IOLI 2026 Conference

I should have written about the IOLI (International Organization of Lacers, Inc.) conference sooner, since registration has been open already.  Some of the bobbin lace classes sold out right away, but there are still spots open in all the tatting classes.

The event will be July 19 - 24 in Durham, NC.  For full information, click Here.

I am teaching 2 full-time classes, meeting for 3 hours a day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.  Yes, that's a lot of classes.  For a smaller dose of tatting, my friend Gretchen Miller is teaching a Wednesday-only class making cute jewelry by adding tatting to her handmade enameled metal charms.

If you are in the neighborhood, the event will be open to the public on Wednesday and you would be able to visit the displays and vending room for free.

 

One of my classes is titled "Victorians Revisited," but is all new original patterns that use old techniques.  You probably know I'm obsessed with tatting history.

The other class is "Blocks and Buttons," combining block tatting with buttons.  Historic techniques, block tatting, buttons:  I've tried to include most of my favorite things.

Back by Popular Demand - Gloria's Maltese Bookmark

 

Lately, I've started getting requests for "Gloria' Maltese Bookmark,"  named for a friend I used to see at Palmetto's Tat Days.  The pattern used to be on my old website that went away.  (Remember way back when internet providers would give you a free webpage if you signed up for their service?)

Now I use Keep&Share to store pattern files for download.  At my membership level, I have a limited amount of data available, so I did not include all the old website patterns on my Free Pattern Page here on the blog.  By my calculations, I could squeeze in another file, so I cobbled together the original pattern and a tutorial that was supposed to go with it.  I have not tried to edit or update it, so I hope it makes sense.  Click on Free Patterns above and then scroll down.

Finger Lakes Tatting Conference Registration Still Open

 One of my resolutions was to make my blog active again. Yeah, I know you've heard that before...

I have 3 tatting teaching gigs lined up this year.   The first coming up is the Finger Lakes Tatting Group Seminar, on April 10-12.  Look for information here:  http://www.fingerlakestatting.com/  Registration is open through March 31, and they say after that contact them to see if they can fit you in.  

It may not be the biggest, but I think it is the longest running tatting conference in America.  In the old days, we called it "Lodi" for short, since that's the town where they met, but now they have moved to the community hall in nearby Burdett, NY.  The Finger Lakes area is beautiful countryside.  The folks at the conference are so friendly it feels like visiting family for me.

They start off with an informal get-together at Karey's shop Friday afternoon and then there's a pot-luck dinner that night at the venue.  Your registration includes 2 classes each on Saturday and Sunday, with breakfast munchies and home-cooked lunch both days.  There's a dinner with a speaker for a small extra fee Saturday night.  Vendors: Tatting Corner, Karey, and maybe others will have threads, books, and supplies for sale.  There will be raffles and an auction.  I always have a wonderful time.

This snowflake is the class I am teaching, based on a really old technique.  Look closely at the unusual swirly picots.

This bee is a class Karey is teaching.  Isn't it cute?  Everyone gets a folder with all the class patterns, so I'm looking forward to making it later since I can't attend the class.

I'm hoping some of you can join us there.

Block Tatted Rainbow

 

Block Tatted Rainbow 

Working in Ends with 2 Shuttles

©2008, 2020 Martha Ess

 

Lots of colors mean lots of ends to work in.  Here is a method using 2 shuttles for a fast way to add colors and work in ends.  I learned this from the dearly departed Terry McGuffin.

 

Rainbow

Materials: 3 shuttles, Aero/Aerlit or other round bobbin style recommended, (you may wish to have extra bobbins wound).  Thread in 5 rainbow colors: purple/lavender, blue, green, yellow, red/pink.  For best effect, choose all brights or all pastels.   Paperclip or coil-less safty pin

 

Begin with 2 shuttles wound CTM with purple/lavender.  Have another shuttle wound with blue standing by.  As you finish a color, you may use that shuttle to wind on the next color, or you may like to have an additional bobbin of green, yellow, and red/pink standing by.

 

Row 1: Hang a paperclip or safety pin on the thread between shuttles to hold open the beginning vsp

Ch:      vsp 6, [vsp 4] 8 times, vsp 1, then pick up the blue shuttle and hold it together with the purple shuttle in your working hand, and add the end of the blue thread into the pinch of your other hand where you are holding the stitches.  Holding the shuttles together, work 5 more ds. By holding the 2 shuttles together, the new thread end is encapsulated as you go. With the purple shuttle only, pull gently to adjust the tension to a gentle curve. Turn, SLT

 

Row 2: Adjust the shuttles so that the blue thread is wound around your hand as the ball thread.  Hold both purple shuttles together in your working hand and work Ch: vsp 6 ds, so both threads form the core.  (This works best with round bobbin style shuttles so you can make fine adjustments to the length of thread between the shuttles and stitches.) Cut off one of the purple shuttles. +LJ to the vsp of Row 1. Continue the chain: [4 +LJ (to next vsp)] 8 times.  Add a shuttle with green thread. As before, hold 2 shuttles in your working hand and work with 2 threads (purple and green) forming the core. Work 6 ds.  With the purple shuttle only, +LJ to the beginning vsp of Row 1.  Turn, SLT

 

Row 3:  Adjust the shuttles so that the green thread is wound around your hand as the ball thread. Hold the purple and blue shuttles together in your working hand and work Ch: vsp 6 ds.  Cut off the purple shuttle and +LJ to the LJ of the row below. Continue the chain: 4 +LJ (to LJ), [5 +LJ (to LJ)] 6 times, 4 +LJ (to LJ).  Add a shuttle with yellow thread. As before, hold 2 shuttles in your working hand and work with 2 threads (blue and yellow) forming the core. Work 6 ds.  With the blue shuttle only, +LJ to the beginning vsp of Row 2.  Turn, SLT

