Small Oval Pendants

I bought some small oval metal pendants (1-1/2” x 1”) at a craft store for the purpose of putting tatting in them, although I had to remove the oval gem in the center so I could insert my black velvet paper background.   (You can see the original pendant in the last photo below.)

 

PENDANT 1

Lizbeth Spring Garden, size 20
The doodad was sewn on afterwards and not tatted in.

This pendant was a total surprise, as it was not planned at all.  I was merely practicing the basics of making a ‘fluffy’ round rosette with picots (like those pretty ones Allison has been posting about recently at ‘Allison’s Tatting Blog’  http://tattingfarmchick.blogspot.com/2012/09/frilly-rose-pattern.html ).

I stopped after the ‘picot round’ because  I ran out of thread on the ball. (I knew that would happen; I was just trying to see how the rosette is generally constructed, as I’ve never done one before.)   Also, the chain with the picots was not ‘tight’ enough,  so I would have stopped there anyway.

However, I thought that this little ‘scrap’ of tatting would fit nicely into the small pendant (although I had to stretch it a little to make it fit the oval shape), and it looked good  in these colors.  Then I thought I’d add some bling with a little ‘doodad’ which has convenient holes in it for sewing onto the tatting.  

This is what I love about tatting!  What might otherwise have been a scrap piece became something useful and attractive!

 

PENDANT 2

Lizbeth Turquoise, size 20

With simple tatted chain in the filigree ‘rim’

 

This pendant WAS planned and is a tribute to Rachel Jackson (The Piney Woods Tatter http://pineywoodstatter.blogspot.com/),  who inspired me to learn to do the interlocking rings.

In addition, Rachel seems to have perfected the concept of ‘layered tatting’, where she beautifully enhances a tatted motif (or even commercial jewelry),   with several rounds of overlapping and interwoven tatted chains.  She also artistically uses beads to  enhance her designs.   She has a way of visualizing how she will ‘construct’ this layered work, and creates one-of-a-kind pieces!  She especially loves to enhance exquisite brooches (such as cameos) that she finds at estate sales.  Her work is amazing!    

 

I obviously didn’t do any fancy ‘layered tatting’ on the metal rim of my pendant here - just one row of chains to ‘match’ the interlocking rings; but I’m fascinated by the concept and hope to try it sometime.   This would be the ‘foundation’ row.

Here is the original pendant.  I’m always on the lookout for pendants with pretty frames around them,  having empty or ‘removable’ centers so I can put my velvet paper inside as a backing to my tatting.

 I  prefer that the pendants come with bails attached, and appreciate the larger bails, so that a variety of necklaces  can fit through them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I love Fall and am glad to see some cooler weather come in (maybe a little too cool?),  I’m not happy that it’s getting dark earlier in the evening.   It is difficult to believe we’re quickly approaching October!

Pendants - All Kinds!

Featuring:

- First Doo-Dad
- Interlocking Rings
- Interwoven chains
- 2-Layered Flower

Here is my first doo-dad tatted item – a pendant -  and I give all the credit to Sue (“His Kid”) 

http://hiskid66.blogspot.com/2012/09/doodad-snowflake-patterns.html

I was amazed how quickly Sue designed three snowflake patterns using these round doo-dads, and then wrote up and generously shared her patterns with us!

However, I am in pendant mode at the moment, so I altered Sue’s snowflake pattern #1 by simply leaving off the thrown-off rings (therefore only one shuttle is needed).  Then I did a chain over the picots for a scalloped effect.  No cutting and tying is  necessary to start the second round.   

It was fun to tat around this doo-dad, and I had no problems.  Sue’s  knot counts fit around the doo-dad perfectly in Lizbeth size 20 thread.   And this motif fits perfectly onto my little black velvet discs!

Thank you, Sue, for all of your influence here, including helping me  find the doo-dads at Hobby Lobby.    I now have a new pendant pattern,  thanks to your hard work in designing the snowflake!   I love this and can’t wait to do it in  many colors!

 

LAYERED RINGS, INTERLOCKING RINGS, and INTERWOVEN CHAINS

Motif #5, Third Round 

Variations of chains tatted around interlocked rings

Tropical Punch and Vineyard Harvest

 These motifs show different chains added  to  the basic  interlocking rings, (depending on placement of picots) which  I first saw and admired on Rachel Jackson’s blog (the Piney Woods Tatter) :http://pineywoodstatter.blogspot.com/

Three of these motifs have interwoven chains (utilizing two shuttles) attached to the interlocking rings,  and the motif  in the upper left  has a simple chain going over the picots.  These are techniques that Rachel often uses in her work.

