Needlework News » Bead

Love You to the Moon to fight cancer

Denise Felton — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:02:48 +0000

Leonie Hartley-Hoover of Stitching with Attitude created this remarkable art quilt as a donation for Foto/Fiber 2012, which benefits the American Cancer Society. She calls it Love You to the Moon and Back. I call it crazy quilting meets modern quilting meets bead embroidery. Whatever you call the technique, it’s lovely. Find out more about its components and the story behind it from Leonie’s blog post.

Use the right tools for better bead-embroidery results

Denise Felton — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:01:06 +0000

Nancy Eha, The Beading Queen, has posted a new video in her series of free tutorials. This one is about the beads and tools you need for successful beading because, as Nancy says, ” To do the job right, you must have the right tools!” See the new tute. And scroll down the page to see videos on other beading topics such as the basic bead-embroidery stitch, the backstitch.

TAST-inspired mandalas for charity

Denise Felton — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Chris of Ella’s Craft Creations has put her own spin on SharonB’s TAST challenge. She intends to make a beaded mandala each week highlighting the week’s TAST stitch. The first two are shown here. She says,

I do hope that I manage to do them all ! I shall be making a wall hanging with them and then donating the wall hanging to ST LUKES CHARITY.

Brava! Go to Chris’ blog.

Megan’s version of a valentine

Denise Felton — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:03:34 +0000

I wish I were Megan Noel‘s valentine. Then maybe I’d stand a chance of owning her Soul Mates beaded dolls and the handpainted, velvet-lined box where they live. Find out more about this beautiful creation at Megan’s blog post.

Tutorial: Beaded cretan-stitch flower

Denise Felton — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:06:23 +0000

Ina of Let’s Learn Embroidery kicks this week’s TAST challenge up a notch by creating a beaded cretan-stitch flower. And she shows us how it’s done. See her tute.

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Larkin rises to a bead-embroidery challenge

Denise Felton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:02:28 +0000

Wow. Larkin of Bemused, Boggled, and Bedazzled created this jewelry box in response to a challenge from Bead Design Studio magazine. She says,

We were each provided with a ceramic “cabochon” and four coordinating “lentils” as the start of our project…Since this was for a magazine mostly about jewelry, I decided to make a box to keep the jewelry in, allowing me to use my fabric collage, free motion quilting, and embellishment skills to decorate the sides of the box, while devoting my bead embroidery to the lid.

Spectacular from every angle! Go to Larkin’s blog post.

Inspiration: Thom Atkins

Denise Felton — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:04:53 +0000

Robin Atkins of Beadlust gives us a close-up look at some of the incredible beaded quilts created by her brother, Thom Atkins. The quilts are art in every sense of the word and, appropriately, are on exhibit now at the LaConner Quilt Museum. Go to Robin’s post for lots of details, photos, and links.

Tutorial: Beading an image

Denise Felton — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:24:34 +0000

Nancy of Bead Creative takes us step by step through the process of adding a beaded image to an art quilt, crazy quilt, or other needlework project. If you need a brush-up on how to stitch the beads to the image, Nancy provides a video. See her tute.

How to space beads evenly

Denise Felton — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:36:08 +0000

Beads can add a sparkly finished edge to a textile work, but spacing them evenly can seem impossible. Luckily, Janet M. Davies of JMD Designs has a quick and clever trick for pulling this off. See her tutorial.

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Inspiration: Hearty Craft

Denise Felton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:07:18 +0000

I have to share just one more handmade Christmas ornament. This beaded felt bell by Hearty Craft is perfect in every way–so unbearably sweet that I want to eat it. See close-up views at her blog post.

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How The Lone Beader does it

Denise Felton — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:01:32 +0000

The Lone Beader gives us a little insight into her process by describing the general steps she followed to create this awesome husky brooch. See her blog post.

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Brilliant gifting

Denise Felton — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:06:42 +0000

This sweet little beaded heart, created by Yesteryear Embroideries, is actually a pocket for delivering a small gift. I think it would be perfect to hang on the Christmas tree each year with a small surprise inside. And I especially love that the front of the pocket is embellished with the wee seed-bead flower vine that we’ve seen in some of YE’s other work. Go to her blog post.

Bead a little stocking

Denise Felton — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:05:57 +0000

Chris of Themeaparty.com has guest posted a tutorial on whip up for creating a dear little felt stocking embellished with beaded snowflakes. You could also use the snowflake patterns–free on the post–on ornaments or other Christmas crafts. See the tute.

A useful knot for beading

Denise Felton — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:05:01 +0000

Lyric Kinard shows how to make a handy knot to stabilize beads. See the video on her Lyric Art blog.

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Join the Bead Journal Project

Denise Felton — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:06:47 +0000

The 2012 Bead Journal Project will kick off soon. Join other stitchers around the world in making a work of beaded embroidery each month for a year. The project’s site says,

The main emphasis is to give an impression about each month, to journal your experiences and record your feelings in a visual way. The secondary emphasis is to challenge yourself to expand and develop your technical skills.

Get all the details from the site.