Tatting Tea Tuesdays - Tatted Leaves, Acorns & Pumpkin - OT Please vote for KISKI

Fall has arrived and I have been busy tatting all things Fall. For the last few weeks, I have been tatting leaves, acorns and a pumpkin. There are so many great patterns for tatted leaves and some really pretty variegated threads, that it makes the tatted leaves look authentic!!

Before I learned to tat and tatting took over my life, I use to cross-stitch. One of the pieces I did was a large table scarf with cross-stitched pumpkins and fall leaves as a border. I have used this on my dining room table every fall for about the last 25 years. Well, I thought maybe I could change it up a little bit by tatting some leaves and just laying them around on the table scarf. Here is what I have done so far.

First I have a lovely little pumpkin designed by, Sherry Matthews. I really like how the leaves are tatted.


The next two leaves I have done so many times. It is an old Workbasket pattern that was updated by Tammy Rodgers. Here I used Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple HDT and a solid butter cream Manuela and the right leaf center is also Manuela in light pumpkin. I also tatted a few acorns, which are designed by Karey Solomon and is in her book "Tatting Turns over a New Leaf.

Next is another leaf out of Karey's book mentioned above, it is called "Simple Leaf". These are also done in Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple HDT.

Here is another pattern out of "Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf" by Karey Solomon. This is a Silver Maple Leaf, done in Sugar Maple HDT and a solid red Manuela for the center. I like how this one turned out.
This cute little leaf is designed by Sherry "LadyShuttleMaker".I used Altin Basak thread.


My Last leaf is a desgin by Gale Marshall at Tats All, I used Yarnplayer's Nectrarine HDT
I really like this color.

Here is my dining room table all decorated for Fall. I think next year I will continue tatting a few more leaves and pumpkins. There are still some different leaves I didn't tat, but it will wait till next year. I'm ready to move on to my next project.

Wait a minute, I took this picture thinking I was done, I was putting my camera away and I noticed that something looked different on my dining room table. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I better take another picture, just to make sure...........

yes, I see him now..............

he just had to get in on this picture...........

I see he has made a new friend...................
Do you see him????????

He is hiding, and he just popped out to say...................

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

HI WILLIAM!!



p.s. Very OT - Could you take a moment to help vote Kiski Area Marching Band for Band of the week???


My daughter, Katrina is in the Kiski Area Marching Band. This is her senior year and she so enjoyed her time in our Marching Band. Kiski Area Band is in the National Class of Marching Bands and have won 1st place in their AA class 28 times in a row. They just had a regional competition in Masillon, Ohio and 21 bands from 6 states participated, they once again won 1st place in their class and took 1st place over all.


Our local news station WPXI in Pittsburgh always showcases a "Band of the Week". In all four years that Katrina has competed, the local news station has never done a story on our band. We sure would like to see Kiski get recognized and showcased on our news station. If you go to this link:

WPXI Vote for the Band of the WEEK

Just vote for Kiski Area that's all you need to do.

Whatever band has the most votes by Friday, October 30 at 12 noon will be showcased on the local news.

This is Katrina with tears of joy, after learning they took 1st over all!!!

Thank you so much!! Katrina appreciates your Vote.

Tatted Pig and Lady Shuttle Maker's Giveaway

I Tatted this cute little pig a few months ago and forgot to post a picture of her. She is a Pam Palmer design, she is in one of her Tatting Treats books. I'm not sure I like the background paper I used behind her, I may change it to a plain lighter pink bacground.

I think I am done tatting leaves and will start on some pumpkins tonight.

Happy Tatting!!

Tatted Crosses, Blog Award & Aileen's Halloween Mystery Giveaway

I have so much to blog about, but I am still not feeling 100% from being sick. But I would like to show a much honored blog award that I received from Carolyn at Draffin Bears. She has awarded me the Bella Sinclair Award. The Bella Sinclair award is for Art Inspiration, Friendship Sisterhood, Sharing, and Caring. Bella is such an awesome person who is a very talented artist and a very caring person. Please visit her blog as well as Carolyn's blog, they are both such wonderful ladies.



I would like to pass it along to a few people whom I enjoy sharing e-mails with and visiting their blogs as well:


Laura at Laura's Tatting Muse

Pamela at Tats a Kool Challenge

Isdihara at Ambitatterous Tatting Tea Tuesday

Aileen at Aileen's Wicked Tats

Thank you again Carolyn for passing this award on to me.

