A little traveller.

Greetings one and all,

There is not a lot of lace I can show you, but I have been working hard :) I have 3 more centres made (2 rounds each) toward the 25 motif challenge...still awaiting thread for the outside. I only have 1 edge to go on the Oliver Twist hankie. Today I made the patterns for the A and the C for my L.A.C.E. letters...will show you once I get started on the lace. I am still working on the Porty Penguin lace...investigating an easy way out - who me?!?!? I made a pair of bobbins which are on their way to their new home as I type. There are 6 new ATCs drying in the porch - hand painting seems such a long time ago, but I think they will be passable. The tatting has included a gift for my secret pal - so of course I cannot share just yet, besides it is a W.I.P. still, some small bits for the ATCs and another motif or 2 on the doily....pheww...and I even managed a day at work and fitting in my lace students too on Friday. My seniors (14 year olds) are working on this bookmark and feeling a little lack of confidence....a classroom full of noisy 6 year olds and a furious thunderstorm just prior to class did not help!

Meanwhile I promised someone (Diane??) that I would post pics of my travel pillow, so here 'tis.

The roll is polystyrofoam cut to a diameter of 4" or 10 cm and 8" or 20 cm long. I have covered it with 1 layer of old blanket, then 1 layer of cotton drill. A 31 cm or 12 1/2" pricking will join up, but getting the pattern to match can be tricky to say the least...I was fortunate enough that this one did! Here is the box without the roll. First I made the outside box in seperate sections, each consisting of cardbaord from a TV box covered with a pocket made from the outside fabric (a rubber backed curtain) and the inside fabric (printed cotton). I made the 2 dividers and covered them in the inside fabric. This was all stitched together. To make the flaps, I cut the form from the TV box and made the pocket from an inside piece and an outside piece of fabric. Before I inserted the card, I used a repositionable spray glue to attach some quilting batting to the inside. This gives a padded surface to work on. After enclosing the card, these were stitched to the box section. I made a pin cusion from a hankie to put in one small section and spare bobbins, thread, rollers and tie down ribbons reside in the other small section. The box measures 35 cm or 14" end to end and 4 1/2" or 11 1/2 cm deep. It is 3" or 8 cm high. The flaps are 14" x 10" or 25 cm.
Rollers pined to the back flap keep the completed lace clean and out of the way. The ribbon on the front flap is used to secure the bobbins for travel. I thread it through the spangles and pin them close in, then fold the leftover ribbon across the bobbins and pin again. Not pretty, but it works well. Sometimes I put a piece of cloth against the completed lace to stop it being pulled by the pins in the pillow...not always necessary, it depends on the openess of the lace and the need to keep extra pins in.
Here you can see the ribbon that is glued to the outside, forming a loop on one flap and loose ends on the other. The loose ends can be tied around the loop piece to secure for travel. Here you can see the second one I made in action
These pillows are great for going to Lace Days - so why do I always seem to only have lace on my very large square or cookie pillows?? Lengths of lace are perfect because you just keep turning the roll. If your pattern does not join up perfectly, have 2 prickings and just pin the new one as the previous pricking runs out :)

Enough waffle and more than enough computer! Time to put my feet up.