Three Medallion Bookmark

[Elfiona]

This pattern was requested by IdahoCanuck. Please PM me if you have any questions. It is a pretty simple pattern. The calculations were for how much Lizbeth size 20 thread to wind onto the shuttle. I used a ball for the chains, so no calculations were necessary.

[IdahoCanuck]

Thank you thank you thank you :). It may be simple but it has character and I liike it.
I bet my sister who is just relearning to tat will also love to give it a go!

[Maureen L]

Where does the pattern start? - I never can work these things out from diagrams, I still, to this day, have trouble with them! Thank you for giving it.

[Elfiona]

You can start anywhere really, preferably with a ring. I like to start with the clover group and work around. Each center of the medallion has a group of four clovers. And if you like, you can add picots, floating rings or even Josephine knots. If you add floating rings or Josephine knots, you will have to use two shuttles instead of shuttle and ball. The single medallion that I have posted in my album I did first and the three medallion bookmark developed from there. I wove a narrow ribbon through the middle. It stays put without being tacked.

[Lynn]

I know what you mean, Maureen. If it's a pattern I haven't tatted before, I sometimes have to puzzle over it a bit to decide the best place to start. Those designers who actually point out their starting point are a blessing in the world of diagrammed patterns. This pattern is similar to tatmom's Collossians cross (http://tatmom.com/collossians-cross), which is a two shuttle pattern (she originally tatted it with a needle). Tatmom has thrown rings off the chains, just to illustrate what Elfiona says about that possibility. I'd start at the top with a ring, as Elfiona suggests, and then just follow the pattern around.

[BridgetH]

Do you have a photo of the finished piece somewhere we can look at? Also, are the three medallions made separately, or did you start with a clover, around the top, down the side, around the bottom and back up the other side and connect (if that makes sense.)

[Elfiona]

Yes, there is a picture of the three medallions in my album. They are done as one in a line. There is also the original medallion I did that is a separate unit. I thought three together would be nice, but I didn't want them too loose.

Lynn, I'll keep your suggestion in mind when I diagram my next design (giggle). I am quite a newbie at that as well. You see I'm sketching with a pencil on graphpaper because I can't get the sketching programs I've tried to work as I want them to. It is all in my mind, and I forget that you can't see what I envision.

[BridgetH]

Wow, the finished (http://www.intatters.com/album.php?albumid=824&attachmentid=13340)piece looks very complex! I never would have guessed this is the same pattern. I love all three of them.

The diagram is very nice and neat. It printed out too light on my printer so I ran it through a few times and now I'm going over it with a marker, which is really helping me get the rhythm of the rings and clovers in my mind. That's probably not what you intended, but it worked out great! :biggrin:

[Elfiona]

Thanks for the feed back, BridgetH. I'll make my drawings darker in the future.

[BridgetH]

The problem is partly my printer, but I really did find it helpful to go over the design. It made me think through the pattern better, giving myself a mental road map. I'm looking forward to trying it out!

[crazytatter]

Love it. Really pretty all 3 of them.

[xstchntat]

Thank you for sharing. I think it is a lovely pattern.

[Lynn]

I just saw the finished bookmark with the ribbon threaded through it. That is just brilliant! Elfiona, I honestly didn't mean any criticism of you at all. I was merely trying to help Maureen figure out where to start. I love the clean lines of this - very appropriate for a man I think. Even with the ribbon, I can see my DH using this. Thank you for sharing your design.

[Maureen L]

Thanks, Lynn, for the pointer to the right direction! - and to whomever it was who posted the link to the picture of the finished bookmark, thanks also, because I couldn't find it yesterday.
I love bookmarks with ribbons through them.
Colossians Cross......oh dear, I came to grief over that one - the diagram thing again!

[Susan B T]

Very nice pattern... great flow... thanks for sharing.

[Lynn]

Maureen, if you haven't finished tatmom's lovely cross yet and you want to give it another go, I'll be happy to work with you on it. It is one of my all time favorite crosses to tat. The first time I did it, I followed the written directions instead of the diagram, because I didn't really know how to read diagrams at the time. But there is an error in either the first or second trefoil; it is written with four rings instead of three. So, I came to grief over the written directions. Only by diligently comparing the instructions with the finished cross did I finally realize the mistake and correct for it. And once I did that, a light suddenly went off as to how the diagram compares with the finished cross. That was the beginning of reading diagrams for me, and I'm still working on it. I learned on the old long hand patterns, a la Anne Orr. What interesting changes there have been to tatting instructions over the years. Makes me wonder what's coming next - and if my old eyes will be able to handle it! LOL

[BridgetH]

Elfiona, I'm trying to turn this into a cross by adding elements to the side. I just finished the first clover. There's a gap at the bottom of the three rings where the chain goes across, is that to be expected?

[Elfiona]

There should be a small gap at the base of the clover, but the end of the chains should touch. What I do on the first half of the double stitches is pull it up close to the end of the previous chain. Don't worry if you aren't close to the base of the clover. That will take care of itself when you finish the chain and snug it up.

[BridgetH]

Okay, I think that's what I've got going on. The chains touch but not too much. I'm having a challenge keeping the pattern straight in my head; the way the pairs of chains aren't really part of the same section but corners of separate sections. It's giving me a reason to sit and focus on my tatting, that's for sure! I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm making it for a wedding present, using the bride's colors of green and purple. The dark purple is the chain framing the green rings. So far it's lookin' good!

[Elfiona]

Your version sounds quite lovely. I fell in love with the simplicity of the original medallion that the three together is based on. I keep coming up with different ways to put the basic square medallion together. In my album, the small medallion below the bookmark is the original design the bookmark sprang from. I hope you post a picture of your finished piece.