I also wanted to mention that Aileen at Aileen's Wicked Tats is having a Hallowversary Mystery Giveaway on her site. So far there will be three prizes awarded. How fun is that. Can't wait to see who wins and what the prizes are. Thank you Aileen for the chance to win a mystery gift. Click here to enter her giveaway.

Sometime ago I made a couple of crosses for a friend, I think the one on the left was from Rebecca Jones book and the other from a Ring of Tatters book. Both are very easy crosses to make.



I am currently tatting leaves to add to a table scarf that I have crossed stitched leaves on. I made the table scarf about 10 years ago and I thought the addition of some tatted leaves with Yarnplayer's HDT Sugar Maple would look good on the scarf. I am almost done tatting the leaves and I want to tat a few pumpkins as well. I will blog about it when I am finished.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

My Tatting Throne - Where I Tat!

Sometime ago some tatters were blogging about where they spend their time tatting. I know this is soooo late, but this is where I spend my time tatting.

William - My Lucky Charm, is always by my side when tatting. He also helps me locate my tatting tools when they are misplaced. I had trouble finding my Birthstone Shuttle, he told me it was in my new tatting bag, the one made by Jane Eborall. Isn't it so cute, the material is musical notes.

So William kept insisting my shuttle was in the bag, so I told him to find it for me. He dove into the bag and pulled out my favorite shuttle. I was able to tat again. I was working on another Lotus Flower. I will post that next time.

I wanted to show the heart bookmarks I was tatting. The pattern was in an Australian Newsletter and is by Julie Patterson 2008. The purple and green one is Valdani Thread. The pink and rose one is Flora.

I am home sick today, I have a bad cold. I haven't had a bad cold like this in a long time. I hope I feel better by tomorrow. This is my third day of feeling awful.

Tatting Tea Tuesday

Does Ice Tea count? Because that is what I had. I made a pitcher of regular flavored tea, but I always add one flavored tea bag, and this time it was apple flavored tea. This way my tea always taste slightly different.


Now onto the tatting part of this post. My Mom and Niece were visiting this past week and I got to do some tatting with my Mom and good friend, Rayanna. It's always fun when we can get together and tat. I made a motif for my niece, she just had her 12 year molars out, so I wanted to tat something for her. Sarah picked out the colors, Navy, Variegated Pink and White. The pattern is Jane Eborall's Lotus Flower. I love how this motif looks.





We also went to the zoo when they were here visiting and I got some really good pictures of the animals, especially one of a shark in a new tank. The polar bears are in a tank like this also. The tank has two enormous underwater viewing tunnels offering unparalleled views of the animals. If you are in the tunnel and look up, the shark or polar bear can swim right above you. It is sooo neat. I got a picture of the shark as it was swimming above me and you can see the sky above the shark, so it looks like the shark is swimming in the sky.






Here is another picture of the new tanks. Katrina sitting in front of the shark and Cameron is watching the polar bear swim by.





This is my niece Sarah standing by the tank with the Sea Lions.



Some other pictures that I liked, the Zebra and an Orchid.




Here is the newest baby elephant at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Isn't he cute!!!



It was a fun day at the Zoo.

Catching Up

It sure has been a busy summer. I have not had time to update my blog in such a long time. I have been tatting, but have not had time to update my blog. I wish there was more time in the day, just for tatting and reading tatting blogs. I try to tat and read a few blogs everyday. This morning I took pictures of what I have been tatting over the last month. I forgot to take pictures of a few things before I gave them away :(


I did finally manage to add a picture to the top of my blog title. It is the Reversible Motif by Jane Eborall. I loved tatting this motif. I used Yarnplayer's HDT, Tourmaline with matching threads. This is such a pretty colorway.

This is the front side of the motif.

This is the back side of the motif. I don't know which side I like best.


I wanted to make earrings to match each motif and use them as a pendant/earring set. I am very pleased at how each set turned out.

Then I made another Peacock colored motif (see previous post). Using Jane's "Lotus Flower" pattern again. The last one I made I turned in to a pin for my jean jacket. This time I added a ribbon/cord and it is a lovely pendant with matching earrings. I just love the colors in this motif too.






One more picture to post. Jane's new Multi Beaded Earrings. I love how this is made and there are so many possibilities for the bottom of these earrings. Thanks for all your wonderful patterns Jane. As you can see I love tatting your patterns.




I still have more to show, but it will have to be on another day. I need to get out to the garden and pick peppers, basil, and dill to freeze. It sure is hot today, it's about time though. Our summer has been rather cool, which is ok too, but we need some hot days and nights to help our tomatoes ripen.



