall show it to you next week.  Enjoy your threads.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

UFO

I have been working on my red and white UFO; Heartfelt Quilt BOW from Sentimental Stitches.  This began on April 18, 2021.  The last block was finished on April 13, 2023.  (Why do I let projects linger? Squirrels?)  

The sashing material that I had picked out in 2021 I no longer like.  (A big reason not to let projects linger.)  It will be used as the backing.

So, a trip was taken to my local quilt shop in Williamstown.  I was thinking of a solid red or a red that reads solid.  Red is a VERY hard color to play well with other reds.  This cream, beige with red material was found.  It does play well with the other materials.  As you can see in the block at the bottom of this picture, it is the cream, beige found in the dark red material.  That dark red will be my outer border for this quilt.  

The sashing should be completed tomorrow and then on to the next border.  That will be half square triangles.  Lots of them. 

I only have one more row to take out on my 1985 quilt.  I know the reason it shrunk so badly.  This experience has opened my mind quilts labels.  More information to come.

My slow stitching: finish a count work piece.  A better start on a new tatting project.  Enjoy your day with threads.

Linking up to Kathy's Quilts: Slow Sunday Stitching. 

 

1985

1985 was the year that I took my first quilting class and made my first quilt.  This quilt was made with stencils.  Each piece marked, cut and hand stitched together.  I then quilted each block, put the blocks together with sashing and quilted the sashing.  I used a cotton batting.  

I still have the course work: stencils and directions.

It has been used for 38 years.  I guess we took good care of it as it had not been washed.  I wish I had a before picture of this quilt. 

Last week I was sorting a bedroom and there was a small pile of kid quilts made by my Mom or me.  I decided that they needed to be washed and put away.  (The cats had been napping on them.)  My 1985 quilt, my first quilt, was with them, and I added it to the pile.  I wish I had a before picture of this quilt.

The kid quilts all made it through the wash without any issues.  They have been washed before and had either a polyester or newer cotton batting.  

What was I thinking.  My first ever quilt from1985 did not fare so well.  I don't think cotton batting from 1985 was the best.  When I took it out of the washer it was all puckered up, super puckered.  Like really ugly puckered.  I wish I had a before picture of this quilt.  

Some of the blocks.

This quilt will not be thrown out.  My slow stitching for a bit will be the un-quilting of this quilt.  I need to see how it will deconstruct.  Will I have to bring it back to the blocks or will it be one piece.  I will iron it smooth and put it back together.  This time I will use a wool batting.  It will once again be hand quilted.  I need to make a good diagram of the quilting and quilt it the same or very closely to what was stitched before.  

I wish I had a before picture of this quilt.  I am very glad that I have the quilt and that I can put a new batting it in.  Jack and I have a date today to take off the binding and begin to slowly un-quilt.  Shall keep you informed on how it goes.

I will be linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

Update: I finally had the courage to measure this quilt.  It puckered up 16 inches in length and 14 inches in width.
 

Heartfelt

Getting back in action.  

My husband was nice enough to share his nasty viral cough and respiratory symptoms with me.  I had sent him to our PCP for evaluation when he had been coughing for five days.  All testing was negative.   That meant that it was viral, and time would heal all.  It did and it has.  We both still have a bit of cough, but my energy has started to come back.  

I finished three different blocks for my Heartfelt Quilt over last week.  Last night I cut out squares to get Block #24 ready to stitch together today.  If you look closely, you can see that the red has a directional print.  Last night I could not figure out which way to cut the half squares.  Today I cut them oh so carefully and one at a time.  I wanted the pattern direction to all go in the same direction.

First picture is the blocks before I trimmed them down.  I only made one direction mistake when cutting.

Here they are all trimmed and in proper position.  I carefully carried this to the machine.  Sewing was done with a lot of paying attention to the pattern and rows.

I am pleased to say that Jack did not have any work to do in piecing this block.

I am sharing what is known as a 'Kitty Smear' in our house.  Gibbs is on the left and Ziva is on the right.  They are truly bonded cats.  They were not excited with my sewing, and this is where I found them when I was done.

Have a great day with your threads.  I have another block, two of the same, to make today.  Will need to find some hand work for later when Basketball is on this afternoon.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Nor'easter

The weatherman predicted correctly.  The Nor'easter did visit and left us with 24 inches of snow.  Monday night it was "bits of snow falling" when we went to bed, just a dusting for accumulation.  Tuesday morning, we had a few inches.  Nothing to write home about except that it was wet and heavy.  Yup, snow can be heavy.  

It then snowed ALL day, sometimes at 2 inches an hour.  Heavy, wet snow was taking down tree branches and even trees.  The branches and trees then took down the power lines. Our power was out for about eight hours.  Which is not terrible, there were still people without power as of last night in some of the hill towns.  They had 36 inches of snow.  We are lucky that we have the fireplace and a stovetop that runs on propane.  We use propane to heat the house, but you need electricity to run the furnace.  We had put water aside in case we needed it.  The well pump doesn't run without electricity.  We were warm and safe.

What is a person to do when only one room in the house has heat (the fireplace)?  Find another squirrel.  

On Monday a package had come in the mail from Shepard's Bush in Ogden, Utah.  I had ordered their Spring Bag kit.  Perfect.

Stitching done. 

Buttons attached.

This is their fourth project bag that I have done.  They are so useful for me and enjoyable to do.  Now I am working on the scissor fob and pincushion that go along with this.  One can never have to many pincushions or scissor fobs.

Have a great day.  Our weather is now in the high 30s, so our snow is melting, slowly so far. 

Update:  The snow has gone down by half since this was posted on Friday.  Our days have been in the 40s and sunny.  Spring may be actually coming.  

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Squirrel

This week has not been a week for me.   It was good to help others with several projects and events.  But it left little time or energy for me to sit at my frame or machines.  

Thursday a package came in the mail.  My package had a quilting pattern and also the kit for Accept What Is by Lizzie Kate.  Little did I know that the kit was to become a squirrel.  After 13 hours of stitching time over four days, the squirrel is done.  Just finished it, then sat down to write this entry.  

I am thinking that I might try to frame this myself.  Will let you know.  

This week is a quieter week for me.  Time for stitching and sewing.

They are saying that we are going to get the snow from a Nor'easter, 1-2 feet, Monday to Wednesday.  We shall see.  The storms that they have predicted so far this year have fallen short in the amount of snow.  Snow, but not what they said.  Snow is OK by me.  I see it as our well water or the water for the reservoirs.  

May you enjoy your threads and be safe.  

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.