A special thanks again to Karen Cabrera, from whose video I learned how to do the interlocking rings using a shuttle.   (http://entrelanzaderas.blogspot.com/ )

The interlocking rings have been my ‘go to’ pattern for the past couple of months, (actually an obsession) as I practiced and practiced to perfect them.   I have MANY ‘sets’ of these basic rings, waiting for further enhancement, to be made into pendants. 

 

TWO-LAYERED FLOWER

Motif #6, Third Round

This sweet motif (also in Tropical Punch) is a very easy pattern which creates two layers in one pass.  Jon Yusoff  links  to the pattern in her  August 9, 2012 blog post: 
http://tatsaway.blogspot.com/2012/08/experiments.html   

TATTING EVENT COMING UP

We have a big tatting event coming up next weekend (Sept. 29-30) – the Erntefest at Old Economy.  http://www.oldeconomyvillage.org/     Old Economy Village  has been weathering its financial crisis and  is now  being run by many dedicated volunteers who have stepped up to the plate after  the Commonwealth of PA cut funds to several historic sites in 2009.    It’s a picturesque and interesting place to visit, and a very pleasant site to demo tatting.   

Tatting Anniversary

The Erntefest (“Harvest Festival”) event will be my 22^nd anniversary of my very first session tatting with our group in 1990.     

So much has happened in 22 years!    I never would have believed back then how tatting was going to take over my life, or that I’d have something called a blog, and that tatting would become popular again and go in amazing new directions! 

We’ll also be back at Vicary Mansion and Old Economy in December.  Therefore, I will have to go into ‘pendant production mode’ to build up my inventory!   I have many patterns now to choose from!

Success at Last!

Interlocking Rings!

Plus -  Vicary Mansion event coming up this weekend.

I FINALLY was able to join the first and last rings correctly on these interlocking rings!  

I was quite envious when Frivole (see link below) and others were successfully joining their first and last rings!   And, of course, Frivole went even farther in designing a couple of motifs using the rings.   So I was determined to finally conquer this technique, and now I have!  What you aren’t seeing are my MANY unsuccessful efforts at tatting this – not to mention my sore wrist

I used Lizbeth Spring Garden in size 20 and tatted 24 stitches in each ring.   That number of stitches seems to ‘stay put’ as I tat, although the final ring is still a little ‘fussy’ for me to do.   I should mention here that I did not finger tat the last ring; I rewound my shuttle, which is easy to do. 

I mounted this 8-ring motif on one of my black velvet discs, which is attached to one of the MANY pendants I have purchased at craft stores for the purpose of putting tatting on them. (Seriously, I could open a jewelry shop! I do try to buy them on sale!) This pendant (the only one I have of this kind) is a simple round plastic disk (but has some weight to it) which happened to have these silver (not pink) rhinestones affixed in a circle around the edge, and had an indented area which had a picture of a flower. I simply removed the picture and inserted my velvet disk.

I am as elated at accomplishing these rings as I was when I tatted my first ring 23 years ago (August 1989) and made my first 3-D items (early 1990s).    These are just simple rings, but interlocking them gives them a unique  look, and puts them into the ‘Celtic’ category.   I love all the techniques such as overlapped rings and interwoven Celtic chains and also motifs made in sections that are later ‘intertwined’.   They elevate tatting to another artistic level! 

Rachel Colvin Jackson  and  Karen Cabrera
I became aware of Rachel Jackson's blog (Piney Woods Tatter http://pineywoodstatter.blogspot.com/ ) last December and I was SO fascinated with the amazing, unique jewelry she was making or adorning with these rings as a ‘base’.   However, she’s a needle tatter, and I wasn’t sure it was possible to do the rings easily with a shuttle. 

Then last month, Frivole (  http://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.com/ )discovered Rachel’s work,  and then searched on the internet for a way to do the rings with a shuttle – and found  Karen Cabrera's video showing how to do these interlocking rings – using a single shuttle!  

You can find Karen’s video (#77) among her AMAZING list of over 100 videos(!) at http://entrelanzaderas.blogspot.com/2010/10/clases-de-frivolite-tatting-lessons.html ). ( By the way, Karen tats ‘reverse Riego’ style, so it may look a little different to those who do ‘slip and slide’, but, of course, she’s forming the same double stitch knot.) Karen’s blog can be found at http://entrelanzaderas.blogspot.com/   



This is my necklace display stand, topped by a miniature  hat (possibly from Hobby Lobby).  The lace collar is the one I’ve often shown (designed by Gloria Crowther), and was made back in 1990.  I wore it to my niece’s Christening, and she is now 21 and in college!  

The collar has decorated many things – either my costumes or my displays.

