Pincushions part one

Hi,

As I write this its raining and blowing a gale,   what's another drop of water when we have so much,  every day since the 12th December its rained, it rains at some point of every day.  How do I know its the 12th December thats the day Vernon got his new shed.   Its the wettest winter for 250 years,  it just keeps on coming across the Atlantic on the jet stream,   I watched a programme on TV last night about battered Britain the damage to the coastline in the South is massive.  This is one winter that won't be forgotten for many years to come.

Anyway to today I have something new to show you,   Carollyn started me off,  shes been making pincushions.  I can hold the material in my bad hand and sew with my right,  it was not easy at first but got easier, as I made them.  Link to Carollyns Blog

The blue one was my first,  picture above,    I know its not perfect stitching around the sides,  well not my usual standard.  I used up some of my tatting bits to make the decoration,   This one had a piece of snowflake I found,  usually odd bits that go wrong are thrown but some how this bit stayed and went in the box.   I had some blue 3d flowers, added some white ribbon and did some embroidery trails,  plus a few gold beads. Close up of the spray 

This yellow one was next,  a piece of tatting which was going to be a square motif, never got finished.  tatted in Lizbeth thread no 20, a small piece of green ribbon and a 3d flower in the middle,  and I put a bead in the middle.
The flowers were tatted with Turkish Oren Bryan Perle no 8 thread,  they were tatted with thread left on the shuttles sometime ago for something else I was going to do.  A close up below.

Its been nice to use up bits of tatting,  they were stuffed with toy stuffing,  after the the blue one I decided to stitch inside,  it worked out better,  it was good to try and make something ok they are not perfect but it was good exercise for the hand.    I hope you like them.   I have made two more which I will show you in a couple of days,   I did try a little tatting the other day,  painful but I managed a butterfly,  its a start back to full recovery.   Hopefully I can try knitting this week.  Anyway enough of my waffle hope you are having a nice weekend.

                         Hugs

                     Margaret

Snowflake Countdown to Christmas Challenge - Day 17

Hi
Day 17
Great minds think alike they say and when I finished tatting this snowflake I looked at Allison's blog (yes she started this challenge) link to her blog she had done the same snowflake,  well here's mine,
This is a Celtic snowflake from Jon called Quantiesque snowflake. I quote from the pattern "If you are wondering about the name,  here is the explanation for it.  I was transfixed by the effects of the centre which is a take of the Mary Quant logo of the 60's.  The actual MQ logo has five petals"  yes she goes on to say she remembers those days well so do I. Link to Jon's blog
 I used Oren Bayen Koton Perle Thread no 8 in white and yellow variegated which goes from very pale yellow to gold.  I have not tried off my ends but I hope you like it.  Its tatted in two half's then put together by weaving the pieces together and then the edge is tatted around.

            Hugs
        Margaret

My tatted Fluffy Angel 23/25

Hi,
I want to introduce you to my Fluffy Angel,  a couple of weeks ago I showed you a fluffy snowflake,  well the brain cells went into overdrive  and I googled to see if there was a fluffy angel,  no could not find one.  With the brain cells working this is what they came up with.  This has been tested tatted by three lovely ladies  Wendy from umintsuru  link to her blog,   Fox from Tat-ology link to her blog  and Diane from Lace-lovin Librarian link to her blog.   They have been three of the best test tatters I could have have, to have a pattern tested worldwide is amazing and with the technology we have today this has been easy to do, so now  with there help the pattern is ready.

I used Oren Bayan Koton Perle no 8 but any thread that will fluffy can be used,   she takes 7 and three quarters of thread approximately and is 2 and half inches long with a wingspan of 4 inches approximately,
This is the fluffy Angel with beads,   I only put one bead per picot but Fox used three on each picot which look totally beautiful.
So for the first five tatters who would like a copy of the pattern please leave your name on this blog and I will send you a copy,   but I am afraid after that the pattern is now on my esty store,  which I am adding today, there is a link in the sidebar to my esty store.
They have all said she is gorgeous so I hope you will agree,  this is the moment of unveiling and the time I sit and hope she will be liked.
I have really enjoyed designing her and I have some more ideas running around the brain cells for fluffys.
News on the scan,  I had it yesterday but I have no results as yet,  just hoping they find something.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and stay dry.
                         Hugs
                      Margaret
PS Sorry all five free patterns have now gone.

