The Planning Phase

This is my test tat of Motif A from Jon Yusoff's Clover Mat. I will not be making the mat with this thread, because that would be way too much (plus it's not the colors I need). I just did this to see how big the motif is in size 40 (it's 1 3/4 inches), because the diameter of this motif times the number of motifs across will be the finished size of the mat.

The thread is Lizbeth 113, Jewels. I know that many people find this colorway too busy, but I like it, as long as it is reserved for simple motifs. I do agree that for large or complex designs, it can look chaotic and detract from the tatting. I love the colors, though.

I also wanted to see if I could create a matching straight edging with corner to go with the motif, and here it is:

I may tweak the corner a bit, but it works.

So here's what it's all about. My cousin is getting married next April. My plan (though you know what they say about the best laid plans) is to to make her a set of placemats, and if I have time, put the matching edging on some napkins.

She told me she likes deep blue and brick red. Well, I'm not going to attempt to include the red, because reds can be so horrible if you don't get an exact match. Instead, I will use two shades of blue, since blue is a much more forgiving color. After looking at a lot of threads, the one that I think would best be described as "deep blue" is Lizbeth Dark Wedgewood. This is good, because Lizbeth is affordable at the quantities I'm going to need, and the size 40 doesn't seem to have the same quality issues that many people have experienced with the size 20. The mat pattern will look best in a solid color, but I think that using two solids together will also be interesting. And too much of the Dark Wedgewood is, well, too much. So I'll be using the DW for Motifs A and C, and Light Wedgewood for Motif B (follow the link above to Jon's pattern to see what I'm talking about).

As for my colorful test tat motif, I'll find a good home for it. Several people have mentioned that they like to carry a baggie of small motifs with their tatting supplies, so that when someone shows interest in what they are doing, they can give the person a motif. I think this is a nice idea, and it also gives me an excuse to tat motifs without letting them take over my apartment. So far, the giveaway bag contains this motif, plus the rainbow ones I showed in my very first post. I'll have to do a few things in tamer threads, just in case people want something that doesn't make their eyes spin.

EDIT: I had a question about the rainbow threads mentioned above. Tatskool sells them and many other wonderful HDT's here.