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a tatted piece by Donna McDade (2024)
Temperature Tat-Along designed by Helga |
I first came to know Donna McDade when she participated in the DAL Celtic Snowflake challenge in 2024, designing the 3rd round in Five versions! We've been communicating off and on since then. And last year she participated with 7+1 versions of the 2025 DAL! Her twin passions include quilting and tatting and a lot of her tatted pieces get appliqued to her quilts as you witnessed with motifs from both the design alongs.
Below is her 3D Ruched Flowers quilt top and ...
"I received the first place award in the national American Heritage fiber contest. There were over 3,000 entries in all the categories. The award was for "3D Ruched Flowers" unquilted top."She is actually a descendant of George Washington!
Below are some close-up pics of three blocks to show some ruching details ...
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This year again her quilt titled 'Words Catching Fire' placed first at the Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) at the National level! She had sent me the story as a PDF file several months back at a time when she was uncertain if her quilt would be accepted or not! However, time slipped by and I couldn't blog about it and now her article is published in the latest IOLI Bulletin! The symbolism and acute focus on the topic is worth reading about to fully appreciate the thought and work Donna put in. Here is the link to her original PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ABNIRSEKrfwj4lzuy-RgTBKDIZxFXX80/view
As you can see in the images below, there is ample use of tatting, besides embroidery, applique, quilting, etc. and her choice of colours and shapes provides an additional layer to the entire story of the 250 year celebrations this year.
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| bird's eye view of the quilt |
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| embroidered crown of King George III |
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| each piece here, each colour here, has a reason, a purpose. |
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| words scattered around, but not randomly! |
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| tatted words catching fire! |
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| tatted impression of the Stars and Stripes |
This quilted montage is a passionate representation of the role of women in the revolution. I hope you read the detailed story in the link above to understand and appreciate why she won the top award... how could she not!
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Yet another feather in this unstoppable and ever-young octogenarian is her newsletter! She started the Queen City Lace Makers (Ohio) Newsletter (a chapter of IOLI) late last year and has sent me 5 out of the 7 published so far! Within the first couple of newsletters one could see how much she learned and improved the presentation, layout, and format! From absolute novice to professional in a matter of 7 newsletters!!!
Her group works on several different types of crafts and laces such as bobbin lace, crochet, knitting, and tatting, too. There is always lots of practical and inspirational information in the newsletters and often a pattern as well. In the latest issue #7 (June 2026), she included a pic of
my Buttercup Trellis bracelet that applies the split/SCMR technique.
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Congratulations, Donna ... well-deserved!
Oh my goodness. Donna is very thoughtful and very talented. Hats off to her.
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