Tatting - I'm addicted again

Hand projects are so addictive!  Unfortunately, they're taking me away from my quilting! :)

There are so many beautiful patterns out there.  This one is called Nilakandi and is in Jon Yusoff's book Tatting Gems.

I still have a couple of threads to hide to finish it off.. but I was so excited that I finished it.

More practice is definitely needed... but I'm working on it.

Antiquing Discoveries and tatting

A couple sunday's ago I decided to head out to the Bentley Antique Market because I've seen the sign there several times over the last couple of years but have never gone. 

Jim is not a fan of flea markets, antique markets or shopping of any sort... so I left him at home sleeping... lol

My greatest find.....

A beautiful hanging light!  I have such limited lighting in my sewing room and I knew I needed something that I could position right over my sewing table... and this fit the bill, and it's gorgeous!  Beautiful heavy glass panels in shades of light green and whites, and what looks like brass/copper metal.  The lady told me if any of these glass pieces broke or cracked it would probably cost about $200 to replace just one.  It had a price tag on it of $60, and she had previously had it on hold for another antique dealer, but since they hadn't claimed it yet and she hadn't adjusted the price tag (thinking she had really undervalued it), I purchased it for the price on the tag.  Whoohooo! 

I love the fact that it is a hanging chain lamp, which makes it easy to position it where I need it in my sewing room.

During my tour of the antique market, I also came across these very old quilts.  Most of which are very obviously hand appliqued and hand quilted.

This one had really been loved for a long time.  I'm pretty sure it used to be red, so you can see how much it's faded over the years.

Another red one.

I really enjoyed looking and feeling this one.  It was quite apparent that the applique and the quilting was all done by hand.

Such a pretty quilt.  I could tell it was machine sewed and then hand quilted.  They wanted $85 for this and I almost bought it. 

On another note, something caught my interest a couple weeks back.  For some reason I was teased by some tatting.  I remember years ago I taught myself how to tat, and produced a few bookmarks at the time.  So I went on a search to find my tatting supplies.

I found them, and one little plastic shuttle that I had used... so I thought, let's try this again.  You don't realize how much you've forgotten until you try something you did maybe 20 years ago.

After a lot of false starts, several pieces that ended up in the garbage, and hours of watching video tutorials on youtube, I finally finished a couple pieces I'm willing to show.

Two tatted bookmarks! :)  These are just rings and chains (in tatting terminology), and I can see where I need some improvement still.  I've yet to tackle some of the more difficult techniques like split chains and split rings, but this is a start.

I was just happy to be able to do these, and have another hand project at the ready to work on in the living room when Jake urges me out of the sewing room.... after all, how can you say no to this face?

Check out this great MSN video: Amazing 'Sexy And I Know It' Cover

Check out this great MSN video: Amazing 'Sexy And I Know It' Cover

This kid is awesome!  Great voice!  And he did a wonderful job of this song.. so much better than the original by LMFAO.

Quilts in Bloom Show 2012 - pictures

No point in talking about these much, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Let's just say we have some incredibly talented quilters in and around Ottawa.

Beautiful maple leaves

Doesn't this just look like fall?

This one is beautful in neutrals

I loved the quilting on it

I love the celtic dragonfly here

Awesome memory quilt, the ingenuity to make it look like a bookcase is amazing, almost 3D

This little beauty is less than 22" square... such tiny pieces! (see card below)

 

I love the celtic knots

Another celtic beauty

These were just some of the quilts on display (some even listed they were for sale!).
 I'll be going back again today - I was really disciplined yesterday and didn't buy a thing! except my 3 day pass  :)

Superior Threads has a table there an had some beautiful trilobal threads on huge cones for $14.  I'm going to pick up a read one in anticipation of quilting my Jamestown Landing. 

Also, I met Mari, the owner of Bytowne Threads - she's our very own local Aurifil distributor!

Another vendor table, Kallisti Quilts, had a wonderful selection of sashiko supplies, threads in all colours, not just white, and little kits and lots of patterns and printed fabrics.  I'll have to stop by her stand again.

More later.....