I have more to say about the interlocking rings, but unfortunately, I have a busy week and also have to get ready for our tatting group’s event atVicary Mansion in Beaver County, PAon Saturday, August. 11.So I will elaborate more in a future post

 VICARY MANSION   http://www.bchrlf.org/

 If you click on the “Latest News” tab on the website, and scroll down a bit, you’ll see part of our tatting display from a couple of years ago.  The rooms in the mansion are much larger than they appear in the photos!   Other tabs will explain more about the history of the Mansion (finished in 1829) and all the events they hold there.

Happy 4th, U.S.A.!

Let Freedom Ring!

Motif #2, Third Round

Bell (3" high) from 1992

Decorated (for today) with red, white, blue ribbon
(borrowed from my 'wedding bell' display.  It usually has flowers on it)

Tatted in Cebelia DMC size 30

Includes crystal ball clapper on gold chain
(enlarge photo)

This is one of several different 3-D bells that I made back in 1992, two years after I learned to tat, and I became fascinated with the idea of 3-D tatting, since there  were very few 3-D patterns out there back then.   I wanted to prove it could be done.  I used to crochet 3-D items.

This bell was adapted from a medallion which appeared in the 1992 Christmas Ideas edition of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest magazine. 

The designer of the medallion is Luella Rossow, and even now I'm not familiar with her name.  In the magazine her name is in tiny print, along with other designers of the different ornaments on the Christmas tree shown on the opposite page.  Hers is the only tatted ornament on the tree, and you can see only the upper half of it.    

Unfortunately, the actual pattern pages (in the back of the magazine) do NOT show the names of the designers, which is sad.  I sure hope they've changed that policy!  

I was going to write a longer post, but I am going to get this one in now, as I have had a problem getting it posted at all.  (New interface issues.)

*   *   *  

We're enjoying watching the fireworks live from Pittsburgh on television, as I'm writing this.  Hope you had a good holiday! 

Easter - April 8, 2012

I’m doing this quick post today to wish a HAPPY EASTER to those of you who celebrate the holiday.    Hope you’re having a nice day!

We had a prettier day yesterday with full sunshine and blue sky, but at least the temperature is comfortable today, with the sun breaking through now and then.    I’m enjoying seeing a lot of flowers blooming this early and delighted that we don’t have snow!

In the copper pitcher are silk flowers - an arrangement which we will take to the nursing home today for my MIL

I wanted to use it as a backdrop for some of my tatted items, as follows:

You’ve seen the collar (by Gloria Crowther) before, and the beaded eggs. I added my Pysanky egg, which I decorated way back around 1975. It is one of my prize possessions, and it rarely leaves the China cabinet where it stays safe and secure! I learned early on that doing the wax-resist eggs was way too labor intensive for me! This one took about 12 hours to do! I did a few others that were not as detailed, and still have those also!

I decorated the felt bag last year just for display on my demo table at the Maple Festival, and as a display at home. I believe I got the bag at Jo-Ann’s and found the pink felt self-stick letters in the scrapbook section, which were a lucky find. Then I added a ’string’ of Eliz Davis’ butterflies. (They’re connected by jump rings here). Above the word “spring’ is a bookmark by Julie Patterson, done in Caron Wildflower thread, which I also did last year.  I'll show it in more detail on another post. 

Have to sign off now, as we’re on our way to visit my MIL!

I’ve been trying all week to get a post in about the Maple Festival, which was held last weekend and coincided with International Tatting Day, but I kept getting distracted with so many things that had to be done around the house, inside and out.  I'll try to do that post next week!  We were happy we had nice weather for it!






 

A Fancy Green Fan for St Patrick's Day 2012

Sure an’ it’s St. Patrick’s Day again!

For this St. Patrick’s Day photo I’ve gathered together some of my favorite things, mostly older items I’ve collected over the years (explained below) , plus a tatted pendant from 2009 which I’ve updated.

However, the focal point of the photo is this fabulous NEW GREEN FAN that I found last week at - of all places - our local dollar store, among the St. Pat’s decorations.

This amazing fan is embellished with shiny green sequins on the fabric, and has a black base with a fancy gold design.

In the store it was hanging in its folded position, so I was astounded at how attractive it was when I opened it up, and I was especially amazed that it unfolded into a complete half-circle. Of course, I HAD to purchase it - for the grandiose sum of one dollar !! It really sparkles in the light! This is a very well-made fan, and I feel so ‘lucky’ that I came across it!

Fans aren’t usually associated with St. Patrick’s Day, but this one certainly is the right color!    And it will be a great accessory for one of my Victorian costumes for our tatting events - and also would make a great display item! 

Of course, I will be adding tatting to it, but I couldn’t possibly have completed it before Saturday - although I know that many of you COULD have done so!

I have to decide which edging I want to make, but I know it will be with gold metallic thread. Even a simple ‘hens and chicks’ would be spectacular. So many ‘possibilities’ !  No doubt I’ll add tatting to the inner circle as well. I prefer the DMC gold thread on a spool, which is equivalent to size 30.

