Thursday, July 31, 2008


Just a quick post of the gifts I received from the Here-Be-Tatters Christmas In July exchange.


Here is everything.

This is the ribbon pin.




And this is the ornament.



My partner is Valerie Stewart from Scott City, Kansas.

I'll put up a few pictures of that intriguing box tomorrow when I have more band width and a photo editor that can cut down the size of the pictures I'm trying to upload.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Whew!! Fair projects are finished, my Guilds Lace-In is over, all the summer concerts have been played (almost) so now I have time to work on my thread exchange threads again. For those who are wondering, I am planning to getting another thread exchange going in mid September before I have to start tatting for the holidays (again).

I have been busy designing for this year's fair. There is a story behind this design. I am a Rat. My Tai Chi Chuan teacher also makes tee shirts. Some years he does one to commemorate the Chinese New Year. I started late last year asking him to design one for this year, but he said he couldn't think of any Tai Chi Chuan move that would go with a rat. So, I decided that if I wanted to have a tee shirt, I would need to do it myself. So here it is.

I do have the pattern scribbled down on pieces of paper, I haven't had time to get them into a word file. I'm not even thinking of how long it will take to diagram them. If you are planning to go to the IOLI convention this year, I will have my scribbles with me as well as a few stray rats.

I also have a few motif entries. All three of these threads were given to me by Brigitte Henneberger of Wurzburg Germany.


This thread is Amann Buttonhole thread. It is stranded silk. I was going to do a different pattern with it that involved onion rings, but the thread split so bad as I did the split chain join (or smooth join as I call it) that I had to give up and find a more conventional ring and chain pattern.

The pattern is from the August 1958 Workbasket, but any resemblance between the written pattern and the picture is purely coincidental. I had to mostly go by visual and tried it 2 different ways, neither of which look like the book. Oh well. You can put this pattern down and one I won't ever try again.


This next thread is Valdani pearl cotton size 12. The color is number 35 and is described as Mango-Kiwi-Papaya. The pattern is from the January 1976 Workbasket.





Finally I have the same color n
umber as above but in the Valdani Quilting thread. This is a really pretty color combination. I may just have to get some more for myself. The pattern is from the November 1953 Workbasket.


I might as well keep going with this monster post, it is likely to be the last for a little bit. My lace guild also demonstrated at the Orange County Fair last week. Part of the requirement is to put on a little stage presentation, so here I am, flapping my gums on stage. They had a big screen TV in front of the stage so the camera man was able to really zoom in on my fingers. I could tell by watching peoples faces that they could see the thread flip.

Surprisingly we had a lot of positive response this year. A large number of people were asking about learning how to tat and make bobbin lace. I'm thinking it must have something to do with the current economy. It isn't so easy to go out anymore, so people are trying to find ways of keeping themselves occupied at home.

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Jail Break

Winnifred, the Godmother, is in the hoosegow. She has ordered her henchwoman, Sadie, to set her free.

I didn't teach Sadie how to do this. She figured it out on her own. If we really want to keep the crate closed, we have to clip it shut or she will open it every chance she gets.

The sound in the background is an episode of "Get Smart". I haven't figured out how to edit out the sound (or if I even have a program where I can) yet.