Final update on Palmetto Tat Days 2013

One of the cool things at Tat Days this year happened at the banquet.

A nice guy named Tom Venturini was introduced at the podium. Tom is not a tatter, but he has major MAJOR tatting in his family by way of his great aunt, Lucy Concistre. Mrs. Concistre was incredibly prolific. Let me show you what I mean by prolific.

This is Mrs. Concistre, Tom's great aunt, in front of one piece of her tatting. The tatting is not enlarged - that's really her standing in front of it. It's her version of The Lord's Supper, taken from a painting. This picture was taken for a 1951 article in McCall's Needlework Magazine. There was also an article in the February 1951 Catholic Home Messenger.

This is not a joke. The tatting is ENORMOUS. It's six feet by eight feet. The tatting is done in squares of 4 rings, many many many squares.

And she tatted it ALL in three years. THREE YEARS! This is phenomenal to me. This should be in the Smithsonian Museum.

And this isn't all that she tatted!  There's tons of things, some of which are detailed here on Tom's family website. You can read the magazine article there too.

The sad thing is that the big pieces are not in the family's possession, and they'd like to have them. No one seems to know where they are. The reason that Tom came to Tat Days was to meet Georgia Seitz, because she had been looking for this Lord's Supper piece for decades. Tom was blown away that someone would want to preserve some of his family's heritage - he was moved to tears. He presented Georgia a gorgeous large doily that his great aunt, Mrs. Concistre, tatted.

What a great guy!

Georgia will continue to look for the Lord's Supper. And we were mighty happy to have family of a great tatter there!! Here are Tom's pictures of the Tat Days.

I leave you with a lovely picture of a recent sunset...

Palmetto Tat Days 2013 Part deux

Sorry that it's been a while since I posted. I promised you another post on Tat Days, so here you go!

I taught three classes at Tat Days this year, and I think people had a good time.  This is a completed Dainty heart that was needle tatted by Schari of the Southern Belles, the Tennessee group. All of those folks are such fun!

Theresa is showing off her heart. You're a funny lady, Theresa! She's wearing one of the theme shirts.

My Christmas tree set class was almost full. Lots of happy people. Diane, Melissa, and Nancy are working away.

As you can see, our location affords us classroom space. This is great for our classes! Lynda is taking a picture of Linda and her Christmas Tree.

Here's Sharron, my class assistant, answering questions on making the Christmas trees. I think most everybody finished one in class.

I taught Starry Night Earrings too. Joy and Karrieann  enjoyed the class. Hey Karrieann!

One of the fun things about Tat Days in the Silent Auction, which fills a room. People donate great stuff, and folks bid on it. The proceeds go to scholarships for Tat Days. I think there were 12 scholarships given this year - the Palmetto ladies are very generous. Here's a nice selection of items to bid on.

Some lucky person went home ready for the holidays with this tree. Too bad Miss Ambitatterous wasn't there - she would have pounced on this one!

Someone got this great doll with a tatted skirt.

And Nina donated a beaded set. Nina's stuff is gorgeous.

Linda Davies donated several of her beautiful doilies. Here's a couple - aren't they beautiful? I think these are her designs too.

One of the fun things to do at Tat Days is just to tat 'n' chat. And there's plenty of opportunity for that! Here are Martha, Erin, and Lynda in the big Gathering room that Saturday night.

And Marie and Sharren were working away. Don't look so surprised Sharren, it's only a camera!

JB is intent on her work. (She's a real hoot!)

If you want to experience some of the Tat Days fun, there is recorded video here. And best in show winners are now listed on the Tat Days site - take a look! This is a tatted mouse made by Randy.

Also - the 2013 pattern CD is now for sale. If you didn't go to Tat Days, you can at least get all the patterns.

A special surprise in my next post - pictures of a tatted version of a famous painting!

Palmetto Tat Days 2013 - part one

A good time was had this year at Tat Days. If you are a tatter and you have never been to a tatting convention, find your closest one and sign up for it as soon as possible. It is SO worth it!

OK - now on to the fun.

Since I live in Hotlanta, I'm usually designated to head to the airport and retrieve some folks from out of town. I'm happy to do this, and I get to have a great visit on the way up to Toccoa GA (the site for Tat Days). This year I picked up Nina and Vicki. Nina came from the Big Apple, and Vicki flew in from Ottowa, Ontario. That would be in Canada, eh.

We stopped at The Varsity, naturally. Moe was very jealous when I told him about it later. He loves Varsity food. Yum!

Nina was very good and had a chicken salad - but that didn't stop her from requesting - and receiving - some of my yummy home-made onion rings. Nom nom nom.

