Beading the quilt….

On Sunday, I shared the MQG Fabric Challenge quilt at its final stage…..

….or rather it’s ALMOST finished stage!!

I wanted to add one more thing before I called it finished….

BEADS……BEADS……BEADS!!

I had picked out some seed beads that matched the fabrics……

….and was ready to add them to the Dreamcatcher.

First I had to find all of my beading tools……

…… specifically, a beading needle, beading thread, and tray to hold the beads.

All happily stored in an Altoids tin……

My biggest concern was that none of the stitching showed on the back of the quilt so I was very careful in the sewing.

I started with a knot in the thread…..

and then pulled it to set the knot inside the batting so it didn’t show……

I took one stitch up to the front of the quilt and added a bead.

The stitch going back to the bottom doesn’t go in the same hole but needs to be a “beads length” distance away from the original hole……

I stitched back up in the same space…..

and ran the needle thru the bead again……

This helps it to lay flat rather than have the hole sticking up and also helps to secure the bead.

Then the stitch goes to the back again……

and runs UNDER the backing fabric to the next bead placement.

Repeat this 140+ times and I can actually proclaim that…..

THE QUILT IS FINISHED!!

Catching A Dream

The beads are very subtle but that was what I was going for.

If you have an interest in beading, you might check out this post from a class that I took with Lyric Kinard…..

A little beading (part 1)….

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Off to a good start

Yesterday I started on my new Meadow Art project and had SO much fun with it!!

As I started, I decided to stabilize the initial fabric base so that there wouldn’t be too much scrunching up as I added stitching. I used a thin fabric with fusing on one side and ironed the two pieces together …..

The fabric was sized at 14×19 inches, although it looked a LOT bigger than that when I was staring at a blank canvas…..

Following the instructions, I started tearing strips of fabric, making sure that I had lots of strings on the edges. You know, the things that we normally HATE when we tear fabric…..

I also cut/tore burlap, flannel and silk and added those to the mix. When it looked balanced…..

…. I took it to the machine and sewed each piece down, staying close to the torn edge……

Next, I started adding bits of trim and lace…..

….and went back to the machine to secure them to the background. At this point I realized just how much I like my Juki machine……

It is a workhorse!!!

After each step, I ironed the piece from the back, just to make sure that it stayed relatively flat…..

I failed to take a photo of the next step, but I used cotton thread to sew in some flower stems, grass and other linear elements.

At this point the instructions suggested putting a heavier yarn in the bobbin and sewing textural lines but I didn’t really want to mess with my bobbin so decided to switch to my other sewing machine and couch the threads instead. I had this thread/yarn in my stash……

….and thought that the extra texture might be nice.

My trusty Viking machine came to the rescue and I was able to use the couching foot……

…..to attach the yarn.

This is where I stopped on the first day……

….and I am really happy with the texture that has appeared. My only concern is whether the darker threads will be covered by the paint, but I think that I can make it work even if they don’t cover well.

The next step is to apply paint and then to start doing more embellishments.

I CAN’T WAIT!!!!

Fiber on a Whim

Last week the monthly meeting of the Cotton Patch Quilters featured a trunk show and booth by Fiber On A Whim. Their ad describes them….. “”FOR ALL YOUR SURFACE DESIGN AND EMBELLISHMENT NEEDS! FABRIC, PAINTS, DYES, THREAD, YARN, BEADS, and BUTTONS. I believe it…..not only did they have tons of embellishments, but had examples of most of them. The online shop is a Mother/Daughter duo, with Jan doing most of the quilts and her daughter, Kristen handling the business side of things.

Jan presented a wonderful trunk show full of gloriously embellished quilts, each with a story of how it was made, why it was made, and/or what else happened to it. Here are a few of the pieces that she showed……

This vine was made by attaching the cut out leaves to a piece of hemp rope and then attaching the vine to the quilt……..

What a fun way to finish up a simple bargello type quilt……

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An exercise in working with a monochrome palette produced this piece…….

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This piece started as a plain black piece of fabric. She first discharged it, then started adding color with paint and embroidery. When she finished it, it was 2 inches too short for the challenge that she was entering. Her solution….add 2 inches of beads to the bottom!!!! There is NOTHING like a quilter’s ingenuity!!