Less than a Week Away!

Can you see the Big Dipper? 

Just a week until the Finger Lakes Tatting Conference in Lodi.  Our theme is stars!  Last week I finished sewing stars from across the U.S. and Canada on the quilt and quilting around them.  When I was almost done, an envelope with more stars appeared.  Here is our Starry Night quilt – you can see almost all the stars.  It’s hard to count them all, but Bill and I estimated there’s about 135 tatted stars on the quilt – that’s a rough estimate.  Could be a lot more or a few less. 

The quilt will be auctioned off Saturday, April 13 at 7 pm.  There’s a reserve of $250 on it, and we are accepting good-faith bids from outside our group – contact me with your phone number where you can be reached if you want to join the bidding at the time – or you can put in your high bid and you just might win!  All the money from the quilt will go into our scholarship fund, to enable more tatters to attend the

Neil's Crocheted Butterflies

Chain 6, sl st in 6th ch from hk to form a ring. All subsequent stitches are made in right side of work.

RND 1 [petal round]: Ch 3 (counts as first dc). Work the following stitches inside the ring you just made, 2 dc, ch 1 [first petal made], * 3 dc, ch 1. Repeat from * 6 times more [ending with ch 1] for a total of 8 petals. Join with sl st in top 1st dc. DO NOT TURN.

RND 2 [cluster round]: Sl st in next dc, sc in ch-1 sp, ch 3. (2dc, ch 1, 3 dc, ch 1) in same ch 1 sp [first cluster made]. * (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc, ch 1) in each remaining ch 1 sp [ending with ch 1] for a total of 8 clusters. Join with sc in top of beg ch 3. DO NOT CH OR TURN.

RND 3 [shell round]: 9 dc first ch1 sp [center of cluster from previous round]. * Sc in next open space, 9 dc in next ch 1 sp. Repeat from * around, for a total of 8 shells. Join with sc in top of beg sc. DO NOT CH OR TURN.

RND 4: sc in each stitch [ edges will/should curl in toward center of work].

FASTEN OFF.


WEAVE IN ALL YARN ENDS.

TO FINISH: Fold work in half lining up the sets of 9 dcs. Fasten a pipe cleaner around the centre and twist to form antennae. (see photos for placement)

  

I use a g-hook with worsted weight yarn, a d- or e-hook for sport or baby weight, and a b-hook for sock weight yarn.

I have found that some people crochet looser with an f-hook than I do with a g-hook, so adjust to suit yourself. Body/antennae can be formed using ½ of a standard [12-inch] chenille wire, or a standard 6- to 8-inch pipe cleaner. If you crochet very loosely, you might want to use 7 inches of chenille wire. I use the end of a small hook to curl the wire ends [either in or out] so as not to leave an exposed point.

 

When You Wish Upon a Star

We’ve been so lucky – we’ve gotten stars from across the country, even from Canada.  They’re beautiful and display the talents of so many wonderful tatters – and they look absolutely gorgeous on the quilt.  We had a quilting bee at our last tatting meeting, with a couple of tatters who don’t like sewing working on tatting a few more stars.  And then the best quilter among us took the quilt home to work on it some more.  The winning bidder for this quilt will be comfy warm as well as very lucky – and the tatters who receive scholarships to attend will also be thanking their lucky stars!

2013 Tatting Seminar

Starring Tatting

Come join us in Lodi, NY (April 12-14) for our star-studded 15th International Tatting Seminars in the Finger Lakes! Classes fill up quickly so be sure to register early. You can download the class descriptions and information here and here's an updated registration form.

Here are some examples of the gorgeous class projects you'll be learning to create at this year's conference:

Lorena Finnerty will be teaching Nina Libin's lovely Blue Star Earring and Pendant set.

Grab your tatting needles and go Celtic with beautiful Celtic Star taught by Kelly Dunn.

This gorgeous Star Attraction Doily will be taught by Ginny Weathers.

Get your bling on as Kay Judt teaches her Sparkle Star design.

Add some depth to your tatting as Vicki Clarke shows us how to make this intricate 3-D star.

Make these lovely Starry Nights earrings by Sandra Eichelberger.

Expand your skills by learning the beautiful technique of block tatting with Mary Ellen Davies.

Create swirling and twirling Catherine Wheel Stars designed by Karey Solomon.