"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 21-31 December

2014 - Week 52 Daily Beads

I hope your New Year is full of rich blessings! These are the last of the beads for 2014. I will be developing ideas for 2015 in the next few days. Come back and see what is up on Sunday!

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And to grow on?
extra-1


extra-2


And all of December's beads.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 14-20 December and December days - 21

2014 - Week 51 Daily Beads

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"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 7-13 December and December days - 14

2014 - Week 50 Daily Beads

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size 15 beads, so I used two for each stitch

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"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 1-6 December and December days - 7

2014 - Week 49 Daily Beads

I was looking forward to doing blue and yellow for the fabric packets this month. I have learned that the fabric colour really doesn't work if it is a solid colour. It needs the variation in the fabric to keep it interesting. However, I found I didn't have a mottled yellow. So, I decided to try striped yellow.

And wow, it really works for me. When I complete each one (the blue bead used is different for each day) it just looks so fun. Like a circus. Maybe not evident in these photos, but when I am working with it very closely.

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Just to add to the movement, I am changing the position of the stripes to alternate horizontal and perpendicular to the long edge.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 23-30 November

2014 - Week 48 Daily Beads

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And to finish the month, though today is the start of week 49...
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All of November's beads were posted yesterday.

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." November beads

I talked about the development of the November beads here.

I started with these mother of pearl buttons.

And though I will show the rest of the individual beaded buttons on Sunday, I wanted to show them all together and talk a little about what I might change if I did this again.

Here are all the November beaded buttons.

As you can see, even though the buttons are different shapes, they all work together.

And here is the however bit...
Somehow I had in my head that I wanted a circle of white beads around the button. Early on I discovered that half the time they were hiding under the edge of the button. Not Good.

So, then I used a pattern of one of the purple beads then the white bead and then the rest of the purples - number depending on how much space to the edge of the felt base. Well, that was much better but I really struggled to get them to line up in a proper circle/oval or what have you. By this time I had done the 'not quite a heart' buttons and the jar shaped buttons. And I decided to just carry on.

What I would do if I did this kind of beaded button again (besides having the buttons all the same shape for more uniformity!) is to forget about the white bead idea and just fill the surrounding area with the chosen bead colour. But at least for these, they all have a random shape of white beads going round the button. And because the buttons are all different shapes, they all have their unique random white bit encircling!

Or at least that is my story.

And when they become embellishment on some fantastical garment, no one is going to be looking at it with vision enhancing sewing glasses like I do!

"And the Bead Goes On and on..." 16-22 November

2014 - Week 47 Daily Beads

Up close these beaded buttons look a little higgledy-piggedy. But when the whole collection is together or at a distance, they all look similar and part of a set.
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Here is where I have run out of 2 of the different purples. So, have discovered two other purples to continue with the sets of 6 button shapes.
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Here is where I find that the pearly white beads run out. Or at least it looks like I could do at least one more beaded button to finish this set.

But... only 2 of these have holes big enough for the threaded end of the needle to pass through!

I was going to use a sort of clear with white lining. But then yesterday at the Thames Valley Contemporary Textiles meeting, my friend Margaret Ramsay was having a clear out. Some containers of beads and some collections of broken necklaces which had been part of her mother's stash.


And look! some small white beads. Not pearly finish, but white! I have other white beads, but no small opaque white beads. Creamy...Off white...yes, but none that would work for these. But now the little ones from the necklace will do.
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I hosted a meeting on Friday and then the TVCT meeting on Saturday, so I will complete this week's beads this afternoon.
Done!