Tatting Tea Tuesday Poll

Tatting Tea Tuesday is taking on a new dimension for me. I will be doing my tatting during the evening instead of the afternoon. Why?

Two weeks ago I stumbled upon a stitching group that meets on Tuesday nights close to my home. They are a group of crafty ladies who used to meet at a local knitting shop before the shop closed its doors.

A few of the ladies said they tried to learn tatting but were unsuccessful, so last week I spent a few hours tatting and teaching and marveling at the creative talent assembled around the craft tables.

Can you believe my Optometrist's assistant is a regular of this group? I have been seeing the same Optometrist since 1990 (wow, 20 years!) and this same woman has been his assistant. Their office is not near my home. Never in a million years would I have expected to see her in my neighborhood. Small world, eh?

This new evening tatting routine will require a shift in my regimen. The tatting will actually be done earlier in the week. Theoretically this will enable me to prepare the photos in advance. That is my goal.

Which raises the question:  when do you do your Tatting Tea Tuesday tatting?

Crazy Quilt Block Tatting

A quick update to share some of my tatting attempts to help Georgia Seitz in her 2010 Tat Days Scholarship fundraising project. Georgia has asked for help with crazy quilt block #86.

Here is a link to other crazy quilt blocks for the project: 2010 Scholarship PTG Fundraiser. At this juncture I am unsure if all of the blocks shown are unclaimed or if they are spoken for, but if you are interested in helping out I am sure Georgia will steer you in the right direction.

I have one last snippet of pumpkin on a vine edging left over from 2009's Halloween quilted ball ornament (closer look) that I think will look beautiful on block #86.

Birgit's spider should look right at home on quilt block #86. This is how far along I am in tatting the ingeniously constructed little arachnid.

With her long legs she looks a bit gothic, Tim Burton-esque? Just wait until those legs are finger-tatted.

Also in mind for the blue wavy segment of the quilt block is a baby whale from Heather, the Tarnished Tatter's book, "Afternoon Tatting." You can see a sample of the wee whale baby from Heather's Etsy page.

Cross your fingers that I will have finished the spider and started the baby whale in time for Tatting Tea Tuesday.

ArtBin® May Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win one of two ArtBin® Hook and Needle Nook storage cases. Color: Periwinkle.

Do I have your attention?

Your wonderful and helpful comments did wonders to lift my spirits last week. I also indulged in a bit of HDT shopping therapy. Unrepentant thread junkies always feel better after buying new threads!

But tatting snafu-ery continues. So for a few moments I'm sipping tea and having a rant.

The good news is that there will be a prize at the end for two lucky winners!

First, the Rant
It pains me to place an online order only to see it go through twice. What makes it worse is not finding a contact telephone number on the web site – only customer service email – and then being told via email – several days later – that "there is nothing we can do, the order has already shipped."

*Blarg and bother!* But my pain can be your gain.

ArtBin® May Giveaway

ArtBin® (tatting supplies not included)
I've put an assortment of tatting supplies in one of these storage cases to give you an idea of what it will hold (besides knitting needles and crochet hooks).

PLEASE NOTE: Twenty(20) to 25-gram spools of tatting cottons, such as Lizbeth and Altin Basik, will NOT fit in the divided compartments.

Smaller spools will fit, plus shuttles, picot gauges, crochet hooks and of course, hand-dyed thread.

Here's how to enter:

1. Comment on THIS POST to be entered for the drawing. Only one entry per person.
2. Leave me a way to contact you: email or blog link. (Entries that do not include valid contact information will be disqualified.)

Giveaway ends at midnight (EST) on Monday, May 31st. Good luck!

High Hopes Fizzle

Remember when I posted this photo of Tatskool's Just Daffodils HDT to tat Julie Patterson's Spring bookmark?

Ooh, I love Just Daffodils. It performs to perfection.

My complicated brain demanded that I not settle for a single twine-y, daffodilly vine. No...I had to double the width, maybe tat a clover at the top and bottom to give it a nice finish at each end.

Many times I picked it up and put it down, working a bit here and a bit there as time permitted. So I didn't notice that I had changed gears along the way.  See the glaring green gaffe?

Some posies have a green leaf attached while others have a fourth flower petal. 

Now this lace looks ugly uneven (Ugh. Blech. Phooey.) but not because of the gorgeous thread. I did manage to tat up until the last six inches of green...

Do I start over from scratch or chalk it up as a lace fail and fuhgetaboutit?

I would welcome any suggestions, tips or advice!

Link Love: Tatting

Just a quick post to share some recent finds featuring tatting:

Born 100 Years Too Late This blogger has begun a new feature called "Fancy Work Wednesday" -- a perfect next stop after visiting Heather, the Tarnished Tatter's "Wacky Wednesday" column.

Things We Make Blog has featured two tatters so far in its "Instant Heirloom" pages:
Kersti Anear and Jessica Spaulding of Snapdragon Lace (who, if memory serves, won the Shuttlebirds speed tatting contest a few weeks ago.)

An oldie, but a goodie: Then and Now: The Ancient Craft of Tatting Featured in Tennessee Residence Decor...Again

And if you haven't seen this yet, you're going to love the Tatting Zodiac over at InTatters.

Long Overdue: Size 50 HDT from Heather

This was a post-in-progress when Silly Hat Central's router went kaput. 

Does this happen to you?

You carve out a little niche of time to blog, get into a comfortable groove, but don't quite get through everything you wanted to write. You make a note to get that last bit in the next post.

And before you can say "Bob's your Uncle," you are facing a blog backlog.

Backlogs don't sound all that bad. That is, until they get out of control. Ambitatterous has had a blog backlog for months. Despite best efforts to whittle it down, the reserve banks up again all too soon.

This goodie is one that could no longer remain cached.

As a thank you for test-tatting two swan motifs for her book, Afternoon Tatting, Heather, The Tarnished Tatter mailed me these lovely goodies: three skeins of simply gorgeous HDT in size 50, two googly-eyed ceramic "Sammy" shuttles, size 10 HDT bamboo and more!

But I foolishly didn't photograph them right away. Now the shuttles are stashed and not readily accessible, but the threads are.

Isn't Heather the best? She has indefatigable design talent and a generous, giving heart.

"Wine & Roses" Weigela

Here are flowers for Heather from my "Wine and Roses" Weigela bush. (I confess to filching this idea from another tatter's blog. It is such a lovely way to show gratitude and share photos from your garden.)

Weigela, soaked in spray.

And just because the Kodak moment was too good not to share, here is The Sprout playing with the hose in the back yard. You can see the full Weigela bush in all its wild, unkempt glory. But I don't think the bush (as beautiful as it is) is the center of interest.

The Sprout taking aim at his dog Ginger.

Out of Pocket

Sadly, Silly Hat Central's router stopped working and our Internet Access provider is shipping us a new one. It won't arrive until Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. Sorry to miss Tatting Tea Tuesday this week -- but I will return as soon as I can to catch you up on the tatting I have been doing later in the week.

And to read all about your tatting adventures. Missing you all terribly...