cross bookmark

I made this bookmark for my best friends birthday. I haven't had a chance to talk to her, so hope she liked it.

it is a pattern titled Colossians 2:14 by Rebecca aka tatmom03

if anyone knows how to get a hold of her, I would appreciate it. I was looking for her cross pattern online which is where I found it, so I could point another tatter to the pattern, but can't seem to find it so if anyone knows of the link, that would be great.



thread is lizbeth size 40 color gold. It is very nice to work with.

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving with lots to be thankful for .

we shared a meal with the neighbors yesterday and will have another with our children and grandchildren on sunday.

I need more time, i have too much thyme

no pictures tonight.

yesterday morning it was drizzling, the temp was about 23 and it has been cold enough so the ground was below freezing as well, so the nice drizzle was freezing on everything. I had a good hold on the door knob as I left for church or I would have gone down the front steps on my fanny. As I pulled up to church, I watch a gentleman get out of his pickup, if he hadn't had a good grip on the steering wheel, he would have been on the ground as his feet flew out from under him.

today when my boss got to work, he got out of his car and fell. it is not good here and now today we had snow on top of the ice.

I needed groceries for thanksgiving but wasn't too fond of having to drive 30 miles to the grocery store in the dark after work.

I was able to get to the grocery store this afternoon. DH had to go to town for parts so picked me up at work.

I am making the stuffing and a dessert for Thanksgiving dinner at the neighbors.

I have a realllly good stuffing recipe handed down in the family. it is so good that sons-in-law have requested my stuffing. (I will put in the recipe below)

anyway, while at the store gathering ingredients, I stopped at the spice isle and decided that since I didn't know how much thyme I had in the cupboard, I would get some.

when I got home after work - stayed until 7:15 to make up for taking off the time in the middle of the day. I discovered that I had 1+ little jars of thyme. soooo I have too much thyme, but not enough time to get everything done.

Dressing/Stuffing
5 quarts of dry bread cubes (one 1.5 lb loaf of bread will make about 3 quarts of dry cubes
1 1/2 Cups melted butter
4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp seasoning salt (our family has always used Beaumonde, I think it is sold by Spice Islands)
1/4 tsp thyme (can use a bit more)
1 clove garlic finely chopped
grind all giblets (raw~can leave these out)
grind or shred 4 large carrots, 4 large celery ribs, 1 large onion
4 1/2 Cups of water or if not using giblets, chicken broth use more or less depending on how moist you want it.

place dry bread in large pan. sprinkle spices onto cubes and pour melted butter over all, mix well. Add ground meat and vegetables, mix well. pour over liquid and mix, but be careful not to stir the bread into mush.
bake in the over for 20 -30 per quart until interior temperature is 180 degrees. can be cooked in a crock pot for 1 hour on high then 4-6 hours on low, be sure to check temp in center is 180 degrees.

you might be interested in the dessert I am making.
it is an old recipe for

Tomato Chocolate Cake
butter & flour 2 9" cake pans

1 pound of tomatoes, peel and seed, puree and measure 1 1/4C

4 oz of sweet baking chocolate
1 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup milk
3 egg yolks divided
cook chocolate, br sugar, milk and 1 egg yolk in double boiler stirring occasionally over hot water until smooth and slightly thick.

2 Cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 tablespoons butter softened
1 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites
sift flour with baking soda and salt
cream butter & sugar until light.
add remaining 2 yolks beating each time until fluffy.
add tomato puree, vanilla and chocolate mixture beating thoroughly.
Stir in flour.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, fold into cake batter and pour into pans.
bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes until almost done, do not over bake!
cool on wire rack, remove from pans and frost with tomato frosting

Tomato Frosting
1 medium tomato peeled and seeded, puree and measure 4 1/2 tablespoons puree

1/2 Cup butter softened
4 egg yolks - extra large
1 tablespoon cognac or brandy
3/4 Cup powdered sugar

beat butter until smooth, add egg yolks beating after each.
add tomato puree and liquid, then add powdered sugar.

frost bottom layer, then add top and frost top and sides.
keep cool, do not refrigerate

I ran across a different version of Tomato Frosting with cream cheese on the Internet last week which I think I may use instead of the one above calling for liquor since this will be served to children as well as adults.

