Some tatting finishes

Here's some pictures of tatting I've done in the past few weeks that I did not post or blog about. The two multi colored motifs are called Mardi Gras and the pattern is by Patty D. I showed the single motif but I never showed you the motif with the tail for a bookmark. I just did a chain with the first half of the double stitch. I know this has to have a name, is it a Josephine chain? I just liked the look of it and used it.... The heart to the left is called Heart of England by Rosemarie
Peele. I ran across this on the web. I think I found it through the Georgia Seitz website but wherever I found it, I liked it.... I still have to block it. It will look better once that is done. I did Josephine rings on this one and I'm not real crazy about those little things. As for the other heart, I don't remember what pattern I used on it, I'll have to look and see. The little round motif out of the Mexicali thread is another little motif from a book I just purchased. I love this book but will have to give you more info about it later....

Sewing Bags - Tatting and Tulip Pillow Cover

Hey there. Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy working out nearly every day, tatting and yes, I have done some sewing too...I went yesterday with some friends to sew in a new quilting barn! One of my friends is a longarm quilter and she built this for herself. Well, she didn't build it but she had it built. You know what I mean... It's lovely. It can hold her car if she wants it to but who are we kidding? Right?! She has a fully functional kitchen (except for a stove)she has a microwave. A bathroom and a big cedar closet. OMG, I love this closet. I could stay in this little room forever. She puts her finished quilts in here until her customers come to pick them up. She has a TV (flat screen, of course), a big couch. I forget what they are called but it's one of those couches that curve. Anyway, about 15 people can sit on the couch. She has shelves that wrap around half of the room and it has some of her stash and books and sewing decorations and antique machines, etc. It is decorated so cute! Then she has her Longarm machine and her sewing area and a space for her car. That's where we were. There is also and upstairs area with the biggest closet in the world and she has her stash upstairs...

She had set up 6 tables for us. The long 6-8 ft. tables and she put them together so 4 people could be at the table. There were 9 of us in all and we had a great time. This is my ASG group(American Sewing Guild). We got together and made a sewing bag. Here's a picture of the little bag we made.




Everyone worked on their bags until they were finished. We had a great lunch and lots of laughter. It was alot of fun. These sewing bags are alot of fun to do too. I plan on making more and giving as gifts this year. You can leave out the middle pincushion and give them to your non-sewing friends as jewelry bags.


Here's a picture of the tatting I finished yesterday. I made this from Mary Konior's book, Tatting with Visual Patterns. It's called Spinning Wheel Glass Mat and I used Lizbeth size 20 thread and the color was Springtime #115.



Today, I cleaned house a little bit while my husband and son went golfing. After lunch, I decided to finish this pillow covering for my MIL. I gave her the quilt last month and she needed or wanted a pillow top to decorate with. I made this and finished the quilting on it this afternoon. She's coming over now and we will be grilling out on my new grill that my DH bought for me as a surprise....



He gave me a grill and I gave him a chain saw. While he cuts down some of the trees around our pond, I'll be using that grill to feed a hungry man. Gotta go for now. Gotta go make some hamburger patties. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday.

Don't forget to thank a serviceman or woman for our freedom that we are able to enjoy this holiday. Til next time....

Tatting and working out

I have been busy this week but in a different way. All of this tatting, knitting and quilting are great for the mind and inspiration but not so good on the body. You gotta get your parts moving so you don't weigh a million pounds. My husband and I joined a gym last week. We both work at the hospital and it has a Cardio Vascular Center that promotes employees and families to work out and get in shape. They had a promotion so dear hubby and I joined. I started walking the track and using the bicycle on Friday. I walked a mile and spent 15 minutes on the bicycle. Then I walked in the pool and swam one lap. I thought I would be sore Saturday but not too bad. Monday afternoon, DH and I worked out together. We started out with the bicycles and then walked the track. We worked out on all the machines. I was a little sore Tuesday but still not too bad.

