Clearing out my head

I guess I would call this a prototype for my bead journal that I start in January. Not sure if I will turn them all into small wall hangings or find some other way to display. But I feel pretty confident I can keep up as the months go by with this size.

I also used this as an opportunity to try out stuff that's been floating around in my head.

Solid color spaces are not really something I do a lot of.

I love these cup like pearls and wanted to try them in bead embroidery

I recently bought these tear drops from work and tried them out as edging and fringe.

Goodbye Summer...

Well not officially, but around here you can feel fall coming on. The sun rises latter and goes down earlier every day, there is a crispness in the air and the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. The days of sleeping with the windows open are winding down for sure.

This summer has been particularly nice. I can't remember the last time we had such a long stretch of nice weather. This would explain my long absence from writing and beading. Being a native of the Pacific Northwest, I know to enjoy good weather while it lasts because there are at least 9 months of dreariness coming.

That being said, it has been all fun in the sun. I did find time to work in the studio. I finished the border on the hand quilt. I decided not to do to much just some out-lining on the border.

I also finished the block for my sister. Next will be the quilting. I just have to find some more pink fabric. This piece turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Hope Meg likes it.

I've spent this past weekend cleaning and reorganizing in the studio. This is always helped me to rediscover supplies and beads and in turn, lead to inspiration for new projects.

So in the midst of all the non-bead related activity going on the last couple of weeks, Jen happened to finish quilting "The Hand" and passed it back to me.

I don't think at the time I really expressed my delight at the work she had done. I love this. From the zig-zags to the shape to the texture on the the front and back, her design allows for more surface embellishment, which I find very inspiring.

Here is a closer look at the texture around the bead work. I plan to add some beads around the bead work it's self and some around fuchsia fabric to give it a pop. I may also add some sort of dangle. The possibilities are endless.

Swimming in a Sea of Pink

In an effort this year to make more Christmas gifts than buy them, I wanted to get a good head start. This is what one of my sisters is getting this year. She loves turtles and the color pink is her favorite. Which made it easy to pick out a theme for her piece.

Here are some pictures taken over the last few day to show the progress. I have to say I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. Again, sorry about the pictures.

The enamel turtle beads I've had for years but I found my collection of pinks to be laking. It was more of a fuchsia to be honest. So after a mad dash through work and down to the local bead store I collected enough pink seed beads and was ready to start.

I'm going to fill in the right hand corner but I'm leaving the rest as it is. Hoping to be done soon, so I can get it off to Jen. I dont need the border to be anything fancey or wide. And I already have pink fabric, so no waiting to go the the store.

In other news my cat, Goldberry, has been stuck in a cedar tree in the front yard for two days now. I keep going out and calling to her but she dosnt seem to see any way down. And no, I cnt get her my self. She is about 50 ft. up and we have no ladder tall enough. I'll keep you posted.

Rainbow Block Wall Quilt

I've been meaning to post about this wall hanging for awhile now, but I can't seem to get very good pictures. So I'm just going to post what I have and be done with it.

This was started in the winter of 2007 and finished in the summer of 2008. This will give you an idea of how long it can take me to finish a project. Sometimes it takes a long time.

I got the inspiration for this from a set of magnets I made for my sister's birthday one year. They were a set of covered buttons, in the colors of the rainbow, that I converted into magnets. I found the challenge of working with one color interesting and wanted to try it on a slightly larger scale. I knew I wanted to turn these into a wall hanging from the very start. So I turned to my friend Jennifer, the one with the quilting know-how, to see if she would be up for a collaboration. Thankfully she was because I don't know how to sew. And so it was on.

The blocks themselves measure 3"x3", not huge but a little bigger than the buttons. Some colors worked themselves out really quick, others not so much.

The red block was one that came easy. I like red and I like how this block turned out. I don't usually use bugle beads, I don't really have a good selection of them to use anyway. But this project let me use what bugles I have and now I'm on the hunt for more bugles for future projects.

I had a lot harder of a time with the orange block. First I found that I had
a pretty paltry collection of orange beads, so I had to make a special trip to the local bead store just for orange beads. Then when it finally came time to, you know bead, I could not get into this color and when I looked at it, the whole thing looked and felt forced. I don't know, it's not my favorite.

I am the most surprised with the yellow block. After the orange one I started to worry that the yellow one would be the same. But I am really happy with how it turned out. I also found a new appreciation for this color.

When people see this for the first time they usually like the green block the best. I was pretty confident about this color at first. Green is probably my favorite color and I have a great collection of green beads. But I found my self one third of the way through and hated it. So much so, I made the decision to pull it out and start over. I will admit this sat on my table for some time. It probably took the longest, but in the end it really turned out good.

If you were to ask me what my favorite block is, it would be the blue block. It came together really smoothly and, like the yellow block, I found a renewed appreciation for the color and all the shades it comes in.

Like green I love purple and have a good selection of beads. Unlike the green block the purple block took the shortest amount of time to make. I used the pattern on the fabric for the design and just mixed all different shades of purple. This one reminds me of ferns in the spring time.

Once I was done I gave the squares to Jennifer. We talked about how we wanted this to hang and what the border fabric should be. I also wanted Jennifer to leave her mark. She decided to try out squiggles (I can't remember what the stitch is called) on the black fabric border. Unfortunately I can't get a good picture to really show it off. But it gives the border texture and interest that really complements the bead work. She was even clever enough to put our names in the border.

We were both happy with how this turned out. So much so, that we entered it in the county fair for giggles. For some reason we couldn't be entered in a bead work category and ended up in the wall art/quilt category. It didn't seem to matter though, we took home the blue ribbon and a whopping $1.37 in prize money, which made me laugh.

The rainbow wall hanging now has a home on my living room wall, under the clock and over Jack's bed. I see it everyday and it inspires me to do more work like this. Collaborating with Jen opened up a whole new world as far as what can be done with beads and fabric. So I have a lot of ideas and I hope to find the time to make some of these to come to life.

That's it for now. Again, sorry about the pictures. I haven't spent as much time beading lately, the urge to get outside and soak up any good weather has trump all other projects.