I have a few other interested recipes as well,

chocolate potato cake
chocolate sauerkraut cake - you would never know - most people think it is coconut
and a World War II eggless, milkless butterless cake

if anyone is interested in the above recipes, let me know and I will post them.

my new shuttles

I wanted to show you my newest shuttles. These hand made shuttles are by "I'm in the garage" who is married to Sally from Tat's Heaven

I was able to buy the one on the left, made from Walnut back in September and the one on the right last week made out of Iroko wood.

I had to look up what Iroko wood is on the internet, I had never heard of it. It is also know as African Teak.

The shuttles are smooth and easy to use. I like them very much.

I was able to find extra bobbins at Handy Hands to fit the walnut one, and since the Iroko one also has the purple bobbins, I am assuming the bobbins from Handy Hands will fit as well. I was hoping to find more purple bobbins, but had to settle for black.

I like them as much as (and maybe a bit more) then the Silent Tatter shuttles that you can buy from Roseground.

I am tatting, but nothing to show, many fits and starts as I figure out the right stitch count to use as an ornament drape for presents. too many life interruptions, if I didn't have to go to work, or do the housekeeping, or help dh with what he needs here on the farm.

have a good night, see you tomorrow.

uploaded another pattern

in response to a request, I have uploaded to my pattern blog (or see link in the side bar) my Rosary Pattern.

if you have any questions, please ask.

Tatters and Volcanos

There are several tatting friends who have wonderful blogs that I enjoy very much who live in the area of the Merapi volcano who I hope are doing well and will continue to be safe.

I hope that all people who live near there will be safe and I hope that no more will be injured or killed.

Lattice Tatting

a Quicky post,
on the Here-Be-Tatters yahoo email group, there has been a discussion of Lattice Tatting.

I am posting here 4 scans of Lattice style tatting from Julia E Sanders book Tatting Patterns.
Collar page 16

Detail of Collar pg 17

Doily pg 19

detail of doily pg 18


~~later~~ I got to thinking that while I didn't have the lattice snowflake anymore, there might be another project in my UFO stash. so here is a project that I was working on many a year ago, put aside for some reason and never finished.


Looks like I will have to finish it this winter after I have gotten Christmas items and other sewing projects finished.

There is no pattern for this, if I remember correctly, it was a way to practice mignonette stitch and I liked the look of the Lattice; just something I was working on at the time. I used very tiny joining picots to make the Lattice here, but I have done it with alligator joins. I will have to put a 4th round of some kind on this as I didn't join the outer rings to each other. hhhmmm wonder what I should use....

2 pr christmas trees

Here are both pair of the Christmas Tree Earrings that have been requested by a gal in Texas.

and another bit of news.

I have started an Etsy.com shop so will be posting these there. It may not be a very busy shop, that will depend on what I can get done, but it will not be just tatting. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ladytatslace

I have a lot to learn about taking photos of my items. I have always used the scanner, but tried my camera for the picture above. Some of what I post for sale on etsy,will not be able to be scanned so will be learning how to take good pictures with good presentation.

I have a couple of bookmarks that I tatted over the summer that I have not yet posted so those will come in time. Right now I have them scanned, but I might try taking photos to learn just how to do it right.

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

I have a Fujifilm FinePix A330 which is listed at 3.2 mega pixels. I have had it for 4 or maybe 5 yrs or maybe longer. It was one of the first things I bought on ebay. I know it was one of the better ones at the time I bought it.

Jeff's ghost

Jeff Hamilton of Bridge City tatting has designed a ghost he calls Ripley. the pattern is available on his blog

here is my version of Ripley,


one arm ended up straight but that is o.k. and it looks like I scanned it from the backside. I usually tat frontside/backside, in which case if I scanned it from the wrong side, I also tatted it backwards, but it still looks pretty good.

the thread is Aida in size 10? I very seldom use this thread so thought I would try it. I have a ball of red Aida that I do not like, it twists really badly but this one isn't quite as bad.

Thanks Jeff for the ghost pattern