Backstory Beads: A Time to Stitch Challenge

Showing posts with label A Time to Stitch Challenge. Show all posts

11/21/15

A Time to Stitch 8 Reveal

The challenge Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller gave us for A Time to Stitch 8 was to bead a bag. Any bag and any portion of that bag. Which was great timing for me, because I had decided that I needed a money bag to take to art and craft fairs so my hands would be free while I tended to customers.

I decided on a belt bag from Mona B’s Live Work Create line of handbags because, well, I love their backstory. Each bag is made from upcycled truck tarps or military tents. Which means I had my work cut out for me because the bag was already constructed and I was sewing through, in some cases, two layers of tarp and the lining. Many, many needles were snapped, bent beyond recognition and otherwise mangled until I finally tried a tapestry needle and found success.

Here’s the bag as it appears in the Mona B catalog:

And here is my embellished version.

The rugged lines and canvas texture of the bag made this the perfect project for incorporating additional hardware into my beadwork. I took a component class from Laura McCabe several years ago and adapted some of her techniques in my design. I love the look of cobalt blue and classic red with olive, and even though I used pearls and a crystal rivoli, I made sure to use lots of the black and brass of the antique zipper to keep the industrial aesthetic.

I may not wait until my next art show to take my new bag off the shelf. There are lots of other times it would be great to be hands free!

Many thanks to Christine and Therese for always encouraging us to explore new places to take our beading. Below is a list of today's participants. I can’t wait to see how everyone tackled this challenge!

Ana

Amy

Liz

1/10/15

A Time to Stitch 6 Reveal

The challenge Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank gave us for A Time To Stitch 6 was to follow a chart and use one of four stitches (peyote, square, RAW or brick) to create a three-dimensional design. As someone who is severely chart-challenged (this may rise to the level of a disability), I took the plunge nevertheless, because I’m always up for a beading adventure with Christine and Therese. And this challenge was just what I needed to finally try my hand at the techniques in Kate McKinnon’s Contemporary Geometric Beadwork.

Since I was already way out of my comfort zone, I settled on a Layered Rick Rack cuff and decided to stretch my color palette as well, choosing three hues from Pantone’s Spring 2015 color report that I would never put together myself: Glacier Gray, Custard and Aquamarine.

Next, I needed a graph. Despite the fact that Cath Thomas has generously done the work of estimating sizing and providing free peyote graphs, it took me an embarrassingly long time to transfer my simple color-blocking design from my brain to Cath’s coloring chart.

A trio of easy peyote triangles served as color swatches, and delicas decided upon, the real fun began.

Peyote was the first stitch I learned and it’s still my favorite, but I can’t remember the last time I used it in a design. My Rick Rack bangle begins with a row of Modified RAW, and also makes use of a bit of square stitch, but it's mostly hours upon hours of peyote.

So much fun, and it’s reversible!

The model's sweater provided the perfect pop of color for my second layer. I think I will wear the bangle this way more often, with just a hint of raspberry along the bottom because the fit is perfectly snug with the second layer worn inside the wrist.

Thank you so much, Christine and Therese for always challenging us to take our beading to new levels. And now, on to the rest of today’s challenge participants:

1-Therese Frank (Host)

2-Christine Altmiller (Host)

3-Cynthia Machata

4-Samantha Wescott

5-Karin Slaton (you are here)

6-Wendy

7-Dagi (Kokopelli)

8-Lola

9-Paula

10-Karin G.

11-Becky Pancake

12-Ana Cravidao

13-Alenka

14-Debbie (Kepi)

15-Nelly May

16-LiliKrist

17-Sally Russick

18-Maryanne

19-Kim

20-Amy

1/15/14

A Time to Stitch 4 Reveal

Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller are the creators of one of my favorite beading hops - A Time to Stitch. This is the fourth in their series, where one stitch is mandatory (in this case, netting) and participants are given a choice of three additional stitches to try (chevron, chenille and spiral were the supplementary choices for this reveal.)

I have done circular netting around an armature in the past, but, despite the fact that I loved the look, I had never tried stitching a length of horizontal, flat netting. I wanted a piece that would be dense but flexible, like fabric, and because this is a challenge, I decided on a three-bead net in a single color of size 15 charlottes. The pattern, by Beverly Herman, adds a picot edge at the turnaround at the end of each row. Very clever!

After I had stitched a couple of inches using my standard beading thread, 6# Fireline, I realized the resulting bracelet would be too flimsy for the button I'd chosen by Susan Barnes of the Fire Goddess. The weight was much improved by a test sample in 14# Fireline, but charlottes have very small holes, and the beads that received a second pass of thread were becoming too prominent in the weave. That's when I remembered a spool of 10# WildFire tucked away in a drawer. I had never used this brand before, but I quickly became a fan. It gave this project the substantial weight I was looking for, and the perfect drape!

My new bracelet called for some companion earrings, in Russian spiral. They're stitched in the same silver charlottes, with accent rows of glossy black cubes.

Much thanks to Christine and Therese for hosting us once again and for encouraging us to explore new territory. Now, hop around to all the participants' blogs where I know we're going to see some fabulous adventures in netting!

Hosted by Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller

1. Amy Severino

2. Janet Bocciardi

3. Cynthia Machata

4. Alicia Marinache

5. Paula Kramer

6. Kim Hora

7. Dee Alcalde

8. Dagi (Kokopelli)

9 Maryanne Gross

10. LizE

11. Sally Russick

12. Becky Pancake

13. Jasvanti Patel

14. Karin Slaton (you are here)

15. Alenka

16. Sarah Sequins

17. Tanya Goodwin

18. Debbie Rasmussen

19. Shirley Moore

20. Crystie Willard

21. Nelly May

22. Ana Cravidao

5/15/13

A Time to Stitch - Spiral Challenge

Learning spiral stitch has been on my to-do list for the last year, but it took a challenge from Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank to spur me to actually check out some tutorials. Their challenge, A Time To Stitch 3, let us choose among 3 very popular spirals; Cellini, Russian or African Helix. After stitching up samples of each in a myriad of bead shapes and sizes, I settled on Russian spiral, using gold 3-cut size 8 seed beads and brick-red and gold marbleized size 11’s. To learn the stitch, I followed a tutorial by Mortira Vanpelt of Inspirational Beading. I liked Mortira’s approach to this spiral, which results in a snug stitch, but a very fluid and soft rope.

The challenge also included a trio of flat stitches – brick, ladder and square – and I chose one of my favorites, square stitch. Tila beads and the same size 11’s from the spiral rope sections were used to create a square stitched “chain” which I made double-sided for extra heft.

My focal is a carved ebony button layered with a handmade bronze disc bead from Tamara Scott Designs, capped with a Swarovski crystal. Interspersed between the chain and the spirals are some carved ebony tubes and a charming collection of ceramic beads by Mary Hubbard of White Clover Kiln. The bottom photo shows a close up of her bird bead with its enormous and curious eyes! I like the touch of whimsy it brings to this piece.

Thanks to Therese and Christine for hosting our challenge, and helping me check off another item on my to-do-list! You’ll want to click over to their blogs and the blogs of all the participants to see how versatile these stitches can be!