Angels Bookmarks and Fluffy Snowflake, 22/25

 

 Hi,
I cant believe its a week since I posted anything here on my blog,  I am still awaiting this urgent CT scan we are now in the third week and it was up to four weeks waiting time.   NHS at its best.  In the meantime I continue to live on painkillers. 
Its not a bad day here and yesterday was lovely with sunshine but today has been duller and we had mist before the sun finally came out,  I think its a little warmer today which is good.  If we could just get a few days of warmth Vernon might be able to cut my meadow lawn before the winter.

I have not been up to much but I have been playing and done some designing I have one test tatter and I am looking and hoping for a couple more before I tell you anything more about my new little pattern.  I do hope you will like it when I unveil it.
I did make this Leens Tatted Angel,  I was not happy with it,  all the more so when Vernon asked what is it supposed to be,  this from a man who knows nothing about tatting when I meet him and he had never heard of it let alone seen it.   He could not see the head and there is really no head just a halo,  which I think the round space put him off. 
So I put a round ring in the middle for the head,  he preferred the ring in the middle as the head.  I had thought of putting a bead in the middle.  Perhaps its the colour I used,  Lizbeth Christmas Delight No 20,  would it look better in white I will try another one soon and perhaps some beads around the halo and bottom of the shirt.
This is the one with the ring in the middle,  I will leave it you as to what you think.  Link for the pattern is here


I did another Flowering Quatrain Bookmark by Joelle,  I love this pattern again I did the tassel with a square of the corners of the bookmark   this time I used Lizbeth Butterfly Breeze No 20
Link for the pattern here

I thought I would try this pattern for the first time its the Spiral Bookmark which was adapted from edging # 1,  page 23 in Tatting Doilies and Edgings Dover Press edited by Rita Weiss,  which I got from Intatters,  I used Lizbeth white and Butterfly Breeze no 20,   I like this pattern and are planning to do this again in different colours.

Now for my Fluffy snowflake, designed by Wally Sasa   I saw this on Mary's Blog link here  When  I saw Mary's I had to do it,  I had a job to find the pattern but got there in the end,  unfortunately I don't have a link for it but I found it on Needles-N-Shuttles.  I used Oben Bayan Koton Perle no 8 in  variegated blue and white.  not sure if this is really the right colours for christmas but I really like this fluffy snowflake something different for a change.  I am planning to make more of these.
Back to my playing and finishing off my little pattern,  a clue as to what it might be is on this page........
I hope you are having a nice weekend,  the sun is shining on you wherever you are.   Until we meet again take care
                       Hugs
                   Margaret

Holiday Tatting 20/25

 

Hi,

Today I thought I would show you some of my holiday tatting,   I have already shown you Diane's Doodad challenge which I tatted on holiday,  so this is the rest,   above is a selection of snowflakes and angels which I asked to tat for the Nursing Home Mother lives in,   They saw my snowflakes on my table at the summer fair and they asked for a selection for their christmas decorations.  They are from Anna magazine December 1991,  there are three SSSR angels by Anne Bruvold link.  and also three 3-Dimensional Angels by Katie Johnson which I did when I came home here is the  link which I have adapted the pattern to stand rather than glue the skirt to the body which I don't like,  so by adding two picots to the body I can attached the skirt. All were tatted in Lizbeth No 20 white.

I also tried this lovely pattern which I saw on a blog before I went away unfortunately I can't remember which blog but they were lovely with beads, so if you are reading this my apologies    Just to try the pattern and I did not take a lot of beads with me I did the pattern without.   Its Tatted Daisy by Mrs W.M. Odum.  I will be doing this one again with beads and plan to make them into pendants.
To find the pattern link   I used Lizbeth no 20 Summer Fun.

I also made this bookmark for a Friend whose birthday was when we returned,   I used Oren Bayan Perle 8,  I saw these in a shop in Rhodes and brought a load of different colours,   this is a mixture pink and I love the colours,  its a bit soft but has a lovely shine.  I brought so much that the shop owner gave me a free ball of red/gold Altin Basak Thread for my christmas.   I think he was rather amused on one of my visits yes I made several visits to the shop,   when I told him I could pack my husbands suitcase with thread from his shop and leave vernons clothes behind........  Vernon laughed but I don't think he would have be amused.  All in all I spent a lot of euros on thread and I have checked the prices since I got home and I did save a fair bit,  I have also found I can get some more from www.tatting.co.uk,   The pattern yes its Flowering Quatrain Bookmark by Joelle link
This finishes my holiday postings.  I hope you have enjoyed them.
Until we meet again take care
              Hugs
          Margaret