Tuesday, I went to tatting and had a great time with the girls. Lucille and I worked on the Pearl tatting again. We talked about the different ways to do it and decided the easiest method was the one Cathey showed us a few weeks ago. It was Mary Jo's birthday and she brought Cheesecake. Wow, it was wonderful. She can really make great cheesecake. So much for working out, huh! Anyway, it was really good but it's food like this I HAVE to avoid in order to lose the weight and get healthy like I want to. We had a good time at tatting but we missed two of our regular members. Miss Nancy was getting sick and she stayed home. Although she sure has been working on her tatting....Looks good, Nancy. I hope you get well quickly. Cathey's Mom was having surgery and she was with her. Our hearts and Prayers go out to you, Cathey. I hope your Mom gets better quickly....We missed both of these girls but we had fun too....

I went to the gym yesterday and had my first class. It was called All Ball and it was a core workout with the big balls as well as smaller balls. It was an hour class and I was exhausted by the time it was over. Angie, the instuctor said I did really well and that I had good balance. Walking down the stair, my legs felt like jelly. Ok, where did that good balance go to? I was going to do the Water Aerobics but....I got my suit on and walked in the water for 6 laps. That was all I could do.

I could barely get out of bed today. I am so sore everywhere! My legs especially...I knew I was in bad shape but wow! I was going to take the beginning Yoga class today but I'm afraid if I got down on the floor I wouldn't be able to get off of it! I'd just have to lay there. I tell you what, it really makes you think about eating that piece of cake just to be able to work it off! Anyway, I don't want to miss Grey's Anatomy tonight. Gotta get home and get ready for it! I will be working out tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Til next time....

I have some tatting to show you too, just haven't stopped to take pictures. Will post soon.

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother has been gone now for 38 years. I was young when she died and that was a hard time in my life. The loss has gotten easier at times but other times are still hard to deal with. I loved my Mother but I was at the age that I didn't think she was very smart. The older I get, the smarter I think she was. I do have some precious memories of her and I'll be thinking about those tomorrow when my children and grandchildren come to see me...
For all of the wonderful Mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. I hope you get to visit with your kids and grandkids and have a great day.

ASG Spring Event with Peggy Sagers

Two of my friends and I went to an event sponsored by American Sewing Guild today. The guest speaker for the event was Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns. She talked to us about the proper use of the French Curve and fitting techniques to help the home sewer. She is a pattern maker and a wonderful speaker. I haven't made my own clothes in a long time but she made me want to...She made a statement about quilting that I thought was interesting and my friends and I agreed with her too. Just for the record, my friends are quilters too. Her statement was that women are quilting now more than ever because they cannot sew quality clothes for themselves. She said people have trouble making clothes that fit themselves properly. Quilting is just straight lines and flat sewing, no darts or fitting problems to deal with. My friends and I agree with her a little but we also think people are making quilts because they love to do it and see a useful product too. I know I quit making clothes for myself because I would make a blouse or pants, and get it finished and it just didn't feel right on. After hearing her today and some of the suggestions and ideas she gave us, I'm going to pull out my patterns and see about making another blouse. I'll put some of her ideas into action and see it they work for me....I'll keep you informed. Here's the website for Peggy Sagers if you are interested.....http://silhouettepatterns.com/. She will also be one of the teachers/speakers at Martha Pullen this year. Martha Pullen is coming up in June....

I also went and picked up my BOM from Thomas Sewing Center this morning. Block Number 2 in this beautiful quilt. I have to get off and go work on this block....

A Cute Giveaway

Check this out. Lynn over at Bluebird Quilts is celebrating her blog anniversary by having a great giveaway. If you run over to her blog by the 15th, you can have a chance of winning this lovely little quilt.

Look at this cute little wallhanging....

Ironing pads or hotpads

The girls at the ASG meeting liked my idea about the ironing pad or hotpads. They even liked the idea about using left over quilt blocks or cheater cloth for these. Everybody wanted to run out and buy that silver silicon ironing pad fabric. The whole idea was learning to bind a quilt but I think they liked the hotpads better than the binding. Oh well, I think they learned a little too....