OTHER ITEMS IN PHOTO

The teacup and saucer were purchased a few years ago at a quaint, old-fashioned pharmacy/gift store in a small town about 40 miles north of here. We just were out driving one day and came across the town and store. I couldn’t resist purchasing the cup and saucer there.

The ‘pillow’ has a large crocheted doily draped over it. It is the most unusual and attractive piece of crochet I have EVER seen. I purchased it at an ‘antique lace’ booth at a local fair many years ago. I want to write a post about it, because it is SO different from any crochet I’ve ever seen.

The candle is just a place for me to hang a pretty ‘cross’ ornament with green beads. I purchased it in an Irish shop in Alexandria, VA, one of my favorite towns to visit in the DC area. I’ve always thought the cross could be ‘copied’ in tatting.

Of course, the tatted doily is one I’ve shown quite often in my blog - something I purchased several years ago at a local shop.

The pendant (a Rosemarie Peel design) is a motif that I made several years ago and wore as a ‘pin’ on my Aran sweater.    I have since put it on one of my black velvet ’discs’ and attached it to a beaded necklace.  (Oops!  I see a 'frayed' area.  I'll have to  fix that!)


WARM WEATHER THIS YEAR IN MARCH!

I’m definitely enjoying the weather for March this year, which has been quite warm - and seems to be breaking records here in the Northeast. This year the parade in Pittsburgh will be actually ON St. Patrick’s Day, and there probably will be a record-breaking crowd there as well!  


We have other plans for the day, but I will be thinking about my Irish ancestors!

Sunshine for Gina

According to today's weather report for Lafayette, Indiana, the sun is shining , which is very appropriate on this otherwise very sad day as we say goodbye to our dear friend, Gina Brummett, who filled our lives with a great deal of sunshine and warmth.



I am still grappling with words to express how much Gina meant to me, and how much I admired her. I feel compelled at this time to write about how I first 'met' Gina - through her blog, which was just as amazing as her tatting and needlework skills.


Gina's Blog - "The Tatting Goddess"


One of the reasons I'm writing about Gina's blog, is that Feb. 13 was her 9th Blogaversary.   It absolutely took my breath away when I realized that she died on that very day.


When I first came across Gina's blog about three years ago, it didn't take long for me to discover that she was a very talented lady, and that her tatting skills were far above mine, even though she had been tatting only since 1997.    

In addition to being impressed with her tatting skills, I was also astounded to see that she had been 'blogging' since 2003 - one of the pioneers - so I was equally impressed that her computer skills were also far above mine.


Her blog has the most amazing amount of information about tatting in it, including her own tutorials and videos (so poignant, now, to watch), plus she somehow found and included in her Blog Roll just about every tatter out there in Tat Land.   And in the left-hand column, she included the blogs of many, many other crafters, whose blogs I otherwise would never have found on my own!    

And she also generously shared with us several of her own tatting designs, among which is her adorable Gingerbread Boy!

I then discovered that her blog rolls were 'time' sensitive, so that the most recent blog posts appeared just about the minute they were posted, usually with a thumbnail photo of the tatter's/crafter's latest project. Therefore, it became a daily routine for me for the past 3 years to check Gina's blog, to see what was happening 'up to the minute' in Tat Land.


It was always a bonus, of course, when Gina, herself, published a new post, which was just about every other day!   It was very difficult to keep up with her, and I was equally astounded to discover she had a full-time job.  Her blog posts were always cheerful and filled with wonderful examples of her tatting or other needlework, and artwork, too. She was one very talented lady.    And she was a frequent commenter on others' blogs, always offering words of praise and encouragement.


One of her most memorable blog posts, however, had nothing to do with tatting. She showed a photo of a giant tree that had smashed into the roof of a house!   It took me a few minutes to comprehend that it was HER house, and that somehow, no one was hurt!    She handled even that exceptionally  frightening experience with humor and an upbeat attitude.

Her 8th blogaversary last year was a very special one for ME, because I was one of 8 lucky recipients of a red cloth gift bag she made personally, as a special giveaway.    I intend to write about that special gift package, but it's more important that I mention something even more significant:


Last year, on her 8th Blogaversary post of Feb. 13, 2011, she wrote in detail about her own tatting history!    It is a wonderful story, which I know you will want to read.

http://threadsofatattinggoddess.blogspot.com/2011/02/blogaversary-celebration-how-i-learned.html

I now must go outside on this cold but sunny day here in Pittsburgh, and take a long walk, to remember Gina, a very, very special person and dear 'friend', even though we never met in person.  It was a privilege, however, to get to know Gina, the amazing Tatting Goddess, through her incredible blog.