Starts and finishes

Here are the bobbins from Christmas time, finally spangled and ready to use.

The first pair are handmade, with a beaded ring, next are the 10th anniversary Gumnut bobbins, next, my Christmas gift to me from Acorn Bobbins and the final 3 pairs are the last of my bobbin of the month plain bone bobbins from Acorn Bobbins.

 Here is my latest project, coming along very nicely.  The bobbins are all my beginners, some painted, some stained, some with thread wrapping and some are left plain.  the thread is 60/2 linen with a splash of 40/2 linen colour and the pattern is from Torchon Lace by Else Marie Bjerregaard.  It will be a house warming gift for Colin's son and daughter in law when finished.

 Here is my completed hardanger setting...hmmmm just noticed the camera date is still out - I took the pictures today!  Although it has been finished for a while now, just had to get the camera out.

 This is what the table will look like when I find a night without the boarders to have our romantic meal...thinking roast lamb with fresh garden beans, cauliflower and carrots and roasted potatoes, with my self saucing chocolate pudding and ice cream for dessert....All Colin's favourites LOL

Last night I finally got my tatting box out and sorted through the knots, threads, bits of tatting and jumble of shuttles.  I think it is time to get a couple of PHDs out and start tatting again!

 

I hope 2015 is everything you wish it to be, and look forward to hearing from my blogging friends often :)



A little creative flare

With all our spare time, and a little healing, the creativity has finally visited our house again.

 

Colin has become well enough to play in the shed for a couple of hours at a time.

 

Although things that used to be second nature are now a big struggle, he has managed to construct this "surprise" plant Ferris Wheel for our garden from some of the 'junk' in our back yard.

 

It really does look even better in real life, and I will always treasure it!

 Overall, the garden is really looking a treat, despite the weeds trying to take over!

 And while Colin has been working, I have too.

 

After my stint on the lathe making bobbins, I have finally ordered my own kiln to anneal my beads.  It will be here around Christmas time and I cannot wait.

 

This has inspired me to play at the torch once again.

 

With my new marver, I am really happy with the more consistent sizing of the divider pin heads and I have actually enjoyed making several 'batches' of similar beads...there are 11 dot beads not pictured here from my work this afternoon, as well as the lovely lilac frit beads top left in this photo.

 Here are the 'new' snails, inspired by the prep work on the hedgehogs the day before.

 

It is not often a new idea works so well the first time, so I am delighted.

Thanks for your time to read this far, and hope you enjoy.

 

Maybe some lace next time....

Productive times

The scarf is progressing nicely, with some safely rolled away on the roller.

 

 While working this section, I realised that the only bobbins I had never used in my collection are now in use!!  Yay! 

I have a pair of rather heavy brass bobbins, (the one with the coloured thread) that I am alternating with the new thread.  They have always been too heavy to play with the other bobbins, so I had avoided them.  For this project, they work rather well.

There is also a single aluminium bobbin on the left hand side that had not been on a pillow at my place.  Several friends swear by them, but I find it cold to the touch, and had always passed it over.

Also in this shot (just) is the pair of bobbins with a pink ceramic joiner, a gift from a Gumnut.  The bobbins arrived broken from their journey, so I repaired them with the ceramic glue used to put final details on my dolls.  They are working perfectly and remind me of my Australian friends each time they pass my fingers.

 And here is a new batch of beads ready for the kiln.  Dear Step Son is visiting today and will take them to Burnie for me.  I hope to make the trip with Colin in a couple of weeks time to collect them...

The pin toppers (ladybirds, flowers, turtles and hedgehogs and the cotton reel were all made before Colin collapsed.  the rest have been made this week to fill the tin.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this far, stay safe, happy and healthy.  Hugs,

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...

Elementary spinning

I have been putting 2 and two together...

This...

...plus this...

...equals this.

This...

 ...plus this... 



...equals this.

Put them together, add some bits and bobs and you get this.

Ok...so there is still some work to do...

And sorry, but you will have to wait until September to see the end result :)

But I will drop by before then...may your threads never break...

Bead venture and bobbin roll

here is a sampling of my new venture.

You can find these and more at funkyglassbeads.blogspot.com
On to some sewing...I won this gorgeous fabric in a Gumlace raffle.
I have been planning to make a bobbin roll for some time, and finally got around to it last Friday evening.