Thanks for visiting my blog today. I enjoy reading all the comments everyone leaves.



Have a great day!!

Memorial Day Pin & Peacock Colored Pin

Memorial Day was a great day. First there was the Memorial Day Parade in Vandergrift, PA. My daughter, Katrina, is in the Marching Band, and they marched at the parade. We had great weather for the parade.

Then we spent the day doing odds and ends outdoors, planting in the garden, took a long walk in our woods on the trails and cooked out!

Then in the evening I had time to tat. I saw that Kathy at "Kathy's Victorian Tatted Lace" tatted a red, white and blue motif. Which of course really fit the day and inspired me to tat something red, white and blue. So I found a pattern that I have wanted to tat for many years, and never have. It's a pretty little heart by Billy Heisler "Heisler's Creative Stitchery" the heart pattern can be found here. This was quick and easy to tat.

I have a jean jacket that has embroidered Peacock Feathers on the sleeve and back. I love the colors used in the feathers. Teal, Dark Lavendar, a Bright Green, the colors in the feathers are so vivid. I wanted to tat a pin in these colors to wear on my jean jacket. I thought how nice the pin would look with the embroidered feathers. Luckily I just ordered some Lizbeth thread and they were the perfect color for this project. I used Jane Eborall's Lotus Flower pattern. I love how the pin looks with my jean jacket.

All I have to do now is glue the tie tack pin to the back of the pin and I'm all set.

Now to go plan my next project. It will be another mixed media project with some tatting and a drawing.

Elmer, The Patchwork Elephant

Many of you with young children may know of the book series "Elmer" by David McKee. Elmer is not a normal color elephant, he was patchwork. Elmer was yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green black and white. This series was a favorite for both my children when they were little. We read the books over and over again.

Well, I got this idea to tat Elmer in patchwork colors and add a drawing to go along with him. It was such fun creating this picture. I recently discovered how much fun it is to draw. I didn't think I could draw, anything but stick figures though. But I have been so inspired by art blogs lately that I have been doodling.
The elephant is a pattern by Jane Eborall. One of her many animal patterns on her website.

Here is "Elmer". Tell me what you think!



I also wanted to upload a few pictures that I took on Mother's Day weekend. Even though I had strep throat, I did get to go on a Nature Walk with my family in our woods. We made nature trails in our woods and it's fun to walk and enjoy the queit peaceful atmosphere.

This is heading back to the Nature Trails.

 

Tatted Bookmarks & Pattern Page

I love to tat bookmarks. There are so many styles to choose from. These are two of my favorite though. The cat bookmark is from an old Knots Newsletter #50 from 2002. The cat is also in Diana Stevens Animal Bookmarks book.

The butterfly is my favorite butterfly to tat. The pattern is by Mary McCarthy and was in the Workbasket Magazine I think 1990. There is to be a bead in the center of the butterfly, but I left it out since I didn't want the bead to damage the book it would be used in.

I came across a Tatting Site I have never seen before. It is called "Free Tatting Patterns". I don't know whose site it is and none of the tatted pieces look familiar. Although the Wide Tatted Necklace does look like something Totusmel would have designed.

If you click on Read the rest of this post on each blog entry, it gives the pattern to that piece. There are some really pretty pieces of tatting here. I really like the pink white necklace.

Does anyone recognize who this site belongs to? There is even a Tatted Tie on here. Very interesting!!

Well let me know what you think.

Happy Tatting!

Mother of Pearl Button Brooch

Don't you all just LOVE Jane Eborall's patterns? I know I sure do.

Thank you Jane for sharing so many wonderul patterns with us!!

I have made quite a few of her Mother of Pearl Button Brooches, but this one has to be my favorite so far. It was a gift for a new friend.





I found a lot of Mother of Pearl Buttons in my button stash and thought this is a perfect pattern to use them with.

The thread is size 20 Flora color 62, which is a soft variagted pink and the beads are a mix that I got from DS9 Designs, Miyuki Mix 18 "Abracadabra" I did add some cream colored beads to the mix. Debbie, at DS9 Designs, has a lot of cute bead mixes for projects. Click on the picture to see how pretty these beads look with the thread.
The weather has been so nice here in Western Pennsylvania this past week. I am thinking about summer already. I did another doodle, thinking about my garden and planting sunflowers.




Happy Spring!!

I've been Tagged and Doodling

I've been tagged by The Lady Who Tats at Your Crowning Glory!!

