framing idea

Many moons ago my brain came up with one of those ideas that just won’t go away: Tat something that frames something else. Not a new idea. People have been tatting edgings for centuries. You know, like what embellishes handkerchiefs, pillows, sweatshirts, just about anything cloth. What about tatting around a photo or painted picture?

When I started working through a book of ornament covers written by Nadine Nunnelly, I was drawn to one design that seemed to be a window with the ball showing through.

Ball # 10 from Tatted Christmas Balls by Nadine Nunnelly

 Negative space in tatting always draws my eye. Perhaps that’s because tension usually doesn’t affect my pieces that much. Not like my feeble attempts at crochet or knitting. Nor like my selvages at the loom. How the thread is knotted is fun to examine, but how the lace is open can be fascinating.

After turning in my items at the Fair, I started to prepare for demonstrations coming up. You know, taking stock of what is on the shuttles, deciding if that design idea will ever amount to much, and gathering materials for small butterflies, flowers and doves. I came across a note for this idea of tatting a frame for a photo or painting or something.

That sent me to my stash of thread for design ideas. You know, the stuff you just really aren’t grabbed by that was so cheap you just had to take it home…. the vintage thread someone found in Aunt’s sewing basket….. I am having fun with this. Maybe I'll use a bell from that box I picked up at the Auction. I’ve several “sketches” worked out with loaded shuttles. As I work through them, I’ll take pictures on my phone. When those get sorted and prepped for the blog, I’ll happily share them.