Friday, March 4, 2011

Miranda's Cardinal

MOTIF #22, Second Round


I have a small collection of cardinal items, and I certainly love seeing the real ones flitting around the yard!

When Miranda ("Tatting Fool"), generously offered this free pattern a few weeks ago, I e-mailed her immediately.

Click here to see how to obtain the pattern:

http://tattingfool.blogspot.com/2011/02/cardinal-pattern.html

As soon as I printed out the pattern, I did a rough sketch and numbered the rings (there are 19), as that's what I need to do to figure out where I am going. Her instructions are very clear and easy to follow, not to mention the pattern itself being so cool! I kept wondering how she thought of it.   Mr. Cardinal is adorable, and I know he'll get a lot of attention at the Maple Festival, coming up in April.

This is my second cardinal, as I did a 'practice' run with burgundy thread. I intend to do a third one, as this one still isn't perfect and I'm embarrassed to say that I miscounted the stitches on the rings in the easiest part - the main body. Also, I didn't quite get the sharp turn in the feathered crest, which I hope to improve on the next one.

I think Miranda's design is brilliant, and I simply love it. Thank you so much Miranda for sharing this with us! He definitely can be a year-round decoration!!!

I used "Christmas" by Lizbeth, size 20. The frame is 4" high and 3" across.

This frame could hang on a wall, but the stand shown above is a nice showcase for him

The frame
The frame is similar to a 'locket' and is hinged - creating a clear glass 'sandwich'. which means the tatting (and the paper background, from a notecard) is 'pressed' between two pieces of clear glass and 'locked' into place. No gluing necessary!

This clever frame was made by a fellow in Texas and was discovered by Carol Lawecki's mom, Peg, (who's a member of our tatting group) during a trip there. He makes (made?) different sizes of these, from pendants to frames, and in all shapes. I will see Peg soon at the Maple Festival, so can get more details. I have no idea if the fellow is still in business!

For Mr. Cardinal, I happened to have a green note card that provided a kind of Spring-like background, with white 'flowers' printed in the corner of the card, and I added my usual bow with curly spirals, and a silk flower.!

The stand
The stand is similar to the one I used for my white 3-D bell (posted Oct. 19, 2010).  I now remember where I bought these stands - at a local store, which, unfortunately, is no longer in business.  They carried unusual items from Europe and actually traveled there to find them.

Gina's Blogaversary Giveaway
I am a recent happy winner of Gina's generous giveaway, and I'll be posting soon about the many items I received from her! 

9 comments:

  1. I love Miranda's cardinal pattern! She sent it to me the other day, and I'm really looking forward to tatting it... after I finish my current projects, of course!

    I love the frame and stand!

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  2. What a wonderful display it'll make at the Maple Festival!

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  3. Definitely NOT for the birds! Great looking Cardinal!
    Fox : )

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  5. Hi again Kathy! Somehow I have missed all of your latest posts. Your cardinal is very cute!! He looks very nice in your oval frame. My Mom got me a square frame like this too. I have a snowflake displayed in mine right now. I'll have to try out Miranda's pattern. I missed that post also.

    Have a great Easter!!

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  6. Could I have the cardinal pattern please?

    Thanks,
    Amber Sebring

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  7. Hi Amber - Hope you see this reply to your comment. It's amazing to see a comment three years after the original post, but that's what's interesting about having a blog!

    You can simply click on the link I provided in this post, which takes you to Tatting Fool's blog. Miranda has generously shared her cardinal pattern, which is included among other patterns from Miranda. Just click on the tab under her header that says "My Patterns". Then scroll down to the Cardinal. It was a fun pattern to tat!

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