The Beading Begins

Closed toe generic darning foot that Ann prefers for quilting around beads

Now that the embroidery is complete on the collage, I've started the beading. Unlike Lyric, I bead then quilt with a clear generic closed toe darning foot.  This system works well for me. In a much earlier post I discussed the pros and cons of darning feet.

The spot on the collage I chose first was the little wavy red line on the right hand side of the quilt. Check previous post for photos of this collage "Playing with Fabric." I ran a line of short stacks of seed beads.  I chose a size 6 yellow bead for the base and an iridescent red size 11 bead for the top.  This created an interesting line through the center.  Before viewing Lyric's dvd I would have just stitched a single line of seed beads down the middle and that would be it. So I've learned something new that is lots of fun. I love the combination of the two colors, it would be fun with 3 colors too!

Next I couldn't wait to put single bead stacks on the ends of the spiral eyelashes on the lower left corner. I chose the same size 6 red bead for the base and a size 11 black bead for the top.  This adds a nice little touch to the ends.  Although it doesn't show in this photo, the spiral is appliqued with a rusty red metallic thread and the eyelashes are covered with a red metallic size 40 thread.

Next, I decided to change colors and bead the inside of the large lime green leaf at the center top.  I tightly clustered some iridescent seed beads in the center. The leaf was hand painted and left over from my quilt titled Summer Sanctuary. The edges of the pink center already had a little free-motion stitching in a variegated pink thread.

Who knows what is next?

Ann Fahl