 

Row 4:  Adjust the shuttles so that the yellow thread is wound around your hand as the ball thread. Hold the blue and green shuttles together in your working hand and work Ch: vsp 6 ds.  Cut off the blue shuttle and +LJ to the LJ of the row below. Continue the chain: 4 +LJ (to LJ) [5 +LJ (to LJ)] 6 times, 4 +LJ (to LJ).  Add a shuttle with red/pink thread. As before, hold 2 shuttles in your working hand and work with 2 threads (green and red/pink) forming the core. Work 6 ds.  With the green shuttle only, +LJ to the beginning vsp of Row 3.  Turn, SLT

 

Row 5:  Adjust the shuttles so that the red/pink thread is wound around your hand as the ball thread. Hold the green and yellow shuttles together in your working hand and work Ch: 6 ds.  Cut off the green shuttle and +LJ to the LJ of the row below. Continue the chain: 4 +LJ (to LJ), [6 +LJ (to LJ)] 6 times, 4 +LJ (to LJ), 6 +LJ (to beginning vsp of Row 4). Cut and tie. (If you like the Magic thread method for working in ends, add that during the final 6 ds.)

 

Here is the basic pattern without the commentary:

Row 1:   Ch:   vsp 6, [vsp 4] 8 times, vsp 6. Turn SLT

Row 2:    Ch:   vsp 6 +LJ (to vsp of Row 1), [4 +LJ (to next vsp of Row 1)] 8 times, 6 +LJ (to beginning vsp of Row 1) Turn SLT

Row 3:    Ch:   vsp 6 +LJ (to LJ of row below), 4 +LJ (to next LJ), [5 +LJ (to next LJ)] 6 times, 4 +LJ (to next LJ), 6 +LJ (to beginning vsp of row below) Turn SLT

Row 4:    Repeat Row 3

Row 5:    Ch:  6 +LJ (to LJ of row below), 4 +LJ (to next LJ), [6 +LJ (to next LJ)] 6 times, 4 +LJ (to next LJ), 6 +LJ (to beginning vsp of row below) Cut and tie.

2024 - The Year of Winging It, Part III: The Dalek

This one likely won't mean much to you unless you are familiar with the Doctor Who TV series.

I don't remember quite when and why I decided to tat a Dalek, but suddenly it was something I very much wanted to do.  I needed it to have the authentic shape while also having a strong tatting/handicraft flavor.  Buttons! of course I needed buttons, and it may have been seeing a pack of gray buttons at JoAnne's that sent me over the edge.  Add in some bead caps and bicone beads and I was set to go.

I'll admit I needed some help in winging it.  I found a pattern to print and make a paper Dalek somewhere online and used that as a guide to shape the various parts.  The 9 sections making up the base include a few rectangles, but most are irregular shapes.  I thought I was so clever translating them into tatting until I realized what a jagged edge I had at the bottom.  After a few false starts, I decided the only way out was to go all around the bottom with 1 ds, picot, with the picots being varying heights to even up that edge.  The next round was 1 ds, CWJ (Catherine wheel join) all around, with the occasional vsp for joining the following dark gray block tatting rounds. Then on to more trial and error for the upper sections.  Everything was joined as I went, with no sewing or tying together except the arms and antenna were added later.

I was really happy how it turned out, but it was very hard, so I don't plan to make another one.

 

2024 - The Year of Winging It, Part II: Sunflowers

In the fall of 2023, I had the honor to help test tat for Shawna Wachs' book,  Flower Garden.  Around that same time, I visited the Van Gogh Immersive Experience.  And I thought, could I make her sunflowers to look like his sunflowers?  It was a few months before I could dive into that project, but yes, I could.  I started with her sunflower, daisy, and mum patterns and gradually reproduced the painting.  Sometimes, my flowers were pretty close to her patterns, and sometimes I used her petal style as inspiration.  Sometimes my flower centers were like hers, and sometimes they were not, to better imitate the painting.  So, that's where the winging it theme fits in.

Here's my completed, slightly 3D picture.  I'm quite happy with it, and it won first place for framed or mounted tatting at the NC State Fair.

Here are a couple of Shawna's flowers, made according to the book:

How I did it:  I found a copy of Van Gogh's painting online and printed it the size I wanted my picture to be.  I put that into a  plastic page protector.  As I went along, I compared my tatting to the picture to judge shaping and size.  As each piece was completed, I taped it to the page protector.  Once they were all done, then I sewed them onto the fabric.  A word of warning if you ever attempt something similar:  I made the printout 10 inches tall, planning to use a 8x10 frame since that's a common size.  I didn't realize that while an 8x10 picture fits inside the frame, the actual opening in the front is a bit smaller, so it looked too crowded.  Luckily, I had an 8 1/2 x 11 frame on hand and switched to mounting for that size.

More free advice:  picture frames in stores are expensive.  Framed pictures in thrift shops are cheap.  Take a measuring tape with you to the thrift shop to check the size.  Find one the right size and you can throw out the old picture and add your own.
 

News Flash - Finger Lakes Tatting Conference Early Registration

In case you didn't know...

The Finger Lakes Tatting Conference will be held this year, April 4 - 6.  I always have a wonderful time.  There is a great line-up of teachers coming (isn't there always?) This year's conference will be at a new venue in Burdett, NY, which looks closer to Watkins Glen than before.  Early registration discount price is in effect through February 1.  

For complete information, visit the Finger Lakes Tatting Group site HERE.

Below are projects from the class I will be teaching.  It looks like a Dorset button, but is made differently using a tatting shuttle, and then you tat a motif around it.