Suz:

This is the view at the front of my house.

The black-eyed susan vine has gone crazy, almost taking over the planter. I've added branches so it can grow upwards, and it looks as though just a wee bit more will have it tangling with the tree branches above!
Obviously, it likes this spot.

I've been doing some painting exercises in watercolour. Here, I'm using only three colours to create the lily painting.

Although there are certain things I like about this exercise, I am still too heavy-handed with the paint, and want a more spontaneous look.

So I began this painting of roses without a sketch, and again using only three colours. I like how they work together.

I'm enjoying painting this.

 Overall, I like the result, and plan to play some more in this manner, without sketching, and using a limited palette.

New thread supplies arrived. Yummy!

a tat and swarovski crystals added to PPP #5

TAST stitch # 51- buttonholed herringbone, another tat, cast-on loops in white, and bullions

this lace piece is adorned with sequins

PPP #5 is almost finished.






I hope your week has been a fun and creative one.


Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

April Snows

Yes, snow in April! When the rain should be falling to herald spring, turn the grasses green, and the flowers to burst forth from the earth, we've had two days of snow.
I'm happy there's not been much accumulation, since the snow melts quickly on the roads and gardens, but it's too cold to work outside and plant my spring bulbs. I guess I'll just have to stay indoors and stitch. Woe is me.....  ;-D   lol!
Last week was a busy one with three days out and then company, so not as much stitching happened.
My new thread order arrived!

Aren't the colours yummy?!
I can't wait to use them!

One road trip found me at The Creative Festival in Toronto, where I bought these threads

and these beautiful beads!

 A second road trip took me to my favourite second-hand shop. I found some lovely treasures for my wrapping cloth fabric stash!


hankies, doilies and a small table cloth.....or square runner

hankies with stitching, with crocheted edges, with lace inserts, and even a tatted edging

cutwork hankies, too.

How many hankies?


17!

this pretty lace is on each of the 4 corners

so delicate

prettily edged with tatting

filet crocheted edging on the table cloth

Wouldn't this make a gorgeous gift bag? There is a large stain, but I'm sure it could easily be covered with some embroidery.........and that way I could keep this cloth intact.



  I did make some progress on the wrapping cloth piece.

The blouse pocket flap has been adorned with buttonhole lace. The tab on the flap side has multiple rows of lace.

a different angle

a row of cast-on stitch chains

the beginnings of a row of clustered bullion loops

and my progress so far

some road-trip tatting might find its way onto the wrapping cloth











That's my week. I hope yours has brought you many happy moments and lots of creativity.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Tuesday Tats on Wednesday

 First I want to show you what came in the mail:

From Annet at Fat-Quarter came a lovely card, and inside was a wonderful surprise! Annet sent me some of her gorgeous hairpin lace!
See how fine and delicate it is? I've put a quarter in the picture to indicate just how tiny her work is.
Thank you so much, Annet!  I shall treasure these pieces.

On the same day, my order of Valdani thread arrived. It is finer than I thought it would be, and seems about size 100. I thought that I would use the thread not only for tatting, but also for embroidery and CQing.

It's so fine, I think I'll have to either double the thread, or use it with another for tatting. 

And more thread arrived! My Lizbeth order

 And an edging pamphlet with wonderful patterns. I have some hankies and other items that could benefit from edging embellishments.

Now that I've shown the tools, what did I tat?

This is the beginning of Mary Konior's  Crooked Mile  pattern. The colored sample was tatted in Coats crochet cotton size 20, and the dark sample was tatted in the Valdani thread.

a trio of funky leaves. I'm playing with a project idea.

some fancy picot flower doodles












I re-tatted Mary Konior's Black Magic and added some beads. It's a little improved over my last attempt, but I think I need to practice it more to improve my tension.




Have you been tatting today?
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Feeding My Stash

I've been ordering some goodies! Oh, what fun!

This is what arrived last week:

beautiful hand-dyed thread perfect for tatting

I ordered this book from Georgia Seitz, and she very kindly included two thread samples!

Sorry for the glare.....it hides some of this gorgeous 3-d crocheted butterfly on the cover of Piecework. I wonder if this design could be tatted.

ribbons, and more ribbons, and vintage sequins

an assorted package of materials, ribbons, lace, thread, and trims all perfect for CQing!









And more lovely 'Wildfowers' thread

 

I'm building my stash for projects that are in the planning stage. 

