I didn't have the patience for it yesterday, but I can't delay working on my TIFC quilt any longer. There's an exhibit coming up in October I'd love to have it ready for. I've been hesitating to take the next step for several reasons, mostly because I was unclear about the sequence of events and exactly how I will finish this out. One part of me said I should square it up before adding beads - rulers rock precariously over a beaded surface - maybe even finish the edges. Another part said I wouldn't know how the edges would be finished until I did the beading. Now it looks as if I won't be finishing the edges at all, but putting it into a frame. At any rate, it was time to get off the fence and do something.
This piece was one I took along to Hood River with me, looking for input from my art quilt friends. It was a rare treat to hear what Mary Stori, the embellishment queen, thought of my beading ideas. One she jettisoned (and I have to admit, I knew it probably wasn't right, but sometimes we just need to hear it from someone else), approved of another and suggested much the same you readers here did for the central area - beads or french knots but nothing too flashy. I decided there was too much fullness around the applique for beading or french knots alone to get under control and chose this darker variegated Oliver Twist to do a little quilting, mimicking the shapes in the applique and pulling some of that purple into another area. From a distance, it barely shows.
I'm still a little unclear of how the beading will go in that area, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do in the outer corners, so that's where I started. I was only a few beads into it when I realized I'd done it to myself again - chose a fussy time-consuming task to add to my quilt. But like so much in life, once I established a plan, I quickly slipped into a rhythm, and my lack of patience turned into the old, "Just one more bead...I'll stop after just one more bead, or the next one...definitely after one more..."
I'm actually using three slightly different yellow/orange beads here, reading not nearly as yellow as they are on my computer screen right now. (In fact, all these pics are reading a bit washed out to me now that they've been uploaded.) Beads are a lot like fabric in that you start collecting and before you know it, you're building a stash. Even so, you often find you don't have as many of one color and kind as you need to complete a project. So you find yourself substituting something similar and in the process create a much more interesting look. Such is the case here.
I nearly finished the sections using these beads today, so tomorrow I must decide what goes in the center.
This piece was one I took along to Hood River with me, looking for input from my art quilt friends. It was a rare treat to hear what Mary Stori, the embellishment queen, thought of my beading ideas. One she jettisoned (and I have to admit, I knew it probably wasn't right, but sometimes we just need to hear it from someone else), approved of another and suggested much the same you readers here did for the central area - beads or french knots but nothing too flashy. I decided there was too much fullness around the applique for beading or french knots alone to get under control and chose this darker variegated Oliver Twist to do a little quilting, mimicking the shapes in the applique and pulling some of that purple into another area. From a distance, it barely shows.
I'm still a little unclear of how the beading will go in that area, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do in the outer corners, so that's where I started. I was only a few beads into it when I realized I'd done it to myself again - chose a fussy time-consuming task to add to my quilt. But like so much in life, once I established a plan, I quickly slipped into a rhythm, and my lack of patience turned into the old, "Just one more bead...I'll stop after just one more bead, or the next one...definitely after one more..."
I'm actually using three slightly different yellow/orange beads here, reading not nearly as yellow as they are on my computer screen right now. (In fact, all these pics are reading a bit washed out to me now that they've been uploaded.) Beads are a lot like fabric in that you start collecting and before you know it, you're building a stash. Even so, you often find you don't have as many of one color and kind as you need to complete a project. So you find yourself substituting something similar and in the process create a much more interesting look. Such is the case here.
I nearly finished the sections using these beads today, so tomorrow I must decide what goes in the center.
3 comments:
Very effective, Sheila. Those 'paisley' shapes look fantastic with the extra lines of stitching.
I really like what you have done with the beading. I can't wait to see it all finished.
Thanks, guys. Sheila, I see you are a knitter. Have you ever incorporated beads into your knitting?
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