Vicki had me order for her. "I'll eat anything you order!" she declared. So I got her 2 chili slaw dogs, onion rings, and an FO. That's a kind of milkshake flavored like an orange creamsicle. And she ate every bite.

So we headed up the hill and got there in time for the teacher's meeting (all of us taught), and then time to  meet and greet all our friends.

And folks, this is one of the very BEST things about a tatting convention. The people you meet are so wonderful. You make lifelong friends. You think I'm exaggerating, but it's the God's truth.

Another great thing about a tatting convention is Vending. Yessiree, being able to lay hands on thread and shuttles and books and all the great stuff you need - there's nothing like it. And no shipping charges! Here's an overview of vending. Zig-Zag Corner was our main commercial vendor.

And some oh-so-yummy-delicious hand dyed thread sent by the talented Jess of Tat-ilicious. Can't you just taste those colors?

And here's a spread of hand made shuttles, all made by the GR-8 Shuttle Brothers. And Randy was there teaching classes too!

Another fun thing about these conventions is you usually see a display of tatting people had done. This time, it was a competition with a number of categories, like most creative. Here you go....

Love this Godzilla!

 
Gorgeous doilies and snowflakes.

A great collar and more.

More doilies. This was quite large and beautiful.

And this lovely dragon, knight, and fair maiden, all tatted by the lovely and talented Martha Ess! You can tat this if you get her latest book!

But wait! There's more - in the next installment!

If you weren't at Tat Days this weekend....

Here's a taste of what you missed...

Taking classes - I tatted Jane's cute seahorse! Donna taught the class. It was live-streamed!

Georgia and Marie! They are soooo sweet.

The banquet! Loads of fun. And there was a great auction afterwards...

Randy demonstrating how to hitchhike! (Hint - show your leg!)

Taking classes from me - you could have tatted this cute Christmas set!

International visitors! Maria comes from Mexico City. And she's a hoot!

Night Owl tatting with the inimitable Reit!

And so much more. Like me! You could have met ME!

I'll post again soon...

Moe goes back to school and Schwenke thoughts

A bit of tatting here.

I recently tatted the triangle motif by Susanne Schwenke in "Spitzen-Kreationen", done in Lizbeth size 20.

I have a confession. I don't like this pattern. I'm tatting it as a favor for a dear friend. To me, the pattern is lumpy and not the least graceful. And granted, this is unblocked. But it does not charm me. I really only tat things that charm me - they have to have a pretty outcome, or are technically interesting. This is neither to me. Some people may find this blasphemous to say - there are many folks who love everything that Schwenke does. But I'm not of that group.

This is merely my opinion and does not make me a bad person. (So there.) I also do not love most cubist paintings. Which is to say, I don't think Schwenke is a bad designer. I just don't appreciate this piece.

In other news, Moe is starting school on Wednesday, August 7. That's in two days. Really.

The fact that he is starting school now may be astounding news to those who don't live in the American South, but these day classes start early here. And end before the 1st of June. Moe will be a junior in high school and has a heavy load this year - he's taking 3 AP classes, plus Honors Trigonometry. And he's at home right now trying to finish the summer homework for these classes, due Wednesday. I'm going to crack the whip when I get home...

Oh - less than a month left before Palmetto Tat Days!! I'm teaching - you should come!

Here's a pretty for the day:

These are mountains which are part of the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in China. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Go here for more info - really gorgeous!
 

Woven Rose done

I have completed the Woven Rose motif. This is a pattern by Jaquie Teal, and you can find it in the May 2013 issue of Tatting Times.

This one is tatted in Lizbeth size 20 with 10/0 beads. Fox tatted her version here - it's very pretty.

Because of the way I added the beads (a la Jane), tatting this was a bit cumbersome. But I persevered!

In other news, I went to my tatting/knitting/crochet group recently, and found an interesting and inexpensive way to get custom dyed wool.

One of my group goes to thrift stores and looks for nice quality plain wool sweaters, like Lands End ones. She especially like large men's sweaters. "If it looks like a dress on me, then it's perfect!" Then she takes the seams apart and flattens each piece out - and she hand dyes them!

This is a sleeve of a gray Land's End sweater, bought at a local thrift store. (She buys these sweaters for $5.) She took Wilton cake dye and added a little vinegar to it to make the dye permanent, and then she splashed it on the sweater until she was happy with the color, and set the dye.

Here's the shawl she's knitting, pulling yarn directly off the yarn in the sleeve. Is this not COOL? You have to make sure each piece of the thrifted sweater is knitted continuously, not cut out of a large knit fabric. Otherwise the yarn of that piece will not be all one long continuous thread.

What a great thrifting idea!

BTW - registration at Tat Days is open! I'm teaching, along with a ton of talented folks! Sign up - join those who've registered!