Catching up

First things first!  This spider has made her home at my daughter's front door...now she wants to know what kind if spider and is it a nasty?  We live in Northern Tasmania, and she is near the bush.

 Doll number 4 is making progress.  All I need to do is add some lace to tidy up the shoulder then she will be ready to fire :)  Working in the heat yesterday was not much fun, so I hope she fires ok.  I did not make the lace for this one...but I am working on the lace for 1 down the track...

 I found this style of sleeve a real challenge, but the rest has been a lot of fun...I just hope the fabric sections work better this time!

 My gorgeous grandson starts big school this week.  Last week, we went shopping for his little brother's birthday and discovered that drink spiders are very yummy, and he is the perfect gentleman (only when he goes out with grandma though!  This pirate is his home id LOL).

 

His mum asked about a library bag, and when I told her I had bought some fabric ages ago, I was asked to make a library bag :)  The back is the same as the edge fabric! Hope he likes it LOL

 Finally, we have been discussing bobbins on the Australian Email ring I am a member of.

I promise some pics, so here they are...

 

These are all my own bobbins, spangled with my own beads.  There is Huon pine, Blackwood, Jarrah, Tas Hardwood and Silky oak.  My first bobbin (and bead) is the Huon pine bobbin 7th from the right on the bottom row...the yellow bead was the first bead I made.

 Here are some more of my own bobbins, but they do not have my beads on them as yet.

Colin made me the very top left bobbin...it is the only bobbin he has made, and calls it a cricket bat.  I made the one on the right to go with it and the pair make the best ever gimp bobbins.

These are my bead tile bobbins.  The top 4 bobbins were made by David Potter, a Tasmanian bobbin maker.  I made the bottom 4 bobbins.  The very top pair have the first tiles I made with the teacher.

I designed the other sets of tiles.

 Here are the other tiles, ready for the bobbins...when I get around to making/purchasing them...

The teacher provided the patterns for the top row and the pair on the right of the 2nd row. 

The rest are my designs...including the special ones to celebrate my engagement in February last year :)

 And here is a size comparison for you :)

 

If you have made it this far, thank you for stopping by.  I hope your neck of the woods is fair weather (or lots of lovely lace time) and good health...please drop a comment in the box before you go as I love to see what you think too.

 

Hugs til next time...may your threads never break and your pins never bend...

Treasures

Dear friends,

Please allow me to share some treasures with you.

Here are Quanti snowflakes number 6 (with a new edge), 7, 8 and 9 toward the 25 motif challenge! The blue, white and gold combos are cotton and candlelight metallics. The green is perle 8 reel left overs.

Porty is also making progress! The children at school will be pleased to see he now has a beak and will soon have eyes. It will then be up to them to complete the right flipper, body and filling. He has an appointment for the 7th of August, but I will only be at the school on Fridays so I hope he makes it!

On Saturday, the calender ticked over another year for me :)

Apart from the usual (and very yummy) chocolates and meal out - counter meal at the local pub - the best in Lonnie for sure :) and text messages from a couple of my children, here are the treasures that came my way. LOML bought me the Pandora style bracelet - he knows I love these, and as I helped him pick a plain bracelet for his DD's birthday a month or so ago, he decided I could have the same :) The book is from his sister and family. She decided to have a change from lace books this year, but I am not complaining :)

So, after a rummage through the markets over the weekend I had enough materials to go to work!
Here is lesson 1 x 2 from the above book!

And up close!

The next lesson is my signature rose - I am really looking forward to that one!!

Also at the markets I found this pair of bobbins. The Wood Turners Guild of Tasmania meet at the Exeter Showgrounds and coincide with the local market. Members demonstrate the skill of wood turning throughout the day, and each turner may sell items to the public. There was a lovely bucket full of bobbins, but I fell in love with these ones! After some discussion, I found the gent who made the bobbins and he showed me how to make the loose rings. Our conversation was very interesting, and I was invited to go back, maybe join the Guild and get some more tips for my bobbin making :)

That's enough waffle from me! Thank you for reading, and don't forget to share your thoughts too. I love reading what my bloggy friends have to say!

Hugs,