Motif # 24, 25, 26 - a doily study

This trio of doilies marks the end of one 25 Motif Challenge and the start of another one. They are from the same pattern called Tatted Antique Lace Doily by Darlene Polachic. I did it for the first time several years ago, below, and fell in love with it. I liked the way it looked and how easy it was. I made it all in Lizabeth Carousel #112.

After I made it, I decided that if I did the chains in a solid, it would make the rings pop. 

Motif #24

It measures 5 3/4 across and done in Omega size 50 varigated burnt orange and some vintage ecru Mom gave me.The lightest color in the varigated thread is a bit peachy-er than the ecru so the chains don't stand out as I would have liked. Sometimes holding two balls of thread together doesn't always work out in the final product. I think it's still a nice looking doily, but not what I had in mind.

Then I decided to go down to size 80 and try a solid.


Motif #25

This one measures just under 5" and is the first time I had ever used thread that small. The thread is DMC size 80. I believe the green has been discontinued and the chains are in ecru.

A few weeks after I finished the size 80, I was gnawing open the envelope that contained the latest Handy Hands Catalog to see the new colors, saw this one and promptly bought a ball of size 20.


Motif #26

 This is Lizabeth Blue River Glades, #164 with the chains in ecru and measures 7 3/4". I think is this my favorite color combo of the three.

Motif #20, 21, 22, 23 more bookmarks

Wow, I had no idea I was this close to finishing my first 25 motifs until I typed the header to this post.

The two on the left are Insertion No. 36 from  The DMC Book of Charted Tatting Designs by Kirstine Nikolajsen and Inge Lise Nikolajsen. The rings are Lizabeth #633 Dark Purple and the chains are Lizabeth #611 gold and #605 Silver.

In ecru and #166 Pink Cocoa is the Overlapping Chains bookmark and Mary Konior's Anniversery edging in varigated yellow and dark purple for the centers. I had a full shuttle of purple, can'tcha tell?

Motif #18 & 19 - Anniversary bookmark

These bookmarks are from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns and its the Anniversary edging. The left one is made with unknown varigated yellow and DMC brown in size 20. The yellow was the first time I made that pattern and it wasn't until after I finished that I discovered that there was an extra picot on each flower. The other one is Lizabeth #166 Pink Cocoa. I don't care for pink but I do like the pink and brown combo. On the pink and brown one, I paid closer attention to the pattern, (and turned off the TV) and it turned out better, with the expecption of an extra petal on the bottom end flower. But you probably wouldn't have noticed unless I pointed it out, huh? ;) 

I read a lot of tatting blogs, and I don't notice other peoples mistakes unless they point it out and even then after zooming in on the photo I still can't find it unless it's a glaring mistake like rabbit ears on a seahorse. The only misktake that I notice and that bothers me is people who put antennas on dragonflies. Dragonflies don't have antennas. Well, actually they do, but they are so super tiny, that it wouln't be worth the time to make them, but they aren't long ones like on butterflies. That is something that bothers me.

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Motif #17 - Be-Stitched bookmark

This bookmark is from the Be-Stitched.com site. It is worked in size 20 Lizabeth Vineyard Harvest and Leaf Green Med for the border.

Motif # 14, 15, 16 Lace Elegance trio

This trio is called Lace Elegance and is from Tatting Doilies & Edgings edited by Rita Weiss. Size 20 Lizabeth Sea Scape #125. The sizes are 2-3" across.

Birthday present

Today is my birthday and Mom gave me this Anne Orr Tatting book #48, copyright 1950. She seems to have better luck finding tatting books in antique stores and flea markets than I do.

Motif # 13 - Dresser doily

This is the small mat of Dressing Set from the Handy Hands Newsletter Winter 2010 (vol 18 issue 1). The color is Lizabeth Wildflower #109 and is 7" across.

 I'd like to do this one again in either a solid or varigated and do the two little rings that go head to head in a contrasting color. I tried to make the larger oval mat that goes with this one, but couldn't for the life of me figure out the 3 rings of the 1st round. After going through an entire shuttle of thread without success, I gave up. I don't know if I was making it harder than it needed to be, or if there was a typo / info missing from the instructions, or both.

I was at my grandma's last month and gave her this doily along with a snowflake.

Motif #12 Denim Whisper

This is Design 52 from Tatting - 60 Original Lace Treasures by Christel Weidman. Although I've only done one motif from this book, it's one of my favorites as there are a ton of edgings that can be combined into rounds for custom one-of-a-kind doilies.  The color is Lizabeth Denim Whisper #120 and is 5.25" across.

And I'm very excited to announce that with Motif 11, the Diamond Doily, I have completed all of my UFO tatting projects. I still haven't been able to find the pattern for this coaster so I have decided it is done as is. As of this writing I'm done, anyway. No telling how many projects I will start and abandon for what ever reason in the next hours/days/weeks.

Motif #11 Diamond Doily

This is "Diamonds Are Forever" by Roger aka/Freedman. The link I had to this pattern no longer works. Thread is Lizabeth Country Turquoise Med #661 and ecru, size 20. I started this about 2 years ago and when you look closer, you can tell where I stopped as my tension is tighter than it was 2 years ago. This finishes to 10.5" across and is the largest doily I've made to date.