Saturday, June 8, 2013

A Call for Dragonflies

The 2013 Tat Days scholarship fund raiser involves tatting dragonflies (as well as other bits).  All tatters are welcome to participate. Dragonflies must be received no later than JULY 1st.

Sharing a quick list of  free dragonfly pattern links:

Libel, the Dragonfly © Riet Surtel Smeulders 2002
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2002/sssr/rietdfly.html

Beaded Dragonfly – Sue Hanson © 1999 and © 2005
http://freespace.virgin.net/bo.hanson/Tatting/BeadedDragonfly/BeadedDragonfly.htm

Dragonfly - © Jane Eborall 2011
http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/dragonfly.pdf

Dragonfly Pattern © Shirley Hill
http://www.ringoftatters.org.uk/patterns/shirleyhill/sh.html

Dragonfly and Swan © Jon Yusoff 2010
http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2010/02/dragonfly-and-swan.html

Mrs. Mile's Dragonfly © 2010
http://lalalime.blogspot.com/2010/06/life-in-general-my-first-tatting.html

Little Beaded Dragonfly © Debbie Arnold 2000
http://ds9designs.com/littledragonfly.pdf

Dragonfly by © Lisa Reichert 2002
http://www.tatsall.ca/patterns/LRdragonfly.htm

Also, a lovely dragonfly designed by Sharren Morgan is included on the Tat Days 2010 Pattern CD. Here is a snapshot.



And a dragonfly I tatted from Riet's wonderful pattern  (see link above): Outdoor Tatting - Dragonfly!

Please consider sending in one or more dragonflies of your choosing to help raise money for the scholarship fund.  As a scholarship recipient last year, I can attest to the value and NEED for this marvelous scholarship.

That is why I am stitching and tatting to create a decorated wall hanging to be auctioned off for fund. It is a huge blessing to tatters who otherwise would not be able to attend.

Editor's Note:  As of publishing time the link to the 2013 Tat Day Fundraiser page was broken.  As soon as it is working again I will add it to this post!

UPDATED at 2:10 p.m. on June 8, 2013
The link is back up!  http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2013/new2013fundraiser.pdf

And there are more opportunities than I knew!  Flowers, dragonflies, tatting to adorn Mardis Gras masks...please read through all the ways you can help!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Double Cross

The first Tatting Tea Tuesday of summer started out with me sipping an iced green tea Nojito.  I make my own mint syrup, adding several splashes of lime to the green tea plus a fresh sprig or two of mint.  YUM!  Feel free to add rum if you prefer a Mojito-tea concoction.

Two Jane's Bookmark Crosses
Designed by Grace Tan/Jane McLellan
Tatted by IsDihara 2013

This week I completed a second Jane's Bookmark Cross. One for each of Sapling's Kindergarten teachers. These turned out great! Both are lovely and were a joy to tat. Sapling's last day of school is June 13, 2013, so I even completed them before deadline.  Perhaps the most amazing part!

This second cross is tatted in Lizbeth® 20 #149 Peacock Blues. It measures three (3) inches in length (7.62 cm) and two (2) inches wide (5.08 cm).

Hats off again to Grace Tan who cleverly adapted Jane McClelland's bookmark pattern into a cross.  And gratitude also to Jane McLellan who adapted her bookmark from a braid that appeared in the May 1984 Anna Burda magazine.  Such amazing talent from these two tatting ladies.

Jane's Bookmark Cross pattern PDF may be downloaded from the Tatting Class Homework page: New Pattern from Grace Tan

Ramblings and a Sneak Peek

To kick off summer tatting season I had wanted to tat another Celtic Strawberry Heart by Birgit Phelps or one of Martha Ess' charming Split Ring Ladybugs (pattern available on Palmetto Tat Days 2009 Pattern CD).  Alas, with the stitching I am doing I wasn't able to start either project.

It seems the Piedmont Palm Frond group was the lone sponsor of a decorated wall hanging this year. We had been keeping mum about our theme but I see no reason to keep it under wraps any longer. Here's a sneak peek at our whimsical blue-eyed penguins:

Playful penguins wall hanging for
2013 Tat Days fund-raising auction.
There will be more to discover about these capricious penguins at Palmetto Tat Days in September.  The wall hanging will have hand-stitched applique, couching and some bead work as well as tatting and bobbin lace. My hope is that such fun-loving sea-birds will be in demand on auction night.