LadyShuttleMaker Random Monday Mondo Giveaway

Click it! Quick, click it! Sherry's at it again -- Workbaskets, dontcha know!!

More than Fair

Hey, I've got bragging rights on this one! Some of you might remember this from Tatting Treasures from Trash in September 2007. I had the right side done as Summer and was going to finish all four quarters (two front and two back) as seasons of the year. I decided putting stuff on the back would be pointless because who would see it? Not only that, it would get rubbed against my clothes which mght mess up the tatting. So, in the middle of July [this year!] , I decided to make it Summer Day / Winter Night. I made a bunch of snowflakes to go with the pocket edging representing the moon. I do believe most of the snowflakes were from Jon Yusoff's Snowflake Collection, though there might be a couple of strays in there. This one got a blue ribbon, a high blue ribbon, a Home Arts Sweepstakes ribbon, and the tatting Judge's Choice ribbon. Pretty good, eh? Not that I'm feeling puffed up about myself -- but I very nearly had to sleep in the garage because that was the only place with a door big enough for my head.

Fair Results -- Yes!

We went to the fair yesterday. Talk about pleasant surprises! The County Fair doesn't charge an entry fee, and allows a person to enter two things in each category. Between the four of us we entered 31 things, and we won 46 ribbons. Conspicuous consumption in a rather ostentatious way, eh?
The seven-year-old entered two tiny clay pots and a little sponge-painted canvas bag. She got blue ribbons for the pots and a red ribbon for the bag.
The fourteen-year-old entered a very tiny penguin and a little turtle made of baked clay, an interesting representation of xeriscaping, and a bag she made from a pair of jeans. She won a third place for the xeriscape stone, a second on the bag (but they forgot to put her age on the card, so she was competing with the adults), a first on the pengin, and a first and "high blue" on the turtle. High blue means it was considered in the sweepstakes round.
My sister entered a dress she made, crocheted slippers, blankets and dishtowel sets, and tie-dyed scarves, a baby onsie with hat, long-john jammies, and a sheet set. She got a second place for her slippers, firsts for her other crocheted items and her dress, and a "high blue" for her blue and green baby blanket. She got seconds on her long-john jamies and one of her scarves (the one that's my favorite!), and firsts on everything else. In addition, she got a high blue and a creative arts sweepstakes ribbon for her sheet set. They're so loud, I don't think she's going to be able to sleep if she puts them on the bed!

I'm so proud of them all -- aren't they clever?

Jeans Purse

The jeans purse is something less than one-quarter finished. I sewed a bunch of things on it, without taking pictures or scanning them first. With a little computer help, I made individual pictures of some of the pieces. This first one is a Jane Eborall flamingo (the Pamela Myers version). I used pink ombre polyester embroidery threads (because I didn't have any plain pink) and blue for the bill (because I couldn't find any black) and a silver bead for the eye. The swan (made with white polyester machine embroidery thread) turned into a duck, because it was so much smaller than the flamingo and I goofed somewhere in the pattern (also one of Jane's). The free-form doodle I posted on June 24th worked okay as a stylized pond, so I put some goldfish in it. I found the pattern for them somewhere on the web years ago. (if it's yours, please let me know).
The profile butterfly is a Sherry Pence pattern. I don't think I did it justice, though, because I added a little piece to avoid cutting and reattaching the thread. Then I modified it a tiny bit more and made a double-wing butterfly out of it. This side of the purse needs more butterflies and lots more flowers. I've got some made, but not enough. As soon as I get through physical therapy so my thumb works and my fingers have feeling (long about December, I understand) I've got to get this side finished! I haven't even given much thought to the rest of the purse for a while -- gotta start hunting up those star patterns.

Jeans Purse

Made from DMC size 80 yellow thread and vari-colored yellow-range beads, this is my representation of the sun. It's all made of split rings, and every ray was added separately. This is the front right-hand side "theme" for my Jeans Purse for the Tatting Treasures from Trash challenge. With the sun, I intend to use some flowers and butterflies and a few other small bits.
The front left-hand side has a night theme. So far I have completed the moon and some "maybe" stars. I know I'm going to use stars, but they might not be these particular samples. Ruth has put a number of star patterns on the Tatting Pattern Calendar and I intend to try out some of those. I know I want to use beads (because I'm a crow), so I'll have to work those into some of the patterns. They are all going to be colored stars, too -- a little realism, you know (well, very little).