Bead It Like You Mean It
Greetings, My Little Chickadees!
I’m always happy to have a chance to talk beads, so I was deeply honored when Lyric Kinard asked if I would write a bit about her new adventure – an instructional DVD about beading on fabric, specifically quilts. I’ve known Lyric for some time, and consider her to be a bright shining light on the contemporary quilt scene – full of talent and enthusiasm. But more importantly, I consider her a friend. And one of the things we have in common is a love of beading.
Ask any room full of beaders any question, and you’ll get lots of different answers. What thread do they like? Which needles do they use? What tools do they like to have handy? Lyric’s DVD starts out with a discussion of the things she likes to use, including why she likes them. And then she gets to the fun stuff – the stitches. Her instructions are clear, and easy to understand and follow. Even a complete novice would be able to work along with her and complete the stitches. She covers such things as single beads, back stitching straight lines and curves, dealing with bugles and big chunky beads, stacks and fringe, and a bezel technique for securing cabochons to the surface of a quilt. She also takes the viewers through one of my personal favorites, which she calls “scrumbles” (I call it “mossing” – vive la difference!).
After she covers the stitches, Lyric moves on to discussing the technical aspects of beading a completed quilt (as opposed to beading before the back is applied), giving a nod to the quilt police, who love a neat and tidy quilt back. And then – dare I say it? – actually gluing beads onto the quilt! (I first ran into this particular aberration from another friend, Jenny Raymond, who glues beads onto garments.) Okay, so not something I will be trying anytime soon, but Lyric makes a compelling case for the time saving benefits of glue.
I want to be sure to give a shout out to Bonnie McCaffrey, who was the videographer for this project, and to congratulate both Bonnie and Lyric on a job well done. Both the audio and video were clear and easy to watch and listen to. And I really appreciate the scene selection feature, so that viewers can easily go back to review a particular stitch.
And now for the giveaway part: Someone is going to get a free copy of this DVD, and it could be you! To qualify for the drawing, you need to leave a comment. But not just any old comment. You need to answer this question: If it’s true that anything that has a hole in it is a bead, what is the strangest “bead” you can imagine attaching to a quilt? I’ll draw the winner on Monday, Sept. 19th, and announce it here.
The giveaway will continue through the next few weeks, so if you don’t win here, you can follow the bouncing blogs and keep trying. Here’s the rest of the schedule:
Sept 16 Susan Sorell http://www.creativechick.com/blog/
Sept 19 Kelli Nina Perkins http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/
Sept 21 Sharon Chapman http://wildflowerhouse.blogspot.com/
Sept 23 Leslie Jennison http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
Sept 26 Carla Sonheim http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Sept 28 Gloria Hansen http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
Sept 30 Laura Wasilowski http://artfabrik.blogspot.com/
Oct 3 Carol Sloane http://carolbsloan.blogspot.com/
Oct 5 Sue Bleiweiss http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog/
Oct 7 Jill Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/blog/
Oct 10 Jane LaFazio http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Oct 12 Tracie Lynn Huskamp http://thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Or, you can just dash over to Lyric’s website and order your very own copy here:
http://www.lyrickinard.com/bead_it_like_you_mean_it_.html
Cheers!
Larkin
September 15th, 2011 at 9:37 am
The Strangest Bead I have seen attached to a quilt was a part from an old toaster. It almost looked like an egg with a hole in it.
This is a great way to find a new inspiring blog.
Thank you.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Sometimes you need to “make” it a bead…my trusty drill press lets me turn anything into a bead. Probably the strangest “bead” I ever attached to a quilt was GI Joes head…the quilt is title “Junk” so you can only imagine what else is on there. Let your imagination wander.
Great question Larkin.
September 15th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
The strangest bead I have sewn on a quilt was not all that strange. It was a wooded button that had a picture of a skier on it. I woman who I am make crazy quilt for her three daughters. She had sewn all her life but had never made a quilt. She had a pair of ski pants, they were wool. They had a seam sewn down the front that was raised up. I used that to emphases the block.
