Lace-Lovin' Handkerchief

Some of you will remember when I posted about Diane's kind gift of one of her beautiful hankies.  The bold colours in this one really appealed to me and made me think of Spain, sunshine and flowers in terracotta pots.  I started working on a border for it towards the end of our holiday and here it is completed.

Handkerchief border tatted in Lizbeth 20 (Country Turquoise Med.)
and Lizbeth 40 for the yellow.

I started with "Marguerite" by Mary Konior but as I was working along, I felt that it didn't look quite right with just the blue... there was something missing.  So I experimented with adding the yellow below the blue which ended up working out well.  So this is an inverted border:  I didn't start with the yellow and then attached the blue on the outside, instead I started with the blue and added the yellow on the inside of the border.  I'm sure you'll agree from the picture below, that the yellow really contributes to making the border "pop", just the blue would have been a little dull in my opinion.

And here is a close-up...

I like the look of the three little yellow rings to turn the corner.

Just the lace before attaching it.

So I hope my friend Diane will be pleased with how I decorated her hanky and I'd like to thank her again for her gift.

Best wishes,

Frivolité de Corinne

I like Fox's version of Corinne's challenge... so I thought I would join in the fun.  Here is mine.

Best wishes,

Cup Winner!

Do you remember earlier in the summer when I said that my Mother-in-Law had suggested I enter our Village Fête competition with one of my doilies?

Well, I was away for the Fête so didn't get to see my entry amongst the others but I was delighted upon my return to learn that not only had I won first prize in my category, but was also awarded the Rose Bowl which is for The Best Exhibit in the Overall Domestic Section!  I even get to have my name engraved on the cup.

I'm chuffed.

I may even have to enter again next year....

Well, someone needs to promote the merits of tatting in my neck of the woods!

Best wishes,

Small Yellow Doily

Whilst on holiday, my father was admiring some of my tatting and then exclaimed how he would like a doily for the little table in his entrance hall.  So of course, I could only but oblige!  He picked the colour and I chose the design.

Many of you will recognise Mary Konior's Patchwork.  This is an easy design that is a pleasure to tat.  But I felt I wanted to make some sort of edging to it...  Looking through my tatting patterns, I noticed how much one of Jan Stawasz's doily sets was similar to patchwork (this is the doily set on p.75 of his book).  Sure enough, it needed barely any adjusting at all to make a nice edging for my patchwork doily.

Doily tatted in Lizbeth size 40

I'm very pleased with how this has worked out.
And it's now ready to be mailed to my father.

Hope he likes it too.

Best wishes,

New Video

There was a discussion started over at In Tatters about how to close a motif when you have to join the first ring to the last one in a round.  I know there are a few videos available already but as I tried to explain how I did it with words, it seemed very hard to explain clearly.  So I thought I'd make a second video.

This is a technique that many will be familiar with but I personally always find it helpful to see things being done "live", so I hope it's of use to some of you.

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Youtube video.
I removed the embedded version as it was smaller and the annotations
were not appearing when viewing the video.

Best wishes,

Wonderful Summer

Seems like forever since I last posted!  What a lovely summer.  Weather wasn't perfect but the holiday was very relaxing and enjoyable.

I didn't tat quite as much as expected (due to some very good books!) but I still have a few things to show you.

I was given a big bag of lavender by a lady in Paris so of course, I had to make some sachets.  Here are a few of them.  My favourite so far being the blue and green one.  But I have lots of flowers left so will be making some more.

The lady at my local wool shop in France once showed me how she'd made little pin cushions out of milk caps...  I was inspired to make some myself.  I also put some lavender in with the filling so the flower pin cushions not only look pretty, but smell nice too!

I also started work on a handkerchief and completed a small doily which I will show you in the next post.  Now I need to go unpack and get organised a bit!

Hope you all had a great summer too.  Look forward to catching up on everyone's tatting while I was away.

Best wishes,

I'm Away...

I was hoping to do one last post with pictures before leaving but I've run out of time.  I will be away until the end of August (and no access to internet - GASP!).

Wishing you all a lovely summer!

See you again soon.

Nah!  I can't bear this picture-less message, I'm going to have to

add a small photo of something summery...

Summer berries - Stumpwork Embroidery
(I've yet to make something with this little summer wreath
which I embroidered some time ago
and which has been sitting in my box since...
perhaps a small tatting bag?)

Best wishes,