I've been terribly naughty, and I ordered more wonderful items. I've been waiting for them to arrive, but it's taking soooo long.

Have you been building your stash, too?

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Lizbeth Thread and Tatting

I received two samples of Lizbeth thread ( thank you Georgia!)  and was eager to try it out.

 I made an angel. She turned out okay, although I don't like the wobble on the centre ring. It makes the beads off-centre, and that's probably either my tension needing some tweaking, or the picot for the join should  be made with a paper clip instead.
I do like the varigated thread colour, and I like how it tatted: not too firm, but not soft. I didn't block this.




Then I decided to tat this week's homework from Georgia Seitz's Online Tatting Class. It's a pretty motif with  graduated picots. The center is supposed to be square.
Does it look square to you?      Nope.   Shoot!
The whole motif is supposed to end up being square.       sigh.                 Not square.
It's supposed to lie flat: mine curves.
I started with the varigated, but ran out and had to add the pink. Good thing the pinks match. But it looks odd, doesn't it?
The joins no longer line up correctly, the motif is out of shape and off-square. Hmmm I think I'll have to try this pattern again.


The verdict?
The graduated picots look okay, I think.
The thread is fine: it's the tatter tatting that needs work! Lots and lots of work. Oh, well, maybe it's my cold/cough/chest thingy. Yeah, that's it! I'll blame it on being sick. You believe me. Right?
LOL


I hope whatever you're doing today, you do it well. Have fun.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

A Swap and Some Nice Surprises

I was in a swap with Thespa of Vintiquities Workshop. I sent her a small selection of tats (ooops, I forgot to take pictures) and she sent me this

Beautiful bracelet!  I do love that bling nestled between two fabric roses! And there's lovely lace, too. The rhinestone pin looks very vintage. It's nice having something new that has a history. I wonder how many ladies held this brooch in their hands. Who were they? Where did they live? What was their life like?
Thespa makes beautiful, creative items. I'm so glad we had this swap, Thespa! Thank you!

Then I found in my mailbox--- a package all the way from Bornholm! A lovely surprise from Dorthe! This sweet, talented lady sent me these:

lovely laces wrapped on a branch with a fancy tag. It has my initial in sparkles on it!  a postcard from Bornholm, and a beautiful mixed media fabric creation with a piece of tatting. How sweet is that!
I feel like Christmas has arrived a little early this year. Thank you so much, Dorthe!








I had lost my tatting needles....all but one! Arrrgh! I searched high and low, in all my current project totes, in my tatting boxes, and tatting bags, in drawers, and large totes. Two hours later, I still had only 1 needle.
I yelled, and swore, and stamped my feet!
The next day, I found them---- right where I thought they should have been, and where I'd looked at least three times!! Were there gremlins in my house? Needle gremlins?
I sighed with relief, and went back to tatting.
But 2 weeks later, I'd lost my needles again! I ripped the house apart looking for them. Boxes, drawers, desks. The art room, the sun room. Oh, no!
I found them two days later. I guess the needle gremlins had tired of their game and put them back. hehehe
Determined not to have to go through this another time, I ordered a new set from Georgia Seitz. Look what she sent with them:

two samples of Lizbeth thread. Yay! I've never tried Lizbeth before, so I am looking forward to testing it. Also included was a needle threader.
Thank you so much, Georgia! What a nice surprise.











Are you in any swaps? Or have you found a nice surprise in your mailbox?
I hope all your surprises are happy ones.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

It's Not The Tatting!

I know, there's nothing special about this tatted bit.  Or is there? It's just a simple ring and chain repeat.

It's not the tatting, it's the thread!    A thread discovery!  And I just had to share this with you.

I was working on a little gift for a friend, and pulled out some brown thread from my sewing basket. But the thread seemed a little too heavy for using in the sewing machine. I put it aside.        Later, when I wanted to tat a decoration to sew onto the gift, a little light bulb went off in my brain. Hmmmm, would it work? Gotta try it! Yes, that lovely brown thread tatted up very well. It's a firm thread, and probably won't need any blocking. About the size of Perle 12 thread, it feels nice on the hands.

I remember several tatters were having problems finding brown thread to tat little critters. What is it?     

It's Button and Carpet Thread, a cotton-polyester blend, on a spool of 75 yards! That's a lot of little critters!

So check your sewing section for different threads for tatting. Who knows what you might find!!

Hoping you make wonderful thread discoveries!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz