Rags

Well, here she is. This is "Rags" short for "Ragamuffin" which is what she looked like when I finally caught her. She was only 5 weeks old when she followed Marshmallow and Lucky home. (The 2 cats we already had) It took me a week to catch her too. But she kept coming back to eat and sleep on the porch.
She likes to play with my stuff. I think her favorite is rewinding my threads under the dining room table! I started to hide things from her by putting a towel accross the table. That lasted a few days before she discovered what was under the towel!!
She also has a partner in crime. That would be Pepper, our cocker spaniel puppy. Pepper is actually a year old now and still chews anything she finds. Rags shares my stuff with her by knocking it off the table! Of course this is when they aren't chasing each other. Too funny.

Apologies and Thanks

I want to apologize and thank everyone who left a comment on my blog. I just found them!! Apparently I am moderating my comments and have to approve them before they get posted. It took me a while to find them. Thank you Iris for telling me you commented or I never would have gone looking for them. I think I am going to have to go change some settings here.
Thanks again for making my day!

Adventure in Tatting

This had been a very unproductive week. I'm glad it went fast. It certainly wasn't uneventful though. There is so much out there to learn and I finally gave in and tackled tatting. I went to Michaels with my 40% off coupon and picked up the book "Learn Needle Tatting Step- by- Step" by Barbara Foster.

Thursday evening was spent playing with this. Just before bed I thought I had "got it". You will never guess what I woke up to on Friday morning. My dining room floor was "decorated" with my spool of dmc pearl cotton that I used for the tatting. Tatting still attached of course. Yup, that cute little innocent looking kitten must have been up all night playing!! This thread was so entwined with every chair and the table that I had to use sissors to cut it all off. I wanted to take a picture but of course my camera batteries were dead. Sorry I can't share this image but I know I will never forget it. And it's not the first time she has played with my threads either. Now she knows how to get them out of my hiding spaces. I'll have to put some pictures of my 4 legged babies. They are all an adventure in some way or another!

As for the tatting, last night I was able to make a butterfly and a medallion. It really isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I think my background in crochet and especially in crocheting with thin cotton thread has helped. Now I'm looking foward to making more.

Now I can get back to my block from Sharons class. I wanted to add some tatting to itand now I can. I have added more to the seams and am up to some silk ribbon embroidery. Hopefully my next post will have an updated picture of my block and it won't be too long from now!

Hearts

I was busy stitching yesterday finally! It was about time I got started on making hearts for a group I joined. These are 6 inch hearts that are traded amongst each other. They have been trading some beautiful hearts. My fear is that they will be all traded out by the time I am ready. Well, that and that no one would want one of my hearts. I am such a critic of my own work. I really have to learn to relax!!
Now I just have to get faster at making these little things. I have a hard time deciding what to do one each one. For example, should I put a herringbone stitch here or a chain stitch? What color thread would be best? Decisions, decisions, decisions!!! lol This next heart (not pictured yet) is going a lot faster. I looked at it and picked a seam line. Gave myself the option of 2 stitches and just "did it". And it worked! Well, so far.
Anyway, here are my three finished hearts. Hearts 1 and 2 are in my favorite color scheme. Golds, burgundy, greens, tans. Autumn colors. Well, this years favorite! And the third one with the pastels was fun. I was really suprised. I thought it would be hard to work in those colors. And heart #4 is also in pink and green. Are pastels going to be my new favorite? I don't think so. When I went to the store to get some more I came home with a new suprise. Really really bright colors. We shall see what I do with those. It really is fun to work in a different color scheme.

Class Block

Here are two pictures of some seamwork on my class block. It is a 12" block so I have to scan it twice.
Beads should be added last and that makes so much sense. The threads won't get caught on them as you embroider more.And this has happened to me in the past. But... these unfinished seam treatments are really distracting me. They aren't done and I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next. My eyes just keep going back to the unfinished ones. A few beads here and a few more there. {sigh} We will see how long I hold out.
Today I want to dye some lace motif's to add somewhere. Not sure where yet. Or which ones. Decisions decisions decisions! lol I guess I'm going to have to go play.

Second Charity Block Completed

My scanner has been driving me nuts this morning. It kept telling me it was in use... well yeah! That was me trying to use it. lol Anyway, here is a picture of my second charity block completed. It was slow going as is everything else. I somehow cut my left thumb. Right in the middle. I don't know how I did it but it sure hurts everytime I use my finger. I never realized just how often I use it.
Since embroidery, beading etc. hurts my finger I deceided to do some piecing yesterday. What a mess I make. I had to pull out most of my fabrics so I wouldn't leave out something good! One of these days I will get organized!