new blooms

Pin It now!

I have a lot of tatting to share, but this simply couldn't wait!

 It took a month and half for this orange jasmine or madhukamini plant to flourish in this way! We got a flower here a flower there, but not in such glory. A quick count today revealed at least 15 flowers, not to mention their lovely fragrance. 

And I wonder if you can see there are several more buds waiting to open in the next few days. Sadly the flowers remain open for only a day but they do spread so much joy. Gardening requires patience and perseverance.

Here's how the plant looked when I first posted pics here https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/03/spring-magic.html

literally out of the box

Pin It now!

and functioning as a threader holder! Why didn't I think of this solution ages ago?! Here's the full story ...

Going back a few weeks, Anita showed me a vintage edging she had picked up at a thrift store. A single shuttle trefoil/clover edging with a curious way of joining the rings. It looked so good, too. Thought I'd work a sample but somehow I let my shuttle take over and ended up with this medallion.

Now I wasn't in the mood to use a picot gauge despite having a few handmade folded picot gauges, which is why the bare thread spaces are not perfect.

Nevertheless the highlight of this medallion is the little twist at the base of each ring. 

All I am doing is attempting to make a 1st half-stitch (ie. bringing the thread from Under the previous thread) without actually transferring or flipping it. This leads to all that twisting. One has to be careful with it. As you can see, the stitch is not tensioned and snugged completely since I wanted a loose twist. 

There is ample scope to play around with the effect, adding more half-stitches, etc.

It then reminded me of something that Ninetta had done. Turns out she used a lock join to simulate a twist in this vintage motif here - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2020/08/locked-in-old-corner.html - from Emmy Liebert's 1916 book.

So coming back to the problem that was awaiting a solution. I whip stitch tail ends using tapestry needles and a threader to thread the needle. The latter is kept in a different box within the larger project box. I wanted a way to have both the needle container and the threader to be together - pick them up in one go. Didn't want to use tape; couldn't use a magnet; couldn't glue it down for obvious reasons. 

This medallion which happened to lie over the circular box struck me as the perfect solution. I glued it down with a spot of glue at 3 points, that's it! 

Being so open and airy, the threader easily slips through any space yet stays put! And no fear of the wire being bent or getting caught anywhere. A safe haven!

Anita called this the Threader Keeper!!! Now she's one to think out of the box and guess it is rubbing off on me, LOL.

Oh, and I am submitting this BTS medallion (my 5th submission) for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out one box -  

• Use Bare Thread Space. 

(Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

too clever by half

Pin It now!

or too lazy ... take your pick, LOL. So I actually completed a motif from scratch today as celebration of the International Tatting Day! Wanted to tat enough to upload to our Endrucks 1920 Project FB group and then continue tomorrow along with a blogpost. Wonder of wonders, my smart take meant I 'finished' the motif et al much before the end of the day! 

I had decided to tat a butterfly when I realised it would mean a line/row bingo as mentioned in my post here. And my first search was in the EP directory of butterfly derivatives. This was one motif I hadn't tatted, so mind made up. That it would happen so soon, well .... and that it had block tatting was something I hadn't planned on either.

This is the E16 Grazia Butterfly derived and designed by Pina Pinto for the #Endrucks1920Project; pictorial and written pattern by Ninetta Caruso. with a bit of input from me. Here is the direct link to the PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10mqdUjIcdRADIuGt5il0C2PUvGn0HthK/view

And as you can see if you compare the models in the PDF to mine, this is in profile! After tatting two wings it looked pretty complete for a butterfly in profile! I think it looks good even though it is only Half the pattern. Folded the central (body) ring and added one more antenna and voila, it's ready to fly or alight.

The decision was possible because I followed my alternate path (diagram on page 9 of PDF) and tatted the wings separately. However, I also followed my own tip to tat the antenna in one pass which is why the first antenna is too long. Shortened the 2nd one at the end, though.

In Anchor and Red Rose pearl cotton size 8, the butterfly is 3cm high and 5.5cm wide (without antennae). In Lizbeth size 20, these measurements should hold true. I didn't want the ombre tinted colourway to overwhelm the pattern, hence paired it with ecru/cream.

And so I submit my 4th motif for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out two boxes and one line, yay!

• Block Tatting
• Tat a Butterfly

Here's where I stand at present ... please note that I have a couple more motifs already tatted but not shared, which is why I did not cross out any of the respective boxes.

PICOT BINGO for the last row, teehee! (Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

Hope you had or are having a great ITD. Ciao for now!