Back to the Beds :)

Greetings All,
After spending some time at the sewing machine making our new hovercraft skirt yesterday, I was finally able to get back to the Beds ring :) This was the progress at 11 pm!

Yup! The lace is finished...yippppeeeeeeeeeee! It was time for bed so a very good excuse to allow the lace to rest too :D

There were 26 pairs to join up, and that was completed this morning...an easier task than I envisaged as 2 pair went into each pin hole. So, here 'tis! Slightly smaller than a CD and only about 80 "furry bits" to sew in :)

The bunch on the right are going to be threaded through the leaf. I was not happy with the result after throwing so many back. I was trying not to need them all thrown back at once, but the result is that the threads are bare on the bottom half of the leaf. I will stitch them through with a fine needle, and hopfully that will sort out the problem...lesson learned for next time :) The left hand lot are the finishing off line...will be able to darn through the cloth stitch bits to finish off nicely I think.

This little parcel arrived in the post this morning...my Arachne secret pals gift all the way from the U.K. Am I a lucky Gal or what!! Last month there was a reel of green Oliver Twists thread, and my friends below are eagerly awaiting me to choose a pricking and get started...I am thinking torchon hankie edge to complete the white Batiste here...then I will have a gorgeous gift in my pocket, all from somewhere in the U.K :)
These little "pillow pals" keep me company whilst lace making. The mouse pin cushion and the horse shoe were gifts from my Gumlace secret pal and have become very welcome on this pillow...made themselves right at home in no time at all :) The 5 divider pins on the right are handmade glass pins, made by one of our Tassie lace makers. I think my favorite is still the ladybird, but I love them all.

My quilt blocks are safely in the post and should be winging their way somewhere near Alice Springs by now. I have made a "piece" to be chopped into my first ever ATC's, once they are adorned with a little fancy needle work and some lacey bits. But first...many bobbins to wind...lace starts at school on Friday!

Enjoy :)

A quilt little lace break

Despite the children at school pleading with me to finish the Bedfordshire mat this weekend, I really felt I needed to spend some time on this little project. These stars are being sought for the Victorian Bushfire Victims and one very, very brave lady has sent out the plea for quilters to get together. Here is the link to the flickr site: http://flickr.com/groups/bushfirequiltproject/ I'm not sure how to actually make it work from here, but if you are a quilter, please copy and paste the link to your browser if it does not work, and take a peek at the work being done!
This link will take you to a great tutorial to make the stars, if you are like me and cannot work it out :) http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com/2009/02/wonky-star-tutorial.html

I found this site to be most helpful!! As I do all my quilting by hand, I found this a challenge, but have managed 3 stars to send. I would love to think that three little boys could wrap a quilt around themselves and get some small comfort from the little dragonflies and bright colours. This is only a very small contribution, but if we all do the same, many victims will know the warmth and love being shared. And I must say a HUGH THANK YOU to the wonderful person or people (as I believe several have offered to help) who put in the time to sew the quilts together and finish them off!! Now all I have to do is find an address to send them to :)

Many thanks

Hi All, Thank you again. This is a B.U workshop design...expected to follow on from her 20 lessons book. I had only completed 6 of the lesson before the workshop! All I can say is Barbara was FANTASTIC!! I have used Finca 80 thread, Tanne 50/2 is recommended. It is about the same size as a CD. I'm hoping it will be finished next week...fingers crossed :) Will post when done.

Nearly done :)

Thanks everyone for the interest in this piece of Beds...here is a pic of the whole thing so far...
As I had to move the cover cloth, I thought just 1 more pic before it is finished :) Just 1 cloth leaf and then a half st with an overlaid tallie and 8 leaf tallies to go...yippeeeeeee.

It is not going to happen for a few days...I am a working girl for the rest of the week, so watch this space next week :) Hugs

Challenge motifs 3 and 4

Thank you for your kind words Diane and Tatting Chic...I have visited both your blogs and am in awe of your work so it is high praise indeed!Here are my Quanti motifs 3 and 4. Again they are in the gold and white...a theme for a small group of friends, but each one is slightly different, just as a snowflake should be. I can't wait to see if I can get a pic of at least 25 of these on this tree before Christmas...I have a feeling it will make a stunning Christmas Card :)

I have spent a couple of days on the Beds mat...not wanting to bore you all to tears, but this one is the main focus at present. I have now exposed a flower and a leaf...along with my first ever overlaid Tallie - just poking out from the pins :) For the first time since September I feel like this project might actually make it to completion. I then intend going back to the lesson book and working through some of the lessons that were meant to be completed *before* undertaking this one :) I am thrilled with how it is all coming together, so please bear with me over the next little while :)) There are 2 flowers and a leaf to go, along with the filling bits and bobs.

This is part of my other *distraction*. I have made a quilt for DD to be presented on her wedding day. It is made up of hexagon flowers from the scraps left over from my dressmaking efforts over the past 20 odd years. DS1 will also receive a hex quilt, but although it is started, who knows when it will be completed! DS2 is into sailing, so here are lots of little dingies floating on bright little oceans, waiting to be made into sail boats and a few fishes to keep the sailors happy. There will be 3 kinds of sailboats (42 of each, along with 42 fishy squares) when I get that far, but all in good time :D My quilts are sewn entirely by hand...tacked onto card, then pieced together in an overhand stitch before the backing and wadding is tacked on. I finish the quilting using a stabbing stitch with invisible thread. The first 2 took about 10 years each...the first was donated to our Scout group and raffled to help get a bunch of Joey Scouts on an interstate trip - a first for Australian Joey Scouts! This one (and the other hex one) were started together last February.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have enjoyed.

