Rat-a-Tat-Tat

In my family history line on my moms side, I have a Great Grandmother who was blind. My mom tells me about her Grandma, Amy Richards Taylor, who would sit and do handwork for hours on end. If that isn't amazing enough, she was an expert at Tatting Lace. When I was twelve or thirteen my mom taught me how to tat a teeny tiny little sampler, and that was enough patience spent on the subject for me at the time. I was done. Through the years, I ended up being the only "next generation" tatter in the family line. That being the case, Great Grandma's well used tatting shuttle was entrusted to my not-so-impressed teenage care. 

I'll be very honest. The tatting shuttle sat in my handwork box (with all my other handwork doo-dah's) for.... let's see... gotta do some math.... almost ten years? Yep. That's about it. 

Well, my mom came for a visit a couple weeks ago (just in case you forgot...), and with another one of her daughters getting married, sentimental and pretty things are in need. She was sitting on my couch tatting with her own shuttle in hand, making a long chain of lace to use on something for the bride. Luckily my mom is a genius at anything handwork-ish, and she is very patient too. I dug out my shuttle (that was still wound with some thread that neither me or my mom wound on it) and put my mom to work! She taught me how to tat again, and I have to say that this time around I am a bit more interested, to say the least!

It's amazing to me that I can make lace with my hands (well, quite slowly. I'm not that great....), I can do something my Great Grandma passed down the line to me. I didn't ever get to meet her, or my Grandma, but they gave something special to me (okay, besides my really neat mom... I kind of thought that was a given). They gave me the knowledge of a  hobby, and maybe a talent. I think that's pretty cool.

Use Some Lace

Well, it's another freezing cold day for us in the twin cities. I could just repost these photos... but I feel like that would be cheating somehow. On the other hand, not much has changed so why not! Another indoor craft that I actually pulled out to wear the other day is this lace pouf. This lace is another piece that I snatched from my moms amazing and never ending supply of crafting odds and ends. The lace itself has more of a zig-zag edge, opposed to normal lace that has soft curves. I love that it makes a simple feminine statement without being over the top.

I used a needle and thread, doing a loose stitch along the bottom edge of the lace. Once I reached the end of the length, I pulled it all together so it was all gathered. Then I just adjusted it to look like a flowery poufy thing and hot glued it to a felt circle for the base.

Spring is coming (hopefully, if this ice can ever melt from off the sidewalks...) and that means flowers and bright colors! I'm so in the mood for spring. Maybe that's why I actually wore a flower in my hair. I think I'll go spend some time with my friend Google and find more images of Bora Bora to dream about...

My Own Flowers

Don't worry. I know you've been freaking out because you think I died. But I didn't. I'm still alive, and I am still making fun things, and believe it or not, I still like to blog about them. Our vacation has been great for the holidays, and it's still going! I can't believe how long it has been. You'd think they would have gotten sick of us by now..... or at least gotten tired of my little miss G sucking on everyone's toothbrushes when she can get her hands on them. We've been visiting my family for almost three weeks now and it has been such a good time. I love seeing all my siblings and visiting and laughing with my mom and dad late into the night....or early morning, to put it correctly. I love being home and seeing people and places that I grew up with. I love the memories that come back to my mind as we talk and laugh.

Moving right along.... I made these pretty flowers for two of my aunts and one for my sweet Grandma for Christmas. My hubby is in law school, so Christmas was a little tight this year for buying gifts (I know, hard to believe....). I decided to raid my moms fabric cupboards, which are amazing, by the way. I found this pretty brown fabric and the cream colored lace from the lace bucket. I also found a piece of lace that my mom used when she made her own wedding dress! That was the neatest treasure I found. Anyway, I also dug through my moms five (yep, 5) tins of buttons and found some favorites that I remember playing with when I was younger.

These flowers are a spoof off of the last ones that I posted about. I first cut out the flower shapes for the petals, and the circle used for the base.

Folding the petals in half twice, I glued three of these on one base to start the flower.

Then I made a circle of the lace and glued it on top of the three petals, and the buttons go on top. One of the flowers I made has the buttons right on the lace, the other flower has another brown circle of fabric for the buttons to go on. Either way looks great to me.