Blue Earrings

Pretty Blue Earrings. Sue Anna from Tollway Tatters sent me the threads and beads for Christmas. Below is a picture of the different beads and threads she sent plus other delicious goodies!!  The Threads are hand dyed by Marilee Rockley, it was hard to choose a color for these earrings. The pattern is by Nancy Tracy.

African Violets are blooming. They grow fast and need repotting. They are the easiest indoor plants to grow and rewarding with their blooms that last a long time. Very easy to start with only one leaf  and about 4 months you will see baby leaves coming up.

Shamrocks

Frilly Shamrock pattern by Susan Taliaferro

I cut out sparkly felt shamrock and sewed the tatted shamrock on it.



Finally came up with a frilly lace edging. Beginning at the base of shamrock Petal  I looped the chain thread through a needle and insert it through the felt to make a shuttle join (picture below). Chain stitch 4 and repeat joining to felt. * Chain 2 P (4 times) 2 and join to felt.* Repeat to last P ch 2 Join to Petal 1, ch 2.  Repeat to the last petal near the stem you will chain 4 and join to felt. 

These are a few edgings I tried but didn't like them. The first is tatted with sulky size 30 and the other two with size 80 Lily Thread.

Here is a 4 leaf clover tatted with size 20 Lizbeth Leaf Greens.

Pattern by mariyas-tatting.blogspot.com

Sailing Ships

My first ship in blue (size 20- 664 Ocean Teal Med) was sailing smoothly till it dawned on me the last 2 rows is the hull of the ship. So I thought I clipped back to the beginning of where the hull is to start but still missed a row. So the main sail has a larger billow!

The second ship (size 20 - 153 Rainbow Taffy and 180 Honey Drizzle - chain), I followed the pattern and added a bead at the top.

There are a lot of different techniques in this pattern with great instructions on how to tat them. For more information please visit Jane Eborall at   http://janeeborall@blogspot.com

Thanks Jane for the tat along during our Winter snow, sleet and bitter cold in the USA.

Soupcon Quilt Along

January 3rd Faries and Fibres (www.fariesandfibres.blogspot.ca/) started Soupcon Quilt Along (QAL).

 It begins with a hexagon block and one can add as much  embroidery as they like. Karen has lots of great tutorials on embroidery and how to make bees and other bugs.  I have been working on another project so I am way behind.

 

To see more eye candy from the other ladies go to www.flickr.com/groups/soupconqal/

 

Desert Rose 2014 Block of the Month

 Our local Desert Rose Quilt Shop started a new BOM the last week of January. These are all Moda Fabrics.

 Here are the two blocks for February.
The above Pinwheels  are made with the half square triangle and introducing more color.
Below are the flying geese using the technique "Fast Flying Geese". There is no changing the method you use. These are all cut out and ready to mark and sew.  It is a great way to learn new techniques. I asked if we could use E Burns Quilt in a Day Ruler and was told yes and make sure it is the small one. Well I didn't realize there is a size 2 1/2 x 4 and my small ruler is 1 1/2 x 3. The first goose I cut was not the right size. Should have read twice and cut once. Checked online and there is the other ruler. Ms Desert Rose gave me one of her demo goose.

I went to Lowe's and purchased a 24"w x 48"L finished board for around $18. Put it on top of my regular ironing board and covered it with an extra large bath towel. Now I have a real nice ironing board for quilting. Happy Camper!!
Should have looked sooner instead of struggling with a V shape, tiny space for ironing large quilts.
I have several Yahoo Groups that Yahoo will not allow satellite users to access them. It was fine till last week and they shut us off from all groups.  So I have to go to Mickie D's  to look at the files, chat and download information. What a pain but the coffee is good and afordable...$.52/cup!   I have now switched most of my mail to GMail.

Hearts for Valentine's Day

 We tatted hearts in tatting class on Wednesday. I am not a very good needle tatter but helped a gal and she tatted 2 hearts. Very happy to accomplish it. I showed her how to tat a dimpled heart using the last half of ds 6x and the first half 6x for the dimple.
The above hearts are shuttle tatted. The first row of "Three Little Hearts" is a free pattern from Grace Tan all tatted with Lizbeth size 20.
 Heart 1 is Fruity Frizz #139, heart 2 is Sherbert Delight #108 and the 3rd heart is SCMR Tropical Punch #132.
The bottom 2 hearts are from Nancy Tracy, Be-stitched (www.be-stitched.com) The Tatted Josephine Heart is Lizbeth Honey Drizzle #180 and Tatted Butterfly Heart is Lizbeth Country Grape Swirl # 140.

Little Bear is modeling a knitted hat for my niece's first child.

Tatted Ladies

The Ladies Bodice is filled with silk ribbon flowers or small tatted flowers. They can be embellished with beads, silk ribbon or lace.