All in clover - doily

I had some pearle 12 left on my shuttles from making my corsage and so used up the thread with this doily. It didn't flow as well as some of my designs, therefore I had a lot of wasted thread, however, I think the end result was worth it!

Red & Cream Corsage

I've made this arrangement to wear on Saturday to the West Midlands Tatting Day at Amblecote, Stourbridge (UK). I shall be wearing cream trousers with a red and cream top and red blouse. The last time I wore a corsage to this event, a couple of years ago, I ended up giving it away to another tatter who was starting up her own group. I wonder where this one will end up!

Another Coronet Doily

Brenda, from the UK, sent me this picture of the Coronet Doily she has completed. Well done, Brenda! Brenda used my YouTube video of doing the edging of this doily, which she said was very helpful. Here is the link to the video.

Hexagon - plain and simple

 This little motif is a very simple hexagon but can be put together to obtain lots of different shapes. I have simply kept it in an overall hexagon shape in this doily, but you can make triangles, diamonds, rectangles, squares, etc..
I shall not write the pattern out for this, as it is so simple, I am sure that someone must have designed it before.

Split Chain Doily - edited

I re-tatted my Split Chain Doily so that I could check the pattern and here is the colour that I did. I found a mistake on round 8 and the same mistake on round 12 and have corrected it in the pattern. I have updated the link to the new PDF of the pattern.

Variagated pink split chain doily

Stephanie tatted another Split Chain Doily in this lovely variagated pink, but just to round 8 this time. As Stephanie says, it would make a great set by tatting one large one and two smaller ones.

I tatted another one myself and found a slight mistake in the instructions, therefore if you would like an updated version, here is the link!

Bathroom arrangement

Leaves

I decided to make a flowerarrangement for my son and daughter-in-laws' bathroom. 

The pictures show the flowers and leaves I made and the steps that I arranged them.

I had glued a small block of oasis onto a little Aynesley china dish the day before, to make sure that it was well secure.

Flowers

Step 1, placing the leaves

Step 2, binding the main flowers together
before placing them into the arrangement.

Placing the smaller flowers into the arrangement.

Close-up

Clivia Spectacular

My clivia plant has been in full bloom for a couple of weeks now....the petals are just starting to fall, therefore I thought I would take a picture of it before it went completely over.

Such a shame that the flowers last for such a short time! I have to wait a whole year for them, but boy they are worth it!

Split Chain Doily Test-Tatted

My dear friend, Stephanie, from USA, has once again very kindly test-tatted another pattern for me.

She has used Sulky 12-weight machine embroidery/machine quilting thread, which tats up like a size 80 tatting thread. I love the colour combination and can't wait to do another for myself in a variagated thread.

Split Chain Doily Pattern

Here, as promised, is the pattern for my split chain doily. I have not checked it....so if someone would like to test-tat it for me, I would be delighted.
Here is the link to the PDF, but you can also find it in my Free Pattern section.

Split chain doily completed

And here is the split chain doily completed. My designing hat must have been really tall as this pattern just rolled off my shuttle.....no retro-tatting needed at all!

Being able to do split chains makes such a difference to the amount of cutting and tying needed between rows. With this design, using split chains and split rings to climb out of rows, I only had to cut and tie after row 8 and the last row, doing away with masses of ends to sew in!

Split chain doily

When I did the little motif to demonstrate my method of doing a split chain it seemed a shame to waste it.....and so I just carried on. I used a thick thread for the demo and I don't normally use such a thick thread for doilies, but I thought, "what the heck" and this is the result so far. I have no idea what I shall do with it when it is finished, probably give it away, as usual, LOL!!!

Split Chain - step by step instructions

Tat the first part of the chain in the normal way, to the point where you want the two shuttle threads to meet. Join the core thread to the base of the first ring with a lock join and leave enough thread to work the 5 stitches needed to complete the chain, back towards the last chain stitch worked. Always leave a little less thread, as this will stretch as you work the backward stitches.

 Using the core thread shuttle, pull a loop of thread, from the back, to the front, taking great care not to twist the loop. Thread the shuttle through the loop from the back to the front.

 Gently pull the shuttle thread until the loop is much smaller and then push the loop under the chain towards the back.

 Pull the loop at the back, gently reducing the thread and you will see the first half of the stitch taking shape.

 Draw all the way until the first half of the stitch is tightly into position, taking great care not to twist the new loop that is forming.

 Thread the shuttle, from the front to the back, through this new loop. This forms the second half of the stitch, therefore draw up the excess thread until the second half sits snuggly against the first half.

 First double stitch completed.

A Little Splash of Spring!

I have made this little spring flower arrangement for my next-door neighbour. She is a true friend who is worth making a treat for. I found out quite a long time ago that her favourite colours were blue and yellow, so what a good excuse to make daffodils and primulas!

This is a doodle I did last week and I've called it Little Teardrop. It is a very simple design and done all from one side, no reverse working at all!

Diamond Motifs

The following pictures are my journey into designing a diamond shaped motif to enter into the Ring-of-Tatters competition this year. I will not post a picture of the final design that I am entering, I will save that until after the competition.