Christmas in July

Yes, I know it is August already, but my HBT (Here-Be-Tatters) yahoo group had a Christmas in July swap. Everyone had to wait until July 31 for the grand opening day. My package arrived on July 31 so I didn't have to wait very long, as some did, before "the opening"! After much oohing and aahing I just had to show off all my special giftees. Sue, the list mom was my swap partner and all the way from London my box arrived. The top photo shows all my giftees except one and each of them were wrapped - not in paper, but in FABRIC and were "tied" with ribbon or braid ..... all of which will be used in my crazy quilting! How is that for a fantabulous gifting!!!!

This is a close-up of the most perfectly color matched pair of cloisonne earrings to go with a special outfit for church.

Several years ago I had knitted a skirt and sweater in one of my favorite colors but only had gold earrings to wear with it .... just could not find what I was looking for. And, now, from across the big pond came just exactly what I was looking for!

WOW! Can you imagine a tatter sending a Christmas quilted table runner as part of a swap? On several of the "packages" Sue had placed pink paper hearts with notes in purple (her favorite color) ink and the one on the runner was "Sorry, no I didn't make it - but a "Lucky Find"" Really lucky for me .... isn't it gorgeous!!!

One of the items I listed on my "wish" list was peppermint candy (I'm not too fond of chocolate ... oh, I hear the "NO CHOCOLATE" groans now, but chocolate doesn't like me ) and I have a whole package of peppermints that are the same as Life Savers in the US. Being a Virginian I love needlework that shows Southern Belles and in my package was the color photo and a cross-stitch chart for a Southern Belle. Can't wait to try the pattern as I also enjoy counted cross-stitch ..... well, really all types of embroidery .... I already have on hand all the supplies I need. Below the candy you will see several items ... a tiny glue pot and a spring-loaded "End Holder" for short tails when running out of thread. Both of these were totally unknown to me and greatly appreciated. There are several sizes of coiless safety pins - especially useful for pieces that begin with picots and beaded picots. I've only used the teeny tiny coiless pins for opening a ring that was closed too soon LOL There are also some green "bangle" rings for tatted snowflakes .... I'm already looking for the right patterns to use with them! Just to the right of the bangles is a picot gauge with some of Sue's delicate tatting attached so I don't loose the gauge. The last item in this group is a booklet of Christmas tree ornament tatting patterns written by Karey Solomon, a member of the HBT group.

I've already mentioned that purple is Sue's favorite color .... so here she sends me a purple shuttle (I was on the verge of ordering one for me as purple is also one of my favorite colors). There is a ball of Coats size 20 tatting thread that came in a purple draw-string nylon bag, some I love (heart) to tat stickers, tiny, delicate shaded green snowflake with teeny tiny beads, a bit of lace and a tatted heart also in green. The heart is Sue's design and she included the pattern! This heart has tiny beads in the outer picots and I had to look under my magnifying glass to see that there were 3 beads on each picot. I've never used beads that tiny. The heart also uses a technique that I am in the process of learning. When I make this pattern I'll have to use larger thread first before I try anything this small.

Here, you see my gorgeous earrings again! You can also see some of the fabrics and trims wrapped around my giftees. The grouping on the upper right was a jewelry box packed with baggies of sequins, mop buttons, beads of various sizes including several of the teeny, tiny ones like Sue used on my ornaments. There was also a butterfly button ..... another "like" that I mentioned on my "wish" list and a skein of Anchor floss. One of the neatest giftees was a leather Santa coin purse/key ring ..... AND inside the purse was a bright, new shiny "lucky penny" which was also wrapped. I feel so special with all these wonderful giftees!

Tatting is NOT a lost art ... it is a beautiful technique that is flourishing around the world with fantastic designers and although I'm not a designer I feel so blessed to count these special, beautiful people my friends!