Challenge motif 2

Hi tatting chic - when the lace is all together on one page like that it does seem a lot, but in actual fact the hearts were made over 3 months ... I nearly always have a shuttle in my pocket, and I especially love those small motif type designs for this purpose. Jon, I am glad you like my colour combo on your snowflake! I prefer this white and gold, so I hope you like it too. Having explored a few more of your designs, I have a feeling there may be 1 or 2 more featured here :) Welcome Diane, and thank you for your kind comments too. Those collars have been popular at school and kept me busy for the 2nd half of last year, with something to get started on this year too :) For motif number 2 I have used a No. 20 crotchet cotton with a gold metallic ... I must remember to keep the ends with the real details - this one disappeared at school because I used it for the snake workers with the children. Later, they preferred the brighter metallic colours that were donated through the Australian email chat list for their workers, so I am lucky to have a small amount of this thread left. I must see if the local thread shop has some more ... and then I can pass on the details :)

I took another pic of the Beds piece because I was delighted to find the daisies emerging from the pins! It seems such a long time ago that I made these and I had almost forgotten that this part of the pattern existed! As you can see, I am now half way around. It is by far the most advanced piece I have made and is certainly taking the longest, but despite all the glaring mistakes I love it! I was going to plant it in my 'brag folder' of samples and bits, but I might just find a photo to chop and mount it in a frame ... or I may even find some inspiring means of displaying it on one of the exciting blogs I have visited lately. Hmmmmm - best I get of the 'puter and go finish it before the brain melts with all the ideas :D Stay safe, and don't forget to hug a friend today :)

25 motifs

Hi all, hoping the weather is kind, the fingers are nimble and the lace is flowing...

I have seen this gorgeous "Quantiesque Snowflake" on a number of blogs and love it...thanks so much for sharing the pattern Jon of Jon's Pattern Page! I have made this practice one in No 8 perle cotton...shade numbers are long gone. It was quick and very easy, so I started again, using some crotchet cotton - I perfer the crisper threads for tatting - and have added an extra repeat...I like the number 7 for stars and snowflakes :) I will aim for 25 motifs within a year - more than that - as last year I made about 45 "Abby's Hearts" for friends...so here is motif 1, ready for Christmas '09. Now I just have to work out how to go about posting to the 25 motif challenge page! But to Jon's first, me thinks!

This is a small selection of the Abbys Hearts. I scanned this first lot and made the scan into a Christmas card. Then I simply attached a heart and sent it off to it's new home. Both the snowflake pattern and the heart can be found easily with a google search...when I learn how, I will return to this post and attach the links, but til then...have fun searching.

Here are my work shirts for the next year. All but the lillac on white have already survived a year of classroom and laundry punishment...just a few very careful snips of the scissors and they were ready to be stitched onto my new shirts! The other is the length that is featured on my first post. The pale blue tatting is a Rebecca Jones design, the ones on the yellow shirts both come from Monica Hahn's Christmas Angels and Other Tatting Patterns. The bobbin lace in the centre is from Veronica Sorenson. Hmmmm....maybe I should take a close up of that 1, it's a bit hard to see, but the design is rather neat.
I am still working on my tatted mat and the Beds piece...and now I am preparing to start the lace again at school. Although posts are not as regular, I am checking in most days, so please leave a comment if you wish, and I will get back to you...I love how the world has suddenly got smaller...visitors from 3 different countries is about as far as I would get in my loungeroom, but in my virtual lounge...most extraordinary!

Vehicles, students and WIPs

Hi All,


Thanks for your kind comments, Jenny, the baubles were fun to make, if rushed at the last minute...all recipients were thrilled to bits too :)
I cannot share a lot of the lace I have been making at the moment for 1 reason and another, but on Saturday, we got to ride in this restored 1915 Model T Ford on (one of) it's first excursions out of the garage. This has been a 12 month project and came home from Newcastle (Australia) as a trailer load of rust!

And whilst Father laboured over the 1st vehicle, Son (aka DB) has been 6 years labouring over this bag full of fun...and stubbornness...and frustration...and did I mention fun?? Although we played 2 years ago, there has been some major reconstruction work and yesterday was the "new" maiden voyage. Heaps of fun, sand...and repair work! But it was worth it...even if he is threatening to sell it again - over my dead body! :)

OK, OK, what about the lace? The pic on the bottom is the full lace story of a new friend. She came to stay for a week, on a visit to renew old acquaintances (DB being 1 of them). As I have been working flat out on lace, she became interested and after completing the snake (a Christine Springett design) she was eager to go again. From my collection, the bookmark was chosen...and completed! One very happy and enthusiastic new lace maker is born!

My floral beds piece was started in September on a visit from Barbara Underwood...the workshop was challenging and heaps of fun...I learned soooooo much! I took the pillow to school to show my students what I was working on and despite being asked not to touch please, one lass decided to 'rearrange the bobbins and divider pins for me .... Grrrrrr. Tis OK...no harm done and the bobbins are finally untangled and work is progressing...all be it very slowly!

Happy lace making and thanks for visiting :)