Lil' Black Border Revisited

Maybe because Jane from South Africa is tatting an edging?  Today I have been thinking about the Lil' Black Border pattern I learned to tat back in the 1980s.  (And a slew of other projects...)

Alas, too many tatting To Dos are already queued to start an edging. Unless, of course, it is Be-stitched's Tatted Holly Edging.

There is also Tatman's Back to School Apple, Gina Brummett's Gingerbread Boy, Yarnplayer's Small Maple Leaf earrings and a paperclip horse designed by Ineke Kuiperij.  (The design comes from her Chess Set booklet.) The paperclip horse was shared with the Palmetto Tatting group by Pam Freck, Katharine Buckner and Riet Surtel-Smeulders.

See what I mean about distractions?  *whine* But I have Norma Benporath's Lace Mat to finish. And at least one more charity project snowflake to complete before November 3^rd...

Hand-dyed threads (HDTs) are whispering too. 

• Karey Solomon's Hobbit (pictured left)
• Lady ShuttleMaker's Witches Brew 
• Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple
• Tatskool's Brackin Crunch 
• Tat-ilicious' (I have forgotten the name.)

It is not "4-Eva," not Fancy Fields, not Blue Tango...

All these HDTs are vying for attention. Oh, good grief!

Maybe I'll tat a football instead:  Tatman's Superbowl Shuttle & Pattern

Sunday Sweets

As a new class of students embarks on their Design-Tat journeys, I can't help reflecting on my own discoveries.

One of the revelations was that you never know from whence the spark will come. Once you start seeing the world through design eyes, inspiration can come from anywhere.

Image reprinted with permission
Copyright © 2011 Carol Gillott
A delectable dessert photo, for example.

Everyone else (maybe you included) salivates over the scrumptious-looking petits fours, but I see the box.

'Can the lacy border can be tatted?' I wonder.

This sketch came to a screeching halt because of the "tassel effect." It is a principle element on the box. (Click on the Paris Breakfast photo for a close-up view.)

Another revelation is that once inspiration strikes you never know where it may lead. The "tassel effect" section I also "see" a ribbon bow with a tassel hanging from it. So the Clunies may morph into bows.

Nothing is certain, except for one thing - getting there is half the fun!

Do go over to Paris Breakfasts for more mouth-watering images of sweet treats and the incredible water-color paintings pastry artist Carol Gillott creates from them. Just don't go hungry...

Tell her IsDihara sent you. シ

Motif #6 and Holy Holly Kaleidoscope!

Igoya, my twin sister, granted me permission to post this image. She created it from a photo of an ice-glazed holly bush in her front yard, using a software program called Kaleidoscope Kreator 3.

Does this image inspire you? It inspires me. Wouldn't it make an amazing tatted snowflake?

If you think this image should be made into greeting cards, please leave Igoya a comment at her Etsy shop or here.

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First Snowflake
For Tatting Tea Tuesday, I'm working on partridges
and Wendy Durell's 4 Ring Snowflake while sipping Snowberry Tea.

4 Ring Snowflake
© 2009 Wendy Durell

This auspicious flake is the first one I have ever attempted that actually was completed in time for holiday gift-giving.

It was made using "Signature" thread from Japan. It is a long staple Egyptian cotton quilting thread that comes in several solids as well as variegated colors. The color is M07 - Pastels. It is pale enough for snowflakes, but would also be divine tatted up for baby.

I am counting this snowflake as motif number six (6) in my 25 motif challenge.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

End of Summer Blues?

Image reprinted with permission
Copyright © 2009 Carol Gillott
We all hate to see the lazy days of summer come to an end, don't we? I'm no exception. As August heat gives way to cooler breezes and geese trek across the skies, it is getting harder to ignore the unavoidable truth - Autumn is around the corner.

But before Fall's dazzling foliage, pumpkins and hayrides take over the landscape, I want to bask in the illusion of Indian summer.

Tatting Tea Tuesday pays tribute to everyone who, like me, is in denial about the end of summer. All hail its glorious last days!

Basic Strawberry Heart © 2003 Birgit Phelps
(Celtic-style Top to come later)
As I settle in with a cup of strawberry herbal tea, I pull out some Coats & Clarks "boilfast" size 70 tatting cotton in a perfectly ripe, juicy red.

Another of my flea market finds, it came in a 12-inch metal tin that was filled with partial spools of vintage tatting thread. Apparently they had been stashed away for a rainy day, then sold at auction.

What better way to honor summer's last hurrah than with a symbol of its bounty? My freezer is filled with juicy strawberries fresh-picked in May so we can
enjoy mouthfuls of sunshine all winter long.

I'm making two of these strawberry hearts for a special Teapot Tuesday project I have been keeping mum about for awhile now. More on that later.

This bitty berry project would be done except that the only green cotton I have is either size 80 in a pale, mint green or size 20 Manuela in a dark, Hunter green.

So I await the arrival of a size 80 Christmas green from Handy Hands. It should arrive by parcel post later in the week.

Once the Celtic-style tops are done I will post again and share the surprise that Mothermark over at This is My Story has in store. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to share it with you!

But my part in this project has had to simmer on a back burner while I focus on the lessons for the Design-Tat class. Mothermark waits patiently, but I figured I had better send her something before summer was well and gone.

You, however, won't have to wait longer than Halloween (October 30th) for news of our awesome little collaborative tea project.

In the meantime, revel in the glorious pseudo-summer days that remain and prepare for Autumn's splendor.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful.

See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

Insider (Germ) Trading & Motif #4 of 25 Motif Challenge

School is back in session and the first wave of germ-trading has begun. The Sprout is not even enrolled in preschool. Three days into the school term he got sick and developed an ear infection.

So Tatting Tea Tuesday finds me blogging from bed, cuddled close to an alternately teary and talkative boy. He has been watching cartoons (Toy Story, Little Einsteins, Dinosaur Train or Pinky & The Brain). We have also read several books and even made up a few stories to break up the monotony.

Tatting under these conditions is not easy, but I have managed to finish this little something. It is tatted in Manuela size 20.

Tiara ~ Motif #4 for 25 Motif Challenge

Tiara is my latest experiment with stabilizing chains. I worked rings after short series of chains and used a split ring-chain combo to add more strength. The design ended up being wavy and square.

Overall, I am pleased with the results even though it turned out to be a bit more ornate than I expected. Stability and negative space are both good. It makes a nice motif #4 for the 25 Motif Challenge.

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** UPDATE **

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Thank you, one and all, for your lovely well-wishes! I am happy to report that The Sprout has rebounded with new-found toddler energy and gumption after completing his course of antibiotics. We head to the pediatricians on Tuesday, 9/22/09, to verify that the ear infection is, indeed, gone. If so, they plan to administer a flu shot. So more teary, out-of-sorts tantrums and cartoon marathons may be in store for the days ahead.

Motif # 3 of 25 Motif Challenge

Ta-Daaa! The tatting that has consumed my heart, mind and soul this week stems from a study of negative space in the Design_Tat class. I used Lizbeth size 20 cotton thread in the color Mocha Brown Medium. It measures seven (7) inches across.

It is not blocked, as I am already preparing to tat it again in HDT. (With a few tweaks to help it hold its shape better.) Can you tell what shape I was going for? Here's a clue .

Ugh! I goofed and scanned it with the wrong side up, so if you look closely you will see the unsightly knot where I started and stopped. Nonetheless, it represents a milestone in my tatting development: my first original design.

Oh no! I just read through a past post from Threads of a Tatting Goddess' blog and saw the following passage:

"We were to design the next round of a center motif. The only rule was to join at the 4 picots on the original center motif."

Take another look at my motif. See the stunning lack of joined picots on the central motif? Oh, the horror! The mortification! All that work and I failed to follow the one, simple rule of the lesson.

Well at least I hadn't uploaded it yet. So dear readers, you are the only ones who will know the truth. (Still, the motif is quite pretty.)

My lot is to start over, making a whole new design. But this one still counts as motif #3 for the 25 motif challenge, so at least the work wasn't all for naught.

Milles mercis, Tatting Goddess, for stopping me before I completely embarrassed myself in front of the class.