Change in the World

Heather The Tarnished Tatter has tagged me. Now normally I am not crazy about these things but this one could be fun. Here are the rules.


1. go to your documents/pictures.


2. go to your 5th file.


3. go to your 5th picture.


4. blog about it.


5. tag 5 people …...


Okay so here it goes. I am going to my pictures and the fifth file is labeled Christmas 2008 and the fifth picture is.....

This is a plaque that was given to me by a special neighbour who I helped for 6 months. There cat was borderline kidney failure so I would go to there house every two to three nights and give there cat an IV treatment. They where amazed that I would do something so kind and not accept payment and I told them that I wanted to see people be nice and caring to each other and the way to help get that going was to set the example. The words on the plaque are a quote from Gandhi who amazed me with how he tried to change things for the better in the world, but did it in a meek and mild way and by setting an example. I truly believe these words that if we want change it has to begin with ourselves because we can only control ourselves and hopefully others will follow our example and make the change in there lives. If others do not change at least you can feel good about yourself and what you are doing and that is what is important.

I am not going to tag anyone but instead leave it open to anyone who would like to participate to tag themselves and have some fun with it.

Life Is Full Of Bumps And Bruises

Well I am working on Robert's heirloom doily/runner. It is the Pattern called the Grid from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. It is tatted in YarnPlayers Fern HDT size 80. As you can tell I have not made a lot of progress since my last post but with good reason. Since Gregg and I have been decorating our bedroom a lot of odd jobs where put on hold and I have been trying to get them caught up. In the middle of this I had two falls and I managed to cause a hairline fracture in my foot. I am now hobbling around in an air-cast and although this gives me time for tatting, with the pain I am in I just do not feel like concentrating on it. Hopefully this week will be better and I will be in a tatting mood as I would hate to see all the time go to waste.

Laura Update

I am pleased to let everyone know that Laura is home from the hospital and her recovery is progressing well. She has received fantastic news and that is that the biopsies that they took show NO cancer. Laura would like to thank everyone for there prayers and positive thoughts which have helped and continue to help her as she deals with her health issues. It is wonderful news to celebrate.

How Is Laura Doing?

Just a quick note to let everyone know, who knows Laura Blanton. Her surgery went well yesterday and she is resting well and hoping to come home from the hospital tomorrow. She would like to thank everyone for there prayers and positive thoughts. Your support means a lot to her.

The Start of Roberts' Heirloom Piece

Well we have finally finished the work of redecorating our master bedroom. I must say it looks very rich now that it is decorated in Royal purple, cream, gold. When we get all the artwork in place I will have to post some pictures to give you all an idea of how you can paint your walls a very dark colour and still have a room that looks very elegant. The best part was the bedspread we got for the bed was on sale for $212.00 when it regularly costs $720.00.

This is the start of the Heirloom tatted piece I am making for my son Robert. It is the Pattern called the Grid from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. It is tatted in YarnPlayers Fern HDT size 80. If you have not had the opportunity to tat with some of YarnPlayers HDT yet I would highly recommend that you treat yourself to some as I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. It adds a whole new flavour to your tatting. I am making one small change in the pattern and that is I am rotating the center of the motif one picot as I like the way it lines up better. Let me know what you think if you are familiar with the pattern. I would be interested in your feedback.

Matching Dolies and Heirlooms

This cute little Party-Time doily is a match to the larger one I made and posted about a little while a go. It is the second in a set of doilies I am making for our front sitting room furniture. It is made following the pattern, Party-Time Doilies from the book Traditional Tatting Patterns edited by Rita Weiss. The thread is YarnPlayer's Tourmaline HDT size 80 which is my all time favorite thread.

Now I am going to take a break from the doilies and set to work on a heirloom project. I made the following heirloom doily for my daughter a while a go.

At that time I promised my son I would make a heirloom piece for him. Well he has picked his pattern and when I showed him today that I had started it he got excited and now he can't wait to see what the finished project is going to look like because I am taking a small pattern and adapting it into a large piece of tatting. It is going to be tatted in YarnPlayers' HDT Fern in size 80. It is really nice to have children that appreciate the tatting that I do. I know that they value it as much as I do. Well time to tat. 

New Tatters

Well yesterday was the last day of tatting lessons for my three students and I am proud to say there are three new tatters in the world today.I had a lot of fun teaching these ladies the basics of tatting and it reminded me on more than one occasion what it was like when I learned to tat. According to the exit questionnaires my students where pleased with the lessons and the instructor and would recommend the lessons to their friends. It was so much fun to be able to show them the double stitch and see the look on their faces when they realized they had gotten the flip. Although they where not 100% confident in themselves and there new found knowledge they can do it. Now it is just a matter of practice. Congratulations ladies.

International Tatting Day

Oh what could be better than International Tatting Day. I think I like it better than Christmas. What a wonderful thing to have an excuse to spend a day tatting and eating chocolate. This years challenge is to see how many kinds of chocolate I can eat in one day. The only problem is it is a bit tricky not getting chocolate on your tatting. That would never do or I would have to eat my tatting, can't waste good chocolate. Maybe for next year I will invent chocolate thread. What a way to end the day, by eating one's tatting.