Feathers

Now that the ducklings have a lot of their feathers, they look more like the pictures in the bird book. We think they're Red Billed Teal. Their beaks are gradually changing from black to pink. We haven't seen any adult Red Billed Teal, but the book does say they are found in this area, so presumably we just haven't noticed them. The ducklings are getting a bit restless now. But I think they'll need to grow a few more feathers before they'll be ready to move on.

Blouse One

I chose the colours of the fabric to pick up the pink tatting on the skirt. And I wanted a pattern to contrast with the plainness of the skirt fabric. The fabric is a bit light considering we are going into Winter, but Summer will return!

Instead

I went to the material shop in town to buy some white sewing thread. They didn't have any, much to my consternation. I picked up some off-white thread and then had a look around. I found some invisible thread. Hmmm, I've been interested in trying that, since I read about it on Jane Eborall's blog. I won't have to worry whether to match the tatting or the material when I'm sewing on motifs. I bought another zip for my stash and two lengths of material to make blouses. As Jack said, I did pretty well, considering that the shop didn't have what I was looking for!

More Leaves

I'm working on another leaf braid. It goes along quite quickly when I work on it, rather than just tatting it in odd moments! The thread is Cebelia 20. I don't use these shuttles often, but they're good for this job because they hold a lot of thread and the fact that they have no hooks doesn't matter because there are no joins.

Recycling

This work is not mine. I went yesterday to a meeting of the craft group I belong to, but since the project involved glue and paint, I decided I'd just watch. Marietjie showed us how to make flowers from egg cartons. Pretty amazing. If you want to see more images of such flowers on the internet, have a look here There are also videos on the internet showing exactly what to do. I shan't be using them, but I do think it's an interesting idea.

Contribution

The organisation I belong to is collecting baby wraps to send to a children's hospital. This is my contribution. It's made from cotton muslin that I hemmed and dyed. I did consider leaving it white, but I thought some colour was more cheerful and cheering. Nicola Bowersox's Kiss Curl Heart makes a perfect decoration on one corner.

Hearts Galore

The heart in the centre is Two Hearts as One by Martha Ess. I tatted it some time ago as part of my 25-motif challenge. It certainly was a challenge! It has been lurking in my tatting tin since then, waiting for the right time to be used. A wedding present seems appropriate to me.