One of the reasons I learned to tat is to help ensure this method of lace making is practiced by future generations. I think tatting can enhance the beauty of any project. Tatting has been added to crochet, used by scrapbookers, placed in oil paints and used in grand scale art installations. I tend to add tatting to my fabric art and quilts.
The following quilt block is another one of my UFOs. Originally, it was made to enter a contest. I never got back to it. The circle is made of simple tatted rings. A bare thread space was substituted for chains. I wrote the little saying in the center and embroidered it. And oh, I didn’t win. But I did get my block back which makes me feel like I won a finely embroidered quilt block.
This leads me to my next three pieces. One of my favorite verses is appropriate for all needle workers: tatters, embroiderers, lace makers, and quilters, etc.
“From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things and manual labor has its rewards.” Prov. 12:14 (RSV)
This little pink girl is surrounded by a flurry of free form tatted flowers. She is feeding baby chicks. When I was growing up the adult chickens would flock out to be fed while the chicks were more timid. The baby chicks were cute. The adult chickens would chase me and try to peck me. In the end, I was afraid of (chicken) of chickens.
I was inspired to create more fabric art after reading Fabric Art Collage: 40+ Mixed Media Techniques by Rebekah Meier. (I got this book for free because I traded some old books for store credit at Hastings Bookstore. It pays to recycle.)
In the Path of Life artwork, both the grass and the imaginary plant are tatted. The verse written on the quilt is Ps. 16:11.
Teach Me Your Ways has tatting at the top, left hand corner. I used three colors of Paintstik oils to draw the curved designs on the right side of this piece of fabric art. The written verse is Ps. 86:11.
Dresden Flower