This is the outside, opened out.

Here is the side that holds the bobbins. It holds 50 pair of bobbins.

It is very easy to make!

1. Cut your patterned fabric 75cm (29.5 inches) x 56cm (22.5 inches) and hem the 75cm edges.

2. Cut a plain piece of fabric AND a piece of light polar fleece fabric 74cm (29 inches) x 34cm (13.5 inches). Use quilters basting spray to adhere the polar fleece, then the plain fabric to the wrong side, center of the patterned fabric.

3. Turn the excess patterned fabric at the top and bottom over to form flaps, press and sew a seam allowance from the fold, top and bottom, making sure you catch the polar fleece and plain fabrics. (the seam under the date on the pic above)
4. Cut 2 strips of patterned fabric 75cm x 2.5cm (1 inch). Fold in half right sides together, and stitch across one narrow and the long edges. Turn right side out using a knitting needle or tie turner.

5. Pin ties (unstitched ends) 1/4 of the way across the narrow edge at one end, inside the turned down edges and sew along the seam allowance. Turn down the edges on the final end and sew down seam allowances.

6. Using a quilters guide, stitch along the flaps at 3cm (1.25 inch) intervals to form pockets for your bobbins (or pencils).


Hope these instructions are clear...if not, please let me know, and I will try to clarify any sticky bits :)

Patience...me?!?!

Not a bone in my body!!!!

I used all the beads I have made for spangles on Sunday by removing the old spangles off some of my own bobbins and replacing them with my handmade beads. So much for waiting to make new bobbins!!

Then I could not wait to see them in action, so I changed the bobbins on my current project!

Next, I just *had* to change the rest of the bobbins for more of my own.

So here they are...the longer threaded bobbins have my own beads.

And close up of some of the bobbins...

Do you want to see the whole picture??

I thought so :)

My daughter made the pin cushion about 10 years ago and it is still one of my most favorites.

Last time I showed this lace, it was just around the corner. It is growing, but I really need to put it away and work on some other projects!!

Oh well, the motivation may come tomorrow

I admit I did another repeat today after taking the pic:)

I was celebrating - today I purchased a skirt - size 14!!

No big deal, you think? This time last year, size 22 was too small!!

Hugs :)

Bits and bobs

I spent the weekend in the shed...again!

This time my work was on the lathe :)

Here is my new lazy susan - this was the first bobbin I broke -

complete with a set of handmade beads. Timely, as I replaced my lazy susan with a needle pin and have been looking for a new handle! (I keep giving them away but this one will stay)

Here are the rest of the bobbins I made this weekend.

The inscription says:

Bobbin 1: Life without lace...

2010

Bobbin 2: ...I'm a frayed knot!

2010

On the right, you can see the other bobbin I broke. I intend to put it in my Kriss Kringle pack for my student's break up. The reciever can decide it they need a pricker or a lazy susan :)

I still have 2 sets to inscribe, but after 3 weeks of playing with open flames and molten glass with not so much as a singed hair, I burned my finger on the poker and had to pack up for the evening.

Now, I promised some lace in this post!

The tatting will have to wait until next time...I still have about an inch of chain to complete the final bookmark in my 25 motif challenge...

My bucks edge has stalled with Christmas drawing nearer at an alarming rate...

Tomorrow evening I will be delivering these wire lace necklaces.

They were designed by Lenka Suchanck.

I think I will have to make another for myself :)

They were so pretty I decided to use them to make my Christmas card cover for 2010.

Finally, I got to playing with some 1mm copper wire as LOML would love to see a wall decoration made in wire lace :)

More practice required but there are some possibilities here...stay tuned :)

Have fun, stay safe and please let me know what you think before you go.

Many hugs in this super busy time.

Bobbins, shutles and flames

I really have been busy this week!

I have completed another 10 pages of FIL's Christmas scrapbook...may show you highlights later!

Work and lace classes have beeen full steam ahead (not that I have been getting much lace done there...:)

But evenings have had a little lace content...

Here is the wire lace butterfly I am making for a friend...I want 3 in total.

The design is by Lenka Suchanek.

