Heart's Desire

One of my favorite patterns is "Heart's Desire" by Susan K. Fuller.  I have tatted this piece four of five times in the past three years.

For this recent heart I used an Omega 50 cotton. The thread is quite soft.  On the final ring the thread broke once the ring was closed. I used the ball thread to make a lock join through that ring. One could use a single shuttle split ring to finish off and reduce the ends to tie in.

At 2.5 inches at the widest point, this is ready to put on a card

The pattern was shared with the online class and can be found here or the diagram by Frivole here.

Second Attempt

My second attempt came out much better. I relaxed my wraps and closed slowly and not tightly which was twisting the clunies.  

 If you look closely you may even spot where I added a thread in the middle of a cluny.  I used a split ring to climb to the second row and magic threads to hide the ends. 

I do like this thread as it is very strong and smooth to work with. A vintage size 30 thread this finished coaster is 7 cm or 2.75 inches across.  Another row or size 20 would make this a perfect size for under a glass but for now it is off to cheer up a friend and fits nicely on the card below.

My first attempt can be found here and the pattern by Mimi Dillman here. 

Bits and Pieces

When I finish a project there is usually some thread left on the shuttle.  I either wind the excess back on the ball or if it is only a few feet, I make little daisy flowers.  These flowers are a ring of five of six large picots with a stitch between. 

I also keep any bits of lace that have been cut off of other projects.  

I made these bits and pieces into contact cards.  They have come in handy at a visit to a local thread shop and when I meet other tatters or someone interested in tatting. 

I made up the cards using my old laser printer and cardstock, designed with space on the left to place the tatting.  I cut them and used white glue to attach a few daisies or a bit of cut lace.  

Just leave them to dry and pack a few into your tatting travel bag and your done.

This idea was inspired from a card I received from another tatter last year and  I just had to share.

Coasting Along

Just finished up a few more of the  Robin Perfetti coasters, the one above is called Kaleidoscope and the two below are Five Petals Split Rings and Six Petals Split Rings. The patterns are available in her Etsy shop. 

The six coasters used the majority of the Rico Essentials 50g ball. Don't know what else I will make with it but eager to get back to some smaller threads.