Sept 1 blocks

I finished the Just Takes 2 September blocks tooday. As with other blocks for this quilt, instead of using embroidery in large open spaces on the blocks, I used a tatted motif. These blocks went together easily. They were all rotary cut and machine pieced. For the strip of geese, I used the fast geese method rather than paper piecing. The little snail is stitched onto the center of the block.

The next block clues for this quilt come out Sept. 15. I'm ready and am looking forward to see what the blocks will be. With my growing stack of blocks, I'm also looking forward to the directions for putting together the next section.

2010 Christmas ornaments

When my husband and I started our family, I began making an annual Christmas ornament for my children. That tradition has continued without exception. Now I'm continuing to make an ornament for not only my children but their spouses and also their children. Sometimes the ornaments are not given until Christmas because I don't have them finished. This year, however, I got the ornaments finished in a timely manner and gave them to the kids and grandkids on Thanksgiving so they'll have them to use during this Christmas season.

I always try to put a name or initials on the ornaments as well as a date. This year I used small beads to indicate the initials of the recepient and also the year (2010). The snowflakes were made for my kids and their spouses and the penguins were made for the grandkids.

The snowflake is made from size 80 thread and the pattern for the 2 color flake by Anne Bruvold. The penguin is made using size 20 thread for the white and 3 strands of floss (I didn't have any #20 black thread) and the pattern by Jane Eborall.

"Something Old" butterflies

These butterflies were made to give to 2 brides to be, both of them getting married in Oct. I have made a butterfly for this poem several times and brides think they're pretty special and they have been used on wedding day. The butterflies were tatted with varigated with size 70 or 50 thread. Here's the little poem explanation that accompanied them:

Something Old - the art of tatting
Something New - a butterfly to represent new life with your spouse
Something Borrowed - this is yours only until you pass it along to a special person in your life
Something Blue - the thread from which this butterfly is made

Tatted Hippo

I made this hippo from a pattern by Jane Eborall. This was done step by step, a mystery pattern Tat It and See. Jane has lots of great patterns!