This bobbin lace hankie is also a Christmas gift...I think I am safe to show you here :)

The design is redrawn from Rosemary Shepherd's Intro to Bobbin Lace book and completed in Perle 8 thread - feels like rope after recent efforts, but the effect is nice.

Next for the shuttles...
2 more installments of Stumpy...the left in my favorite thread for tatting - Lizbeth 20, colour shell, the right in the perle 8 again. These are 25 motif challenge number 21 and 22!

This gorgeous design comes up on Gumnuts occassionally! I finally give it a go and love it!
I can't find the link at the moment, but will wrestle this infernal machine later this evening when the daylight in the shed is not calling so strongly!
The left one is perle 8 and the right Lizbeth 20 threads and tallies 23 and 24 in the 25 motif challenge....just 1 to go!!!!

Yesterday I had my other glass making class! It seemed a looonnnggggg wait between Saturdays, but now I have to wait until May next year!!!

I made 2 beads, some twisties and lots of stringers in class, but there were a few other things demonstrated by the teacher, so I just had to come home and get my workstation organised!

Here are my beads...left to right...made with a twistie at home (love the christmas colours but the green did not do as I thought it would - like the effect anyhow, especially on this second attempt), the original first bead from last week, the first try with the twistie (made in class), the first attempt at adding dots (also made in class), my first attempt at swirling the dots (love this bead!!) and another go at dots made at home.

And the other side of the above!

Finally, I made a twistie at home with more than 2 colours. This was great fun, and I think it is the technique that sounds like it should be a drink first thing in the morning, but I will have to look up the name, and check it first.

Now all I have to do is put my boots on and I can go and play some more! today I want to try a couple of other techniques from class, and make some smaller beads so that I can begin spangling some bobbins with my new beads.

The wire lace is also on the agenda and then some scrapbooking...

Thanks for reading my loonnnggggg post...catch up soon, and don't forget to let me know what you think :)

Hairbands, stands and L's

Greetings All,

Yesterday was the April Lace Day meeting for our little group. Unfortunately, I confess to not making 1 twist, crossing or knot :( I did enjoy looking at what other members were up to for a change. Besides, we had a couple of visitors from interstate - DH had some beautiful bobbins and both Ebonee and I helped to lighten the load for the homeward journey - and another visitor from the North West Tassie lace group. As well as helping Ebonee on with her little piece, the chat and friendship was, as usual, full of fun and laughter. Here is the work that Ebonee accomplished.

And up close, you can see the lovely candlelight white glittery thread teamed with a perle 8 verigated pink.

These are her decorated beginner bobbins. The 3 pair on the left are painted, then coated with a clear varnish. The next pair are simply coated with the clear varnish. 2nd from the right have small, torn tissue pieces glued on with the varnish, then a final coat over the top when dry. The right hand pair have the same pink verigated thread as her work wound around the smooth part of the handle, then also finished with a coat of varnish. The pillow, cover cloth, bobbins and spangle beads were part of her birthday present last year.

When she got up this morning, she put in another 6 pins or so. When she is finished, we are going to add a ribbon, a piece of elastic and she will have a pretty hairband to impress her friends with :)Here is the adjustable table DS made for me to make lace on. Well.... actually he made me a cross stitch stand, but when I began making lace, he made a new piece to put in the top so I could put my pillow on. When I want to cross stitch, I can take the table piece out, and put the old cross stitch frame holder back, using the 2 lengths that are folded down here. He even added some stenciled silver roses, coz he knows his mum loves them :) Isn't he a clever lad?!
This is what it looks like with the pillow on top. Everything is adjustable so you can fit it to (almost) any chair/working height and angle. Ok, ok! Yes I have also done a little :) Here is the beginnings of my L.A.C.E. letter L. I am using the leftover Oliver Twist thread from my hankie (isn't it a gorgeous colour) and the pattern is my first ever attempt at design. It is an adaption of a Rosemary Shepherd design from her Introduction to Bobbin Lace book. I needed to widen the insertion, add corners and cut and shut to fit a bubble frame. I added a cross stitch of LOML's 3 children and presented it to their Nanna for her birthday a couple of years ago. This time, I will just make a long and short leg and....bingo - my L!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading :) I really do hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to have your say in the comments section - Ebonee read every single comment earlier - wow there have been lots of new friends made here :)

Have a wonderful day!!