The rules are:

1. go to your documents/pictures.
2. go to your 5th file.
3. go to your 5th picture.
4. blog about it.
5. tag 5 people …...

Ok... The picture that I am blogging about was in my 5th file, the 5th picture. Which works out great as this was a tatted notecard that I made and didn't get to blog about it yet.

I made this cute little tatted basket added some tatted flowers and used some scrapbook paper. It's pretty enough to frame.

The basked was on the Tatting Pattern Calendar on July 16, 2007 by Laurie Walton.

Now to tag 5 people, which are blogs that I enjoy checking for updates.

Ridgetatter

Vinnie at Vinnie's Tatting

Heather at The Tarnished Tatter

Carolyn at Draffin Bears

Steph at Steph's Tat Stuff

I also have been doodling and thought I'd put this quick doodle on here.

Mary Had a Little Lamb & I've been given an Award, The Renee Award

HAPPY EASTER!!!!! I wish everyone a very joyous day with loved ones!!

Mary Had a Little Lamb..... Lamb.... Lamb.... Lamb. She has 4 so far. I loved making this little lamb. I have wanted to make this lamb for sometime now. Ever since Jane Eborall had her Tat It And See (TIAS) of the button girl. There is a new TIAS going on right now if, so if you want to give it a try, click here. The pattern is given in parts and you don't know what you are making till the end. It's a lot of fun!

This little button lamb is so cute. The pattern is by Martha Ess and can be found here on Jane Eborall's Site. Martha just published a new tatting book, "Tea is for Tatting". The Teapots are fantastic. I have to get this book.

Wow.... I can't believe that I have been given this awesome award by TattingChic and also by Pamela at Tats a Kool Challenge, The Renee Award, it was created by Bella Sinclair.


Here's what Bella has to say about why she created this award:
"This one is meaningful to me in three profound ways. Firstly, it was created in honor of Renee, one human being who has made such a difference in the lives of many just by being. Her honestly, wit, intelligence, and grit are a tremendous source of inspiration. She can elicit raucous laughter and guffaws in her banter, and then turn right around and offer the most heartfelt, gentle words of wisdom and emotional support. She is a spreader of love, simple and true. And her love is infectious.
Secondly, this award was created in collaboration with one of my best friends, Ces. She is, in Renee's own words, truly original. She is an incredible artist, both in pen and ink and paint. She is fiery passion with a gentle hand. She is laughter, fun, joy, intellectual stimulation, a sister. The concept and design of the award belong to Ces.
Thirdly, this is a brand new award, and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds its way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns…"

I really like that these awards didn't have any "rules".

You can pass it on or not. You can pass it on to as many or

few as you want. It's very cool!

Thank you so much for the very touching award. I am very honored to receive an award that was created with love!

Am I Late or Just Super Early for Next Year - Shamrocks and My Leprechaun, William

That is the question of the day. Am I late or just super early for next year? I was planning on tatting Shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. I had all good intentions of giving a few out, one to my Mom, one for my Aunt and one for my Sister and of course one for myself. Well, I didn't make it in time. So am I late or am I early???? I have 7 Celtic Shamrocks completed, and I think I will give them out now, so I don't loose them if I wait a whole year to give them out. LOL!! Now the second problem here, well not really a problem, but I made the Shamrocks in different shades of green, and I had a hard time choosing which to keep for myself. I may have to make on in each shade, I like them all.

I wanted to thank Marilee (Yarnplayer) for posting her part of the Shamrock pattern. I think it is an awesome Shamrock. Thank you Marilee!!! Also Ruth Perry for her instructions on the Celtic center. Thank you!!

As you can see, I did each Shamrock slightly different. The lighter green is the new Lizbeth thread, Spring Green, I used a solid green center on some, that was Flora thread and the variegated thread is Manuela. I just need to add the split ring finding on the top so they can be worn as pendants. My Leprechaun, William, is having fun just laying around in his field of Shamrocks. LOL!! He is just getting back from an adventure of his own. If you want to see what William has been up to, go visit him at the Leprechaun's blog.

I guess this completes my second round of 25 Motifs. I lost count and did over the 25. Guess I'll start again. I got this round done rather quickly.

I have also tried something new. I have been so inspired by some art sites that I have been following (Bella Sinclair Doodlespot) and (Gem n I) that I thought I would try drawing. Below is one of my attempts. I had this cute birthday card and I just copied what I saw. I think I did ok for my first try. The drawing is very light, I didn't want to press real hard with the pencil, because I did a lot of erasing. LOL!