Weekly Post - Fabric Beads Part 2

The canning factory that has been my house has slowed down. Now I only have apples to make into sauce and pies. Apples can be done over a longer period because they last so much longer than tender fruit.

So I have time to write a bit at last.

Fabric Beads Part 2

This is what the fabric bead looks like not embellished. And they are attractive on their own. 

But I like to wrap a bit of thread around the bead to give it some extra zing. 

Here comes in all the yummy threads you bought and haven't done much with since or the left over bits on a spool you don't know what to do with. 

I put the threads in this box with a magnetic closer so I can store it my sewing lair or in the living room with out it looking to messy. Since I also take it along to work on while driving trips ( to avoid watching the crazy traffic while my husband drives) the threads and supplies are contained and don't drop all over the floor of the car. Experience is a great teacher! 

You could use glue but I hate sticky and glue finds its ugly head all over the place if I use it. So I thread up a needle. I usually double up the thread and knot it at the end for better bead coverage. 

I start at one end of the bead going between the layers of  fabric (missing the plastic straw if you use that ) up to the top surface and take a small back stitch. 

I make sure the thread does not pull out at this time. Then I start wrapping down the length of the bead. 

Somewhere around the middle I take another small back stitch to keep the thread taught. 

Wrap to the end and use another back stitch. Wrap back to the other end wrapping and back stitching. 

There is no right or wrong about how much thread you use. Just it is nice if you have enough thread to go up and back on the same bead. 

If you don't make it to the end tie off with a few back stitches and add a new piece of thread. 

 

At the end of the bead go down through a few layers and make some tiny back stitches between the layers and tie off the thread inside. I

In time you will get speedier and neater. 

There is no right or wrong way of doing this. It is for fun! 

Here are two finished beads that took me a short time to create. 

Other ways to decorate the bead include beads in a bottle, adding small seed beads, pre stamping or colouring the fabric. 

Next up... how to make them into an earring.  

Hope your week wonderful.  The warm days this September is amazing. Some of the warmest driest weather we have had in Southern Ontario all summer. Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network

Jo

Have you tried making the beads yet? 

Have you ever had a dream...

Have you ever had a Dream....  

Houston International Quilt Market and Festival A CANADIAN NINE PATCH CELEBRATING CANADA’S 150TH BIRTHDAY

Sponsored by Edward Jones

Organized by Leslie Prokop and Shelley DeHay-Turner

This exhibit is inspired by Canada’s sesquicentennial. The quilts represent Canada’s history, geography, and culture
as expressed by each artist. And each work showcases a diversity of quilting styles as well as a variety of mediums
and techniques.

For years I have had a dream ... the dream was to attend a national quilt festival. I never thought it would happen until I was asked along with many others to make a quilt to put into the exhibition above. 

It was the dream of my friends Leslie and Shelley to enter a special exhibit into the Houston Quilt Festival. So they started by recruiting friends and people who may be interested. It wasn't a given that it would happen. It wasn't a given it would be accepted. It was a given that my quilt would be included if the exhibit was accepted. 

But one thing was for sure I would have a finished quilt that I had long wanted to make that included my traditional side along with my art quilting side. And as usual I dragged my daughter in to help with the hand quilting. 

So now the exhibit has been accepted. It will hang at the 2017 Houston Quilt Market and Festival this October - November.  

And my dear hubby has booked the plane tickets and Air B and B.  My daughter has booked the time off of work and next month we will be there. Walking the aisles, shopping, see quilts we can ever imagine making. Meeting people. Quilt Stars! 

Totally Quilt geeks we are! 

And unbelievable to me, my quilt and my great-grandma's quilt will be hanging along side my 25 new Canadian Quilt buddies and among the world's quilters. 

So off to Houston we go with all my buddies who can attend. Ego boosting and humbling this experience both is.... 

No pictures for now.. we signed an agreement no pictures could be published before hand.... But you can be sure it will be along with my Houston and greatest adventures of being a quilt and sewing geek! 

P. S 

There will be an opportunity to see these quilts. 

Tuesday December 5th from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Brant Hills Community Centre
2255 Brant St,
Burlington, ON

We will be presenting our Canadian Nine Patch Quilt exhibit at the Brant Hills Community Centre - just south of #5

We will be hosting a one day event to share our quilts and their stories with our community

​

Weekly Post - Fabric Beads Part 1

Where did August go?

I realized I have missed many weeks posting. It is not that I haven't been working but live revolving around me has been very busy.

Family from Vermont, birthday celebrations, weddings -(2), canning wonderful peaches, pears and salsa, experimenting with eco print dyeing, experimenting with ice dyeing, making jewelry with fabric beads, helping friends, new fence (finally!) all good things but it left me drained.

Combine that with the sadness in the world with hurricanes, and situations of extreme acts of hatred against people and that leaves me drained.

Why do I let life events effect me so...? Because like it or not I am a feeler. Intuitively or unconsciously I feel deeply. I am trying to just go with that as I would rather care to much than to little. I need to recognize it, see it and learn to accept that I am resilient and will not break. Do what I can and not break. So some of my down time has been reading so scientific books on resiliency. Fascinating. But a lot of processing.

But for a blog on my art work that is not very fascinating.

So I am going to share how I make fabric beads. Again not rocket science but a easy process to do when you just want to fiddle some time doing something rote and simple.

Making a fabric bead... 

What you need:
- piece of colourful fabric
- small stir stick straws, drinking straws or skewers
- double sided contact tape. (Scor tape scor-pal.com/scor-tape) or fabric glue
- cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler or a sharp pair of scissors.

Choose a piece of fabric that is colourful. Batiks work great. Use up pieces that you may have saved. This is one way I use up my scraps. Cut the fabric the length of your straw or skewer. 

These are some straws I have collected from my wanderings. Recycling all those coffee straws or you can buy a box of them at a place that sells restaurant supplies or coffee supplies for business. 

Placing the double sided  scor tape on the fabric top and bottom. If you are using glue put a small bead line of glue where the tape is .

 Remove the tape and place the coffee straw on the sticky tape and start to tightly roll the straw up to the top tap. Remove top tape and finish rolling.

You should now have a covered straw. To cut the piece into individual bead. Place a ruler beside the straw and vision how long you want your bead. 

I didn't do this in the picture above but I would use my rotary cutter to make a clean cut on both ends first. Or you can use scissors for this. Don't use your best blade or scissors for this!

Here is a finished set of beads. 2 one inch beads and 5 half inch beads.

There is more that  I do to the beads or you can use them like this.

Part 2 I will give you some suggestions that I do to fancy them up.

Part 3 will show you how I have used them in a project.

Then I will consolidate the instructions on a tab at the top.

I love making the beads. It is a perfect activity for TV or sewing that doesn't require a lot of thinking.

Hope you are having a wonderful week. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!

Jo
 Linking up with the needleandthreadnetwork
P. S. I have no affiliation with Scor-pal tape but do find it very useful. Google it for a place where you can find it.