Apples for Auction

I volunteered again this year to work on the basket from our church to be auctioned off at a fundraiser for a local retirement village.  This year I had more than two days notice to get it ready, I had almost a whole month.  The baskets are also wanted much earlier so they can promote them better prior to the auction.  I did the basket from last year all by myself, and I thought that was going to be the case again this year, but I ended up with help.  I asked one of the other ladies from church if she'd like to help and she agreed. 

I didn't have a definite theme in mind and neither did Susan so we began our shopping at an antique/flea market to get ideas.  I had a lot of luck here last year and thought it would be a great place to start.  We wondered up and down the aisles, looking for inspiration. Several items caught our eye but we kept looking for more things that would bring a theme together.  The theme we finally settled on was Apples.

We found a cute small-ish bushel style basket and a set of four cups and saucers with apples on them.  At different stores we found dried apple slices, apple juice in cute bottles, caramel apple coffee, apple dip mix, apple pie spice, a cinnamon apple scented candle, and a hot pad with apples on it.  We couldn't find any towels with apples so we bought two red hand towels to line the basket with.

Can you believe I forgot to take pictures of our prizes until after I had it wrapped???  So this is the best picture I have.  I also found some decorative green apples at the Dollar Store.  I spray painted them red, which turned out great as they looked more real this way.  I added them to the basket, too.

The bushel basket and apple theme came about by what we found at the flea market but it worked out well for another item as well.  It happens that Susan has published several books, the latest being "Bushels of Nostalgia" with a bushel basket of apples on the front cover.  She was kind enough to donate a signed copy of her book to put in the auction basket.

I didn't get a picture of the book by itself, I was trying to get an interesting picture of the bookmark.

From the beginning I planned to put something tatted in the basket but was waiting to determine the theme and color.  Now I started looking for patterns with apples.  I found a couple but not quite what I had in mind so came up with my own.

Apple Bookmark © Wanda Salmans 2015

I've never tried layering rings like this before.  I've seen it several places on the Internet but I'm not finding the sites now - of course. I didn't quite get the shape I was going for but with the leaves I think it still looks like an apple.

I was very happy with the basket we came up with.  The auction was last week but I have no idea who won our basket or how much it went for.  It doesn't really matter - whatever it went for and whoever got it - it was all for a good cause.  I'm hoping that the winner is enjoying all their apples.


"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."
George Bernard Shaw

Tatting Class

Back in July I mentioned that I was going to have a tatting class.  The tatting class consisted of three local ladies, two whom I have known since our children were young.  I was pretty excited to have people interested in a class and that they were local. 

We had our first session in July, then had to have a bit longer of a break before our next lesson than any of us wanted due to personal obligations for all of us.  But we finally had another class and then another.  Then we decided we would just try to meet up at least once a month to get together and tat.

How cool is that?

Tatting class in July

Carla, Becky, and Sherry

Tatting class in August

It is so fun getting together with these ladies.  We are laughing almost the entire time.  A couple of them have started the same project of a simple heart pattern.  Each are progressing at a different pace but are making progress, they just need to keep practicing. As they learn and practice tatting I'm learning and practicing how better to pass on my tatting knowledge.  We're all having a great time learning.

Next month we'll be meeting at my house.  At the last meeting we started talking about coming up with a name for our tatting group.  Any suggestions?

"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment."

Carl Friedrich Gauss

www.brainyquote.com

Mail from Fox and Others

Have you been following Fox's adventures in Armenian Lace?  She entertained us with her undertakings with this different type of knotting for several weeks.  For all that it enticed her into trying it she decided it just wasn't something she wanted to continue, so she called it done, over, not for her.  She even put her newly acquired books up for sale.

And I bought them.

When I saw her trying Armenian lace I looked it up on YouTube and thought it looked interesting.  And when she put her books up for sale I thought it must be a sign.  Fox put the books in the mail right away and surprise, surprise, they came in the mail the same week!  

Tatting by Fox

And look what else she included in the package - a lovely tatted motif and a piece of Armenian lace she made.  And a needle to start it with.  Thank you, Fox, for gifts!

Tatting and Armenian lace by Fox

I'm glad the books got here so quickly but I have no idea when I'm going to have a chance to try it.  I have a lot of things I'm working on right now and once in a while I still have to do things like wash dishes and clothes and cook and go to work - you know, the not-so-fun but essential things in life. 

I'll get to it eventually.

A couple of weeks ago when I posted about my tatted bag Bernice from Knot Vortex asked how big it was. Well, Bernice, it had this ball of Omega thread inside to fill it out so I could get a good picture of it.  I should have put a ball of Lizbeth thread beside it to give some perspective (as I know a lot of people use Lizbeth but I'm not sure how many use Omega) but the Clover shuttle should give you an idea of size. 

Tatted bag by Wanda Salmans

Tatted bag by Wanda Salmans

I'm still trying to decide how to make the lining/insides of the bag though I haven't spent a lot of time on it.  Besides, letting ideas percolate for awhile helps me come up with solutions that usually work pretty well. Putting it on a back burner for a little bit doesn't mean I've forgotten about it.

 I'm busy making things for a craft show right now.  I just bought some beautiful material at Jo-Ann's that I want to make into runners for the show, which will need edgings, and I need to work on gifts for Christmas.  Of course I don't have the right colors or enough of the right colors for what I want to do so I had to place an order for thread which meant more mail!

Don't you just love getting packages in the mail?

"What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp."
Author Unknown

quotegarden.com

Two Crosses

I've mentioned before that my go-to gift for some special occasions are cross bookmarks.  Recently I had two such occasions, one sad, one happy.

I made a cross for my sister-in-law when they recently lost their son.  I couldn't make up my mind which one to tat so I made up one.  I'm not sure I like it that much, but it looks okay. I've tried coming up with a name for it, but they are all sad - "Sorrowful Cross," "Funeral Cross," that type of thing.  I'll come up with something sometime.

© Wanda Salmans September 2015

The other occasion was much happier.  We just installed a new pastor at our church, and what better gift to give him than a bookmark for his Bible?  This is a traditional pattern that I've made several times.  It tats up quickly and is a nice size for a Bible. 

Both bookmarks were made in Lizbeth size 20 thread, in, I think,  #652 Royal Blue.  After making the first I still had plenty of thread for the second one.  It is a suitable color for men or women, don't you think?

I've been doing a lot of tatting lately and still feel I don't have enough time to do all that I would like.  The holidays are fast approaching as well as several birthdays and a craft show in November.  I just can't tat fast enough.  Isn't that the way it goes - when you're busy you keep finding other things to do as well?  I'm thinking I should be making a few more cross bookmarks so I have a few handy when needed.   

Oh! another something I want to be doing.  

"People give one another things that can't be gift wrapped."

Nadine Gordimer

brainyquote.com