Making Cluster Beads

I have a lot of projects to do. So of course I started a new one today.

I picked up this kit from a clearance bin at the Black Sheep in Orlando back in 2010. I'd been interested in a few of the Mill Hill watch kits, this was a good price, and I like to have fun things for major holidays. I was gloating over my materials today for Darlene O'Steen's Cranberry Sampler when I ran across this in the same box. I've done a little beading but never this type. It looked like it would make up fairly fast, so I started it in the afternoon.

Basically, you take bugle beads and seed beads and weave them into cluster beads. Then you string the cluster beads you just made onto clear elastic cord along with some bigger pony beads and crystal beads. You attach it all to the watch and wallah!

So you take the stuff on the left and turn it into the beads on the right. What I didn't realize was that the reason the little white seed beads were in two separate bags was because they were different beads! The difference was subtle but once I'd gotten going, very apparent. I made all three blue beads three times, the red ones twice, and I made a total of nine white beads but only ended up with six. But now I know how to make these little cluster beads.

So here's my bead mat (a square from those old velour blankets), my watch, crystal beads, nymo thread, and of course my beautiful Sajou scissors. They look like mother of pearl but they're actually plastic. Really beautiful plastic. And their long flexible blades turn out to be great for beading.

I'll work on the finishing up this watch in the next few days. First I have to replace the battery. Even when I bought it in 2010, it was so old the battery was kaput. I'll have to remember to pull out the stem before I store it to make the battery last longer. I used to think that patriotic jewelry was only good for Independence Day but I then realized that you can wear it for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Labor Day, Voting Day, and Veteran's Day so I should get some fair use out of this.

Around the World in 80 Stitches Update

I spent a lot of time working on Cleopatra's Cat and still didn't get the darn thing finished. As it was a group correspondence course for the EGA, I still sent it off for evaluation partially done. I enjoyed stitching it but also avoided it, just like homework in high school. Gee, I think I'm grown up and then wham! look I'm not.

Anyway, I'm trying to catch up on Papillon Creation's SAL Around the World in 80 Stitches. Part 12 (of the eventual 24 parts) was recently released. I'm working on part 8 right now.

Check out the greek crosses in the middle.

Four petals of drawn thread.

No drawn thread, just pearl cotton stitches.

This has been a really enjoyable project for me. The stitch diagrams are excellent. Since choosing my colors, I've learned more about color values and would probably make some different choices, but I'm NOT going to restart this project again! Several months ago, my friend Debbie told me about custom q-snap covers she bought for her projects and I decided to get one for this. After all, IF I stay current with this project it'll take two full years so I bought one in fabric that goes with my project.

  It's handy for controlling all that excess fabric. I also have one for my Flower Power (another WIP I'd like very much to get finished). They're fun for seasonal projects, too, like Halloween and Christmas since so many of us stitch for those all year long.





I've also had a good long laugh at my page for my 2013 stitching goals. I was completely out of the running by March 1! Ha! But I still want to complete as many of my WIP's as I can. There is nothing more satisfying than getting a large project completed.

Santa's Village

I've been working away on the Santa's Village piece from Cottage House.

Here is everything I've done so far. I chose to stitch it on the suggested 32 count Wichelt Lambswool linen, though now I wish I'd gone with a frosty blue color. I'm also using the buttons and will attach them after the piece is washed and pressed.

Here are the individual buildings.

Santa's House

Poinsettia Place

North Pole Post Office

Reindeer Stables-in process

Santa's Stocking Store

Mrs. Claus' Cookie Shop

Each house requires one or two skeins of a specialty floss so I've been adding to my stash at a nice slow pace. The threads needed for the next house are posted on the Country Cottage Needleworks website before the chart is released so I have time to have it ready before I receive the chart. I'm getting monthly shipments from Beach Cottage Stitchers and am very happy with the service.

Avoiding Injuries While Stitching

No, I haven't hurt myself. Not yet, anyway. I write the blog for my EGA chapter, Baldy View in Ontario, California. Our May meeting included a presentation by a physical therapist about how to avoid repetitive movement injuries while stitching. Some of you may find it useful.

http://baldyviewega.blogspot.com/

Stitching on a Plane

I realized that I was a serious stitcher when I started spending more time planning what I'd stitch on my trip than what I'd wear. I'm on a trip now and here's what I chose to stitch on the plane.
It's the Halloween Mantle from Bent Creek. It's on 18-count linen and stitched with pearl cotton so it's easy to see even in the inferior plane lightning. I need to finish up the witch portion and I'll be done. I'm thinking it will make a nice pillow.

Cleopatra's Cat

I have finally gotten back to working on my cat. If you looked at my stitching plans for 2013, you'd see that, in this fourth month of the year, I am about four months late.

Most stitchers would probably consider me right on schedule!

Here she is now. Cleopatra's Cat is a group correspondence course from the Embroiderers' Guild of America. She is charted for blue tones but I changed her over to red because I like red better and have a lot of it in my stash. I changed her eyes from gold to green.

The technique is called or'nue. It's a, get this, "laid filling stitch." Wha-a-a-t?

It works like this: you put down ("lay") metallic thread, then stitch over it to form the design. The original model was stitched on white-with-gold-metallic canvas. I used that same canvas, though it doesn't show up in the photos very well. And her face looks weird in this photo because I've only got part of the stitching done. She uses threads of wool, silk, cotton floss, pearl cotton, solid colors and over-dyes. She also uses just a little red metallic in addition to the gold thread.





 Here is the original photo from the EGA website.

You can see how different the design looks in a color change.

 Here are a few close-up photos of the various sections. If you click on them, they should get bigger and show more detail. See the gold flecks on the canvas? It looks really pretty in real life.

Soft little kitty feet.

This is over-dyed floss and gold thread.

The eyes will have a metallic gold iris.

Several of my EGA friends are doing this project also. We all made different choices. One stitched her on 24-count congress cloth instead of the 18-canvas, one stitched her on black canvas, etc. If I can, I'll get a photo of as many of the cats together as possible. Stitching with friends is just one of the many good things about being an EGA member.

I've been working on other projects as well. I still have to post my photos of Santa's Village from Cottage House Needleworks. I've also completed a cross-stitched quilt square for World of Charity Stitching. I'll get more photos up soon.

Christmas in March

I seem to have Christmas in my needlework right now. I signed up for the Santa's Village series from Country Cottage and am doing a SAL with a local group. I'll post pictures soon. I also just finished up four ornaments. The first three are a set of perforated paper gingerbread houses from the book "A Cross-Stitch Christmas: Handmade Holiday," and they have lots of beads.

Here is the first one. I added the Santa buttons for fun. I had three red bird buttons so each ornament got a bird.

Then there is this next little house. I opted for snowflakes on the roof. The bird is tucked on the back by the snowman.

This last one has a snowman button in the doorway on the front and it's little bird perched on the doorway. I have two different trees on the back. These little guys were more work than I'd anticipated but they were fun to make!

Then this ornament is actually a pattern from by EGA magazine of December 2011. My local EGA chapter, Baldy View, gave us all the materials for this as a gift. The kit even included precut cardstock, padding, and backing material. They even twisted up floss for the cording! Thanks, guys! It turned out really cute!