Tatting by Dilly is what this post is about. My Great Grandma was half Scottish and half Indian and her name was Sedilla but everyone called her, “Dilly”. While I was growing up, we would sit around doing needlework. She did Scottish tatting, Grandma and I did embroidery, and my Mom did crocheting. Dilly is pictured in the back center row above in the early 1900s. From left to right are her sister (Beulah), her Mom (Pernetta), and her sister (Bernice) in the front row.
tatting-tat·ting – a delicate handmade lace formed usually by looping and knotting with a single cotton thread and a small shuttle.
I should have paid better attention because as I look at this piece that she did, I have no idea about how it was actually done. I remember her sitting in her chair with a white cloth on her lap stitching away. She would finish a piece and then my Mom would sometimes crochet an edge around it she wanted it.
The material is that cotton that was loosely woven, maybe flour sacks, so I wonder if she clipped openings to stitch lace into the middle or did she pull threads into groups to make the lace? Her hand stitching around the edges is so totally even and I know that it was all done by hand.
The patterns in the center are amazing with the details so beautifully finished.
Very steady hands, and so much patience, she loved to chat and stitch with her beautiful white hair.
This round tablecloth is my Mom’s favorite color. Whenever I see this beautiful blue, I remember her. 
My Mom, Mary did splendid crochet work. She did a lot of crochet using small needles with thin cotton thread as I was growing up. She also made afghans, sweaters, and other things out of regular yarn.
Her hands were busy in the evenings. Mom made tablecloths, table runners, pillowcase lace, and doilies. Here are some of the tablecloths that I still have that she made. This one is made with off-white thread, it has a star pattern in the middle with netting going out to the lacey edge.
This tablecloth is done using white cotton thread with a flower-type pattern in the middle, with a small row of netting and then a thick lacey pattern at the outer edge. The outer edge lace is almost like a ruffle.
Sadly, sewing is a lost art in our society. Picture the pioneer that sat on a rocker in front of their fireplaces all winter hand sewing clothes and quilts in dim light. Honestly, we have it real easy with our sewing machines in comparison. People have an unfounded terror of attempting to do the “impossible” task of constructing a garment. Fears are easily proven wrong as a result of, discovering the steps to sew any item are very precisely laid out in the patterns. If you can read and follow directions, you can sew anything. You will find that the process gets easier and faster due to repetition, and each additional item made from a pattern gets easier still.
My Great-Grandmother did Scottish tatting and embroidery on elegant dish towels, quilts, doilies, pillowcases, and dresses. Her name was Sedilla and everyone called her Dillie. Her mother was half Scottish, she is in the center of the front row . The three sisters were left to right, Beulah, Sedilla, and Bernice.
Sedilla had a daughter named Opal who was my Grandma. She did embroidery in colored flosses making days-of-the-week dishtowels, flowers, herbs, quilts, table cloths, and napkins. My Grandma taught me how to do embroidery stitches on small things like pillowcases and napkins. After I learned how to do all the 
Grandma was also responsible for many of my best recipes. Her name was Opal (Canniff) Kilpatrick. Being half Scottish and half Indian she had beautiful white hair just like her Mom. Here is a picture of her pausing for a photo for me in the Lihue, Kauai HI airport before we walked over to the gate for her to climb up the stairs to catch her flight.