Pin Cushion Jars and Flags

Pin cushion jars made at the May 2015 Tatting Social

In May, my LYS (Local Yarn Shop) hosted a Tatting Social for which I was an Evil Taskmistress a teacher.  We made pin cushion jars and used our snippets of tatting to decorate them.

Since then I have gone a bit barmy for pin cushion jars.

Hello Kitty 4 oz. pin cushion jar.

No Dull Pins

Here's my dilemma: the metal lid keeps the pin cushion from "popping" like a weasel out of the top once the rim is turned onto the jar. Pushing the pins down to the metal lid dulls them.

Peacock pin cushion

Hot-gluing into the rim is messy and hot-glued cushions dislodge after a few opening turns. (What's the point if you cannot use the jar for storage?)

What's a girl to do? I have read that steel wool keeps pins sharp. But I suspect I will have done and move on to more conciliatory pursuits.

EDIT:  Just to be clear, the pin cushion jars work GREAT when you use the metal lid in the bottom. They turn on to the jar smoothly.  They don't pop out of the lid.  The only downside I can see is that the pins get dull if they are pushed in as far as they can go.

I have extra long pins, so I am guilty of pushing them in farther than the average person. It is a habit I developed when Sapling was small and his curious, wee fingers got into everything.

My latest pin cushion jar has steel wool in the bottom with poly-fil batting on top.  It assembled easily with the lid and (while not as poufy as the ones with a felt disk) works well.  If my pins dull, I will get new pins.  I love having a peacock feather pin cushion jar!

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Stars and Stripes at the June 2015 tatting social

The June Tatting Social was all about patriotic tatting.  In honor of the sweet land of liberty we celebrate every July 4th, we tatted stars and American flag bookmarks in different sizes.

HandyHands, Inc. graciously granted us one-time use permission to share Dee Powell's American Flag pattern from the pattern book "Tatted Bookmarks Needle & Shuttle," edited by Barbara Foster.

My flag is the "medium sized" one at the top right in the photo (10 rings wide).  Fellow teacher Sw4nkyL4c3r  needle tatted two red stars and the small flag pendant in bottom right of the photo.

It was a truly wonderful day spent tatting and chatting. Cannot wait for the August tatting social!

Motifs 1 & 2: Confirmation Bookmark

Confirmation Bookmark 2013

Q:  What do you get when when you cross a Dove and a Phone Box?
A:  a Confirmation bookmark  
(Click and drag mouse over answer to reveal.)

Miss me?   (Not after that joke, I'll wager.)

I wanted to offer up a fractured song lyric today but my brain is a-buzz with Sapling jokes (the variety found to be funny by first graders).  Let's try this one that Sapling told in this morning's carpool:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Doctor
Doctor who?
You know my name!

25 Motif Challenge - A 3rd Go
I resolve to begin a 3rd 25 Motif Challenge in 2014. The goal of this challenge will be to keep me tatting regularly. Oh, and finish in one calendar year if I can.

Dove © Jane Eborall 2011
Tatted by IsDihara 2013

Motifs 1 & 2 - Bookmark for a Boy's Confirmation
Jane Eborall's Dove will launch my first tat --  a Confirmation bookmark. Didn't it turn out nicely?

Threads used are Lizbeth^® 20 Christmas Red for the bookmark and Lizbeth^® 20 601 Snow White for the dove. Patterns used for the two elements are Dove © Jane Eborall 2011 and T.A.R.D.I.S. bookmark © Anne Bruvold 2009.

T.A.R.D.I.S. bookmark © Anne Bruvold 2009
Tatted by IsDihara 2013 - 2014

Doctor Who fans will giggle knowing that I chose a T.A.R.D.I.S. pattern for the body of the bookmark. (Doesn't the top half resemble a red T.A.R.D.I.S.?) The white dove is designed by Jane Eborall in the UK. Doves and the color red are symbolic of Confirmation so I am told.

