Monday, May 12, 2008

New Shuttles and CQ Blocks

Decided it is time to get more GR8 shuttles after I got my 2nd set of 3 shuttles in 2005. This time round, I went for small and simple ones, no extra word or picture, just my initials. The shuttles came just in time for a Mother's Day treat, and better than the crab and lobster seafood dinner we had on Sat.

The shuttles are a gem! The photos I took don't do enough justice to the beauty of the shuttles and the woods. The bookmark at the side is a pattern from one of the Japanese books, tatted using Sherry's HDT, during the outing for the dinner. This is the first time I use HDT, luckily I didn't mess up the thread when I untwisted it in the car to wind into the shuttle bobbin.
Randy has etched my initials into the dzalam wood (middle shuttle), inlayed red coral into the tulipwood (topmost shuttle), and inlayed turquoise into the double bobbin shuttle (bottom shuttle). Thanks, Randy, a fantastic job done as usual!

That brings my collection of GR8 shuttles to 9. So far, I have not used the arcadia wood (with the fairy inlay) and the caribou antler (with the Merlion and my Chinese surname scrimshawed). They are too precious to me to use them. I use the other 4 GR8 regularly.
The bottom 6 are GR8 shuttles, and the top 4 are the Silent Tatters.
And special thanks to Diane! She sent me 2 CQ blocks for me to try embellishing them. How I wish to start on them now, but I have to finish up the tatting for my round robin partners first. Already running behind time...

6 comments:

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

I'm glad the CQ blocks arrived! The nice thing about having them is that you can work on them whenever!

I have two of the Shuttle Brothers shuttles. One was a present from my friend Denise. It's a double shuttle that was carved from a tree in Denise's yard that came down in a storm. I haven't figured out how to use a double shuttle yet, but I will!

Your collection is beautiful! My theory is, each time you use a shuttle for a project, the less money it cost. So, the first time, I have a really expensive project, the next time it cost half as much to create! It helps me justify my shuttle collection! ; )

Unknown said...

What fun some CQ blocks from Diane and I'm so intrigued with the GR8 shuttles you got. Been meaning to try them for a while, now. I've seen them up close and in person and my friend from my lace guild, Doretha, loves hers. Well enjoy your ever growing GR8 shuttle collection and Keep On Tatting!

LadyShuttleMaker aka MadMadPotter said...

Oh I am sooo jealous of your shuttle collection! Very very lovely, what a wonderful Mother's Day gift.
I think I may need to save my pennies for a gr8 shuttle or two of my own.

Singtatter said...

Hi Diane, that's a good theroy! I try to think in term of opportunity cost - spend on one thing and forgo another thing.

I like my GR8 shuttles and will continue to get more as long as Randy doesn't stop making them. The main reason is that they are my working shuttles (and I do really prefer them to the silent tatters). Randy is real nice to do all sort of customising. I'm a very happy customer!

Carol Schockling Lawecki said...

Your new shuttles are great. I never heard of dzalam wood before. I have admired your GR8 shuttles since you posted the last bunch you got from Randy. I have 2 GR8 shuttles and they are my favorite to tat from too! I have been thinking about getting a new one, I want to personalize it with an inlay or carving and just haven't figured out what I want yet. I know I want it to be a dark wood as my other one is light wood and a deer antler. Once I figure it out I'll be in touch with Randy.

Singtatter said...

Hi Carol, I don't know much about wood, so without anything specific, I just requested Randy to give me hard dense wood. All the woods/type of inlay were thus chosen by him. Looking at my shuttles, Ebony is solid black and Mountain Mahogany is light brown, and I love both wood as they are really dense. Red heart and Blood wood are reddish, but red heart is lighter in weight. Dzalam wood is darker than tulip wood, the shades of the grains in both woods are very obvious. It is so interesting to look at the woods, and I just love the feel and weight of the shuttles in my hands.