Time to share a little

I have been working on Stage 1 of my Teaching Proficiency in torchon lace.

This week, I learned that I have passed :)

Here is a sneak peek at 2 of the projects in that folio.

This Thai Silk scarf was made with almost 200 bobbins. The pattern has been adapted from an oval doily centre.

Here is a close up of the pattern. I have not yet taken a pic of the finished scarf, but I will.

A couple of years ago, I participated in a secret pal exchange. This Oliver Twist thread and hankie fabric were part of my parcels. I played with Lace RX-P to come up with the design, then found that it had been published in Robin Lewis' 101 Torchon patterns.

And the pattern close up...

I really enjoyed these projects, and look forward to the next chapter :)

Have lots more to post, but need to take some pics and get organised!!

Hmmmmmm......I will get there!!
Meanwhile...thanks for dropping by. See you soon :)

Students, motifs and glass

First of all I want to share some of my students work!

This is going to be a curtain for a dolls house and is the first project outside a few small samplers.

You can see the first spider...a fete that was more pleasing than my friend at the front door (for some)!!

One of the other ladies completed this flower from Rosemary Shepherd's Fantasy Flowers book. It is a gift for a young friend of hers, and she was completely delighted with the completed article...now she is well into one for herself!

25 Motif Challenge number 8...ok it may be better if I blocked it properly...

Number 9 - I like this one, but I was intending to put the trefoils in the corners?!?

Number 10 - I like this one even more - but I was still aiming to have the trefoils in the corner!!??!!

Number 11 - with the trefoils in the corner - yay...but maybe another round is needed?

And number 12 - I love this one, despite the mistake (or mistakes?) in the bottom right corner.

Actually I intended to join the chain as I did here, but did the next 2 wrong and liked that better. Completed with the same join, it would be more square and even better, I did it with split chains so no sewing threads in each round :))))))))))

The next few pics are a selection from the next firing of beads. Not all are included, but I think I am making some progress! There have been 2 breakages, both of which were delightful beads, so now the challenge is to remake them!!

These first are made with dark fossil - a mixed colour rod - and I really like the effect.

A selection of lady bugs in different red (and blue) glasses. D(Step)S loves the transparent red one on the top right. Quite a compliment from a 17 year old!
Next, some blue lavender transparents with trailing decoration. I found this easier than using stringers and fun to do.

Finally, I have saved the best til last!

I love this cute little turtle...hope you do too!

If you are still here, thanks for reading this rather looonnnggggg post!! Hope you have enjoyed :)

Til next time, stay safe and enjoy the best things in life - lace, friends and sunshine!

House guest - might be scary for some!

This little lady has moved in right outside my front door!

I know she will scare any visitors away, and I will have to move her soon, but right now I don't have the heart :(

- after all, how long would it take me to make this amazing web?

I have no idea what kind of spider she is, and I have not encountered her kind before. She is rather large - at least an inch and a half long - and the web spans almost 3 feet!
This pic is taken from the top, but it shows her underneath.
As I am no photographer, I am rather impressed by how clear her web has shown up.

I cannot share my bobbin lace project at the moment - suffice it to say, it is rather like my house guest - huge!!

I do have some more tatted motifs, but will have to leave them til next time - LOML is using the printer/scanner and work really must come first.

I also spent 8 hours today at the torch, and will have some gorgeous "experiments" to show you next post!

A hankerchief story

Hi All,
Thanks for the suggestions for the Beds piece ... the frame is on order and for now I may just put a backing mat in behind.
This is the piece of lace I made last year to donate to our local show society for their annual raffle. I am not sure how long it actually took to make the lace, but it seemed to take forever to mount it onto the hankie! The design is from 101 Torchon Patterns by Robin S. Lewis. I messed up the second corner - found the pricking very hard to follow - so I made the forth corner the same as the second.

Here is the finished product after it had been handed around at a lace day. One of our members folded the hankie for presentation and it looked great if I may say so :)The photos are dated 2 months apart, but I had finished well before the meeting, so 2 months or so sounds about right for a full sized hankie Diane. The one I am working on at present has been going just over two weeks. I am a little over half way through making the lace. That does include several full days though, as work has been a little scarce. I generally attach my tatting edges directly to the hankie - use cheaper readymades for the purpose. Having spent a couple of days sorting my lace pictures, I have realized that I do not have a single photo of a tatted hankie OMG :( What better excuse could there be to make another! For today, I am going to do some finishing off so that little project may just have to wait a while. Have a great day and thanks for taking the time to visit and leave a comment :)

1st Lace Day of the year

I would like to send a warm welcome to all the visitors to this blog...I hope you are finding something of interest here.

A Lace Day with some work done!! Yes it does happen occasionally. 10 year old Ebonee started and completed her project number 4... a keyring leaf made in perle 8 cotton thread using cloth and twist and cloth stitches. She completed this project with very little input from me at her first visit to my lace meetings. She is eager to go back again and almost ready to start on her next project...a half stitch flower that one of our juniors was making today.

And I also made some progress! I was very keen to have a go at needle lace before Christmas and participated in a workshop held by a couple of our members. At the next meeting, I proudly showed my flower, only to be told it was not complete :( Not to be put off in any way, I tried again...with full instructions on how to finish off my flower. I have made several attempts, but have not been happy with the result of the final cover stitches. I have to admit that I was almost ready to give up and stick to bobbin lace and tatting. I know there is much practice required, but these are the first time:) I think I might try a butterfly next! And finer thread. And some bobbin lace too. Here is the final lead up lesson for my school students. This bookmark features spiders, trails and ground. Now all I have to do is the lesson notes! One of the juniors in our lace group wishes to have a go at the fan when the notes are complete. She will soon let me know if she thinks something is not right.