Checking In

Well, I've been tatting on a couple projects, but don't have a finish to post today. I have also been getting my ideas together for my Farm Show entries in August. We have a large county fair at the beginning of July, but the real needlework/craft competition in our area is at the Farm Show. My sister-in-law and I have entered and won ribbons for the last 12 years in the cross-stitch and knitting categories. She won Best in Show a couple years ago for a counted needlework sampler. I'm still chasing that award.

This will be the first year that most of my entries will be tatted. I expect them to do well because I haven't seen many (any?) tatted items there before. So. . . the odds are good for ribbons :) Half the fun is trying to see how many different categories we can get things into.

Here are my ideas so far:

1. TOYS/STUFFED ANIMALS - a knit poodle (finished)
2. NEEDLEWORK ORNAMENTS - tatted snowflake ornament (finished)
3. DOILIES - duet doily (finished)
4. TATTED ITEM - star doily in a trivet (tatting finished, have to get trivet and mount)
5. USEFUL ARTICLE - tea towel (edging and insertion motifs about 1/2 finished)
6. TABLE SCARF/RUNNER - dresser scarf with painted design (if I can resolve my edging issues)
7. FLORAL ARRANGEMENT/HOLIDAY, NOT CHRISTMAS - thinking about putting the tatted easter eggs in a vase with a ribbon and some greens
8. PICTURES/NEEDLEWORK - may tat a butterfly and mount it in a frame
9. PURSE - made a bag from an old corduroy mini skirt, may embellish it with tatting scraps if I have time
10. STOCKING - This is a longshot, but if I get really ambitious at the last minute (which is always a great adrenaline rush), I have visions of a velvet stocking embellished CQ style with tatting.

Summertime is so much fun (one of the huge benefits of teaching)!