Back To School Motif # 17 and 18

He went back to school! Isn't it ironic that as a parent you are so ready for them to go back to school and then when they do you miss them terribly! The first day was not without it's bumps in the road. By 1:00 p.m. my son decided he had enough of school and wanted to go home so he got his book bag and kept going to the door. The Teacher Assistant said it took some convincing for him to know that he really wasn't done yet.

Now on to tatting. Remember I posted about finding a pencil case that was a soft vinyl and trying to decide which motif to put on it and how. Well I did finally find the perfect motif.


No not this one. Although it is lovely, it just didn't seem to look right on my pencil case. I did it in Perfect Quilter thread #059. Wonderful thread which is equivalent to Size 80 and such lovely colors. This is motif # 17.



I found the pattern I used in Karey Solomon's Tatting Times. Wonderful publication and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.















And here is my pencil case! The color just sets off the thread so well. It is so roomy on the inside. It's amazing what you can find and use for tatting purposes. I also found a little plastic box yesterday while I was out and about just perfect to carry one project in. It even has a removable top shelf and still small enough to be entirely portable. I might put motif # 17 on that or do something entirely different. I haven't decided yet. My husband always asks but don't you have enough tatting containers. To which I replied one can never have enough of those. he he. Oh I'm counting my pencil case motif as Motif # 18.

Christmas Tatting & Mystery Motif

Well I've started on my Christmas tatting already. I've started tatting Laura's snowflake or shall I say snowflakes in earnest now. I also wanted to tell you about this wonderful ball drape pattern I found through Ds9designs. It's gorgeous! There are so many different colors to choose from I may have to order a couple of different bead packs soon. The one I did is entitled Rocking Christmas. Debbie Arnold sales the pattern and bead kits here. Debbie is so awesome to deal with! Didn't it come out great?! My plan is to do one for my Mom for Christmas. Last year she got a new tree and didn't have enough ornaments for it so I'm going to help her out. LOL Shhhh don't tell! Oh this is Motif #16 of my 25.




I also managed to do the August Mystery Motif which is Motif # 17 of my 25. Woo Hoo! I'm almost there! I may just have to start another 25 possibly. I'll try not to have too much fun! I was teasing Gina about being left out of her blog entry on the Mystery Motif and she gave me my very own post. LOL Thanks Gina for the giggle.

Have you listened to any Tatting Podcasts lately? I've listened to Ruth Perry which was great! Now I'm enjoying Arlene's Podcasts. It's been great to hear about her adventures and misadventures in tatting as well as knitting. You can find Arlene's Podcasts here and Ruth Perry's podcasts here.

Snowlfake Quest

Guess what? My snowflake quest has ended! Every year I strap on my hiking boots and put on my trusty jungle hat and wade through books, patterns and online patterns searching for a snowflake to include in my Christmas cards given to my family. It's quite a quest trying to decide which one to do and I try not to do the same one 2 years in a row. If I did a round shape snowflake last year then I do a different shape for this year. Why do I do this? Mainly because my Aunt loves my tatted snowflakes and she writes me a handwritten note every year thanking me for my snowflake. It makes me feel so good that my tatting is so appreciated and I treasure the notes she has sent me.

Without further ado, I am very pleased to announce that the one I've chosen for this year is Laura Blanton's Easter Egg Snowflake. Doesn't it look gorgeous in white! Call me old fashioned but snowflakes to me should be white. LOL Here it is! Isn't is lovely! Also it's Motif #15 on my 25.

Gecko Motif #14

Yikes! Has it been that long since I've last posted. Egads, I've been neglecting my blog. I have been having a time with my son. He has been a real bear the past few days and I was wishing the rest of the summer away and thinking the start of school couldn't get here fast enough. LOL Well I took him to the doctor for what I thought was a stomach virus and poor little thing had an ear infection! It's hard to tell since he is non verbal. So he has had a reason to be bear-ish.

Anyway the things on my blocking board yep still there! Did I mention I hate blocking no I really, really hate blocking. It's very tedious and time consuming and I would like for my tatting to fall from my hands wrinkle free. It does sometimes but not as much as I would like. I worked on Jane Eborall's pattern "Pamela's Gecko" which I thought was so cute and have been wanting to try it for the longest time. So here is motif #14.

Small Motifs

Hi all! Or should I say Ya'll since I am southern. I've been working on some small motifs in different colors trying to decide which one I want to put on this pencil case I just got. It's perfect for carrying tatting supplies. It's made of a soft vinyl not hard plastic. I don't have any pictures yet as it is a work in progress and to tell the truth I haven't had time to take any pictures. I will soon though. Then the next thing will be to figure out how to attach the motif to the pencil case. Sewing it on probably will not work so it will probably be glued on and I'm stumped as to what glue to use. I'll have to research a little on that. That's all for now.

I have loads of blueberries and loads of birds getting a free feast which I am not at all happy about since I want my blueberries for myself. My husband put out a plastic owl to scare the birds. I told my husband that owl is not doing a thing to which he replied he's plastic give him a break and then proceeded to sing "if I only had a brain". Speaking of owls, I found this little clip that is too funny! Apparently it was made by a teacher to get his 5th grade class interested in owls. Take a look! It's a real Hoot! (Really bad pun, I know but couldn't resist).

The Joys of Pink

I have a funny story to share. As you can tell I like pink but pink is not my only favorite color. I like blue, purple. teal, and red.

Now my husband, gotta love him, will not use anything that he considers a girl color. I'm still trying to change his thinking on this because men can wear pink as well. However, I have found out something wonderful about pink. Anything I buy that's pink he will not use therefore, it remains in my possession. An example of this would be that I had this calculator that my husband "borrowed" which I didn't see for a long time and lo and behold he claimed it for himself and it became his calculator which in itself is not a bad thing except when you want to use and can't find it. So I bought a pink calculator and do you know it hasn't vanished and it is still considered my calculator. He does use it but it never vanishes to locations unknown.

So now we come to the backpack, I "had" this black backpack that I used to carry mine and my son's things when we went on school field trips and to the park which made life a whole lot easier since I wasn't lugging around two or three things. I just put what I needed in the backpack. Weeelll lo and behold he says can I "borrow" the backpack so I said yes but told him I use it to carry stuff in when our son and I go on school field trips and other places. To which he replies, well you can get another one and I'll use that or you could use the new one. Well I think you can guess I bought a lovely pink one just for me. When he saw it he said "But it's pink?!" in obvious dismay. I told him yeah I bought it for me. Then we both had a good laugh. That my friends is the joys of pink.




















On the tatting front I finished my tatted scrunchie but I did not have enough of the same kind of bead so I used different beads throughout. Who said you had to use the same bead? LOL The pattern is from Wally's book Up to the Hair.

Not much tatting today

Well yesterday was non tatting day as my son spent most of his time in Tantrum City, USA which is adjacent to Cry A Lot Town on Scream Ave. I've never been so ready for a bed time in my life!

And did you hear the news?! My Christmas ornament does count toward my 25 motifs! Woo Hoo! But rest assured ahem (Sharon) and everyone you will see more of my tatting. LOL For all those who want to take a look. ;-) LOL

Here is a picture of a heart I did from Martha Ess' book that I did a couple of weeks ago. What am I working on now? I'll never tell you'll have to stayed tuned for that one. Oooh love a good mystery! My 25 motif challenge as it stands now in the previous post my ornament would be No. 10, bridal garter No. 11 and this lovely heart is No. 12. The heart is one from Martha Ess' Tat's Amore.