Happy New Year

I wish all a wonderful New Year!!

Please take time to create and please, please be safe in your festivities.

See you all in a few days for a new post full of gifts received!

Merry Christmas

This will be my last post for a while. I celebrate Christmas…all 12 days. Organists are quite busy on Dec. 24^th; and so is Dec. 25^th which for me is a day of collapse and napping after a quiet service. 

My next normal posting day I will be focused on the music side of my life. I just may get back to the computer side of my life in one week, but if I don’t manage that, you’ll probably see another post in 2020.

So, let me wish all a happy few weeks and the prospect of a New Year with plenty of time to create!

Merry Christmas!

Gift idea!

Treat your favorite tatter to a workshop!

I offer these two possibilities:

 Adapting Tatting Patterns using Sonata in Sunnyvale, CA at the Lace Museum. I’ll be guiding students through looking at vintage tatting patterns, taking inspiration from music for tatting designs, and step by step guidance through my pattern Sonata. Side trips to area museums and local attractions will be encouraged! I plan to visit San Francisco while I’m there.

Celebrating in the woods close to Spokane, Washington with Shuttlebirds. The theme is Mardi Gras. I’ll be teaching my Joy bookmark pattern, a snazzy way to decorate candle sticks, and guiding students through my motif inspired by a Bach Cantata. I hope to get lots of ideas for ways to use tatting in costumes for Laissez les bon temps!

Both of my classes at these workshops will be taught using needle and shuttle techniques. So, rest assured, the lace maker in your life will be creating wonderful lace! You can find the registration form on the LaceMuseum website to use as a gift registration for the Sonata workshop, or create a coupon to be redeemed for the weekend in the mountains. Registration will open beginning late January on the Shuttlebirds website.

We’ll see you there as we have tatting good fun!

Now I Lay my thread

I like tatting for many reasons:

The lace I create

Working with tools and thread

Something I can do with my hands that is portable

You can create a lot without spending a lot….except time

As I work my way through some of the cast-off stash boxes that have come my way, I’ve discovered tools I knew nothing about. Some of them I still don’t know what they are. Some I’ve re purposed. Most I pass on to others.

 I found a new purpose for a worn tatting needle. The finish is worn off close to the eye, so using it for needle tatting doesn’t work so well. I’ve learned to use it as a laying tool for stitching with silk. It works quite well. I’ve even developed a way to help with my tatting. I’m more conscious of where the thread is going as it comes off the shuttle. I now tat more confidently with a flat shuttle.

For those who are curious, there’s a good explanation on Nordic Needle website and a video on needlenthread. I’ll be posting pictures when I stop playing and sampling and actually create a piece.

Blackwork sample

Those who tat know that working in black thread can be very tough on the eyes. Those who stitch know that working on white cloth can be tough on the eyes. Those who practice in a room with a flickering fluorescent light knows that can be tough. So, what was I thinking?

front

back

Working on dark cloth with dark thread during winter?

Well, I decided when I signed up for the Elephant class, I should learn to work with silk. I’ve some silk to tat with and also some other silk to stitch with. When I’m learning a new technique, I tend to dive into my stash and see what I can do with what’s been leftover. Kinda like a musician learns just a small part of the piece often at slow tempo or with just part of the score. This sample is the result of my efforts with the stash. The white thread is cotton on 14 count cotton Aida, the red threads are silk.

The technique is similar to a style of embroidery called Blackwork or Redwork. I’m very drawn to the geometric designs. There’s a play between thread and negative space similar to good tatting designs. This piece turned out somewhat like I thought it would. Some of the design retreats into the cloth due to color of thread; some of the design creates lots of space. 

Remember my journey weaving in neutrals at this workshop? While I was stitching, I was laying bits of tatting on top and playing with color and texture. There will be more to come with this!

Getting ready to celebrate

I’m getting ready to party! 

Santa by Jane Eborall

December is always a busy time for me. I’ll be practicing daily again. I’ll be writing cards and notes. I’ll be creating and buying gifts and then wrapping them. This year I promised myself that everything that comes into the door will be used. I’m not going to stow it away “to use later” but used it now. Kinda “later is now” is my new attitude. And I do Attitude in December!

The picture is one of the gifts I’ve created. Not sure who will be receiving this one. I may just make several! For the pattern, visit Jane.

I hope your celebrations this month are full of joy and wonderment at the gifts you have been given!