Quilting threads

I finally had a little time to try out some of the quilting thread I have recently acquired.  

The cross on the left is made with Perfect Quilter thread #085 Sunrays; the cross on the right is made with King Tut thread #922 Harem.  The crosses are similar but not quite the same - the Sunrays cross has slightly longer arms.  But the King Tut is definitely a bit smaller than the Perfect Quilter.  Both tatted very nicely but I like the Perfect Quilter better.  I made a mistake in both crosses and had to open a couple of rings in each.  The King Tut thread broke while trying to open the rings but I was able to open the rings of the Perfect Quilter without breaking it.  I also had to work with both threads while there was plenty of light because of the size of the threads.  Not surprising but it does limit when I can work with them. And probably what patterns I would try with them.  

I'm happy enough with both brands that I do plan on finding places to use them. I still have several colors that I haven't worked with yet but still want to try out.
This has been a great experiment.

A couple of weeks ago I showed an edging I was working on.  I actually made two edgings to go on a garter for my niece who was married last Saturday.  (I got it done in time!)  If I had found Gina's garter pattern before I started I would have used it instead, but I found it only after I'd started and had a plan.  I did use part of her idea for joining the top and bottom, but not quite like she did.  The reason the top and the bottom are not the same is because I ran out of time and had to come up with something a bit simpler.  I think it came out pretty well anyway.  The bride liked it :-)

"Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose."
Charles Eames
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I changed my mind

Back in July I made several motifs that I planned to put on my denim purse.

I changed my mind. 

I decided to put them on a heart instead.

Lizbeth #662 Turquoise Light size 20

This wooden heart is about 3 inches across.  I have a frame I want to put it in but I haven't found just the right background to put it on. I'm calling this #11 of this round of my 25 Motif Challenge (I finally remembered to count it!)

So why did I change my mind?

Because I could :-)

I'm playing with my new threads now, but I don't have anything to show just yet.  So far I'm enjoying them a lot, which kind of surprises me as I've never really liked tatting with this small of thread.  Thanks Fox and IsDihara for introducing me to them!

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."

Winston Churchill

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Tat and chat

Back in June I taught the basics in a tatting class to a couple of ladies from Wichita.  I'm very pleased that both have kept up with it and are enjoying it a lot.  We've communicated by email several times and thought it would be fun to get together again.  The timing finally worked and we met at Cheryl's house last week.

Me, Cheryl and Erica

Cheryl has made several lovely bookmarks and is working on another; Erica is working on a gift for a friend.   I'm impressed with their tatting, they are both doing a great job!  We talked patterns, threads, techniques, and shuttles.  They each had a list of questions to ask, which I hope I was able to answer satisfactorily for them.  It was a fun visit which I'm hoping we'll be able to do again sometime.

I hate to say it but the above photo is the only one I took (!).  I was going to take one of some of their work but got side-tracked by the conversation.  Time seemed to go by much to quickly!

Can you believe it?  I still haven't touched any more of my new thread yet. I have yet another project with a deadline that I am hurrying to meet.  If I hadn't gotten sick last weekend, and had a different schedule all week, I would have been able to proceed in a more relaxed manner.  But now I'm in a rush again.  And of course I couldn't just choose an existing pattern, mine or someone else's - no, I had to go and try something new. Again!  You'd think I'd learn, especially when there's a deadline, but I do this to myself time and time again.  I guess I like taking the chance that it will all work out.  And in time!

Lizbeth #149 Peacock Blues size 20.

Thank you to all who wished me health this last week.  I do feel a lot better, though now it seems to have morphed into really bad allergies with just a reminder now and then that colds hang on awhile.

"I fear the boredom that comes with not learning and not taking chances."
Robert Fulghum
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This weekend I drank tea

 Do you remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I had bought several colors of Perfect Quilter thread?

Isdihara mentioned that she had some King Tut quilting thread and wondered if I would be interested in a thread exchange.  I thought it was a great idea!

Just a couple of days later I got her King Tut thread in the mail, in time for the Labor Day weekend.  A three day weekend and seven new threads to try - wow!  Thank you, Isdihara!

Would you like to see everything I got done?

This is a little piece I made with the "Baja" Perfect Quilter thread, just to see how it worked up.  It was easy to work with and amazingly I didn't have trouble with it tangling or knotting.  It tatted great!

And then.....

Yes, that was it.

I had a lot of time to tat this weekend but instead I sat around feeling miserable!  I had body aches, sore throat, and a terrible stuffy head. I had no motivation to do anything but sit around and drink hot green tea with honey.  Two days of a nasty cold.

I had such plans for the weekend - several tatting projects, some cleaning (I know, but sometimes it has to be done!) and maybe have dinner with our neighbors.  But none of that came to pass.  In fact, I haven't been able to try out any more of the threads yet!

It is September and the sunflowers are in full bloom.  These sunflowers - between seven and eight foot tall - are in my backyard. For all that they can be a pain when they are done blooming I love to see them every year.

They are so bright and, well, sunny!  

They didn't raise my spirits this weekend but now that I'm feeling a bit better they are.


"Tea! The panacea for everything from weariness to a cold to a murder
Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea"
Henry Fielding