The connecting cord is braided, encapsulating the thread ends into "cobra" braid used in paracord survival bracelets. Cobra braid is basically a series of shoe-lace tricks tied around a core.

OK, one last joke...  (Are you groaning?)

Q:  What do you call a camel with no humps?
A:  Humphrey
(Click and drag mouse over answer to reveal.)

Have a marvelous Tatting Tea Tuesday everyone. Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for joke-free communi-tea!

Motif #13 - Gloria Butterflies

Motif #13 Gloria Butterflies by Iris Niebach

Just look at these glorious butterflies tatted in size 40 Lizbeth Berry Burst. Such pretty little flutters!

The original edging pattern comes from Iris Niebach's book, Fantasia 3. It is aptly named Gloria.

(This motif is amended from Iris' original pattern.)

It measures 5.1 cm (2 inches) in diameter and is motif #13 in my 25 motif challenge.

See where I ran out of thread on the second butterfly's wing? I was using a thread sample and thought I had enough to finish. It was so close!

Five yards were loaded on one shuttle and about 3 on the other. Eleven centimters (4.3 inches) were left on one shuttle and 72.4 cm (28.5 inches) on the other.

This motif is destined to become a bookmark. Won't these two little flutters look precious flitting atop some late summer reading?

What's in a Name
I don't know if Iris Niebach names her patterns after loved ones, students, memorable local personalities or tatters who have gone before. But if I were Gloria, I would be delighted beyond words to be the namesake for this remarkable design.

To Cluny or Not to Cluny?

Apologies go to Ms. Niebach for changing the pattern. As written, it calls for Cluny leaves and a connecting chain above the Cluny leaves to be worked in between the butterflies.

You can see the original pattern on The Tattingplayer.

I tried to tat Clunies. I did.

My first attempt did not turn out well.

For starters, I wove the shuttle over and under six threads. That resulted in an even weave that didn't resemble a tallie at all. When it came time to close, I had no loom threads to pull through and got very confused. What else could I do but unweave the offending tallie all the way back to an empty loom.

Another thing I don't understand is the second, unflipped half-stitch at the start of the weaving. Is this a regular second half of a double stitch, unflipped? Or an unflipped second stitch made during the second half of split-ring tatting (which actually is the unflipped, first half stitch of regular tatting). I bet I am really over-thinking it, aren't I?

Anyway, after a much-needed visit to the online tatting class archives I have discovered my error in weaving around all six loom threads. Thank you to Georgia Seitz, Mimi Dillman, Tammy Rodgers and Wally Sosa for your excellent tutorials!

I have dipped my toe in the Cluny leaf pool and now must conquer this new technique or die trying.

Rest assured, once I get a good grasp of Clunies I will be making more of this butterfly edging pattern, exactly as Ms. Niebach intended. It's a keeper!

Is She a Winner?

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

YES! Look what I won. (Sorry if you thought I won Tatting Chic's fabulous 50,000 Visitors Celebration Giveaway...but I kind of did.)

Back on July 5^th I posted about receiving a super-duper awesome gift in the mail from JB. It was my prize for winning the Pay It Forward Giveaway on her blog. The workmanship and thought that went into this gift are jaw-droppin' awesome and I'm thrilled to be able to show them to you now.

Isn't this the prettiest heart-shaped bookmark? Be sure to click on the image because it is even more beautiful close up. I have to tell you that I cannot tell where she made her final thread joins! It looks completely seamless. And yes, this bookmark is my new favorite.

But that's not all! Check out this splendid, embroidered linen hand towel she made for me. Linen! Aren't the colors vibrant? The flowers cheery? Just look at the details. I just LOVE IT! Here is a close up of the monogram.

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

It looks so pretty hanging in my powder room. I wish I had another one for my other powder room. Maybe I'll proffer a trade or offer to pay her on commission. But a trade would be more fun.

JB, if you're reading this, would you be interested in making one more of these lovely hand towels? Let's chat about what I can make for you (that is, if you are interested). :-)