September 15th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
How about a piece of macaroni. Many shapes with holes in them. There is a spaghetti that is a tube. How about cutting them into bugle beads, LOL! I guess it would have to be treated to make it less fragile. I’ve used lots of little do-dads from the hardware store, too. So many of them make great embellishments!
September 15th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Well, I just read the comments of the people ahead of me, and I have to say, those are pretty original things to consider a bead. My first thought was of a stone I found at the beach that had a hole in it somehow- Mother’s Nature’s bead- then I thought, hmm, by the definition that anything with a hole in it could be considered a bead, why not a macaroni? or a Froot Loop? Not very washable, that’s for sure. Speaking of washable, how about a washer? The metal hardware store kind, not the kind that cleans clothes. Or a gear? This was a good question. You’ve got my head spinning!
September 15th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
A wormhole? A hole in the space time continuum. I mean seriously, THAT would be a cool beaded art quilt. I can see it all ready with loads of aurora borealis, swarovsky crystals, tulle, even pearls! Oh dear. Guess it’s time to do something about this obsession. I love you both! Missed seeing you at Long Beach this year.
September 15th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Can’t think of any unusual bead but I did do fabric stamping with veggie tray vegetables, a cucumber slice for an O, celery sticks for an E, snap peas for a V. Hope that qualifies.
PICK ME PICK ME
Sandra
September 15th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
For some reason the strangest thing I could think of to attach to a quilt would be a tire, or better yet several tires. One really large quilt with three full size tires… that would be strange.
September 16th, 2011 at 4:01 am
When it comes to strange items used as a bead, my first thought was the shed insect shells that are sitting on my table waiting for the right place! As kids we would stick them on our clothes and in our hair…with those prickly legs they don’t even need to be sewn in place.
September 16th, 2011 at 5:02 am
Ok, now you’ve got me going. My mind went immediately to one of my other favorite things – plants. Most pots have at least one hole in the bottom and of course the top is wide open. I think I could end up with some very interesting ‘plants’ growing out of a ‘bead’ like that on an art quilt. Hmmmmm………. now I have to see what I have on hand!
September 16th, 2011 at 5:09 am
Yes, bead anything right! How bout my dogs nose, it’s so cute it would look cute beaded. It would be wiggling when people walk by to get a sniff of them. I just finished beading a fish project for our guild show this week end. Well maybe not finished but for now. The show must go on. Would love to see that DVD!.
September 16th, 2011 at 5:51 am
OK, I guess if it has a hole, it can be a bead. I need to be a bit more creative and expand my universe because I have only purchased beads and sewed them on. I did add a sequin under some beads once. Maybe I need a new dvd for inspiration….
September 16th, 2011 at 7:16 am
I’ve seen hardware store washers on quilts, and they look great!
September 16th, 2011 at 7:46 am
After raising a few computer geeks, there are lots of various electronic components, circuit boards and whatever else in storage around here. Some might be really interesting! I wold LOVE to win a CD…. It looks great!
September 16th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Wow! I’m new to beading and have never beaded anything really weird—yet! But the ideas are flowing now…I have a small table on my deck with a hole for an umbrella….
September 17th, 2011 at 4:33 am
I’ve seen different things used as beads such as stones, washers, mirrors, sticks and yes even some doll parts as mentioned above. I think I’d like to learn the basics of beading before venturing into some of these. The remark from quilternancy about the cicada shells brought back my childhood also. We too used to find these and wear them on our clothes. No video games back then. You made your own fun!
September 18th, 2011 at 6:10 am
Hmmm…some interesting things suggested so far…I’ve not tried putting things on my quilts (yet) but am intrigued. I’m motivated to give it a try, though. Thanks!
September 18th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
I’ve used washers (yes, the ones from the hardware store) to attach sections of my quilt together. I liked the heavy look. They went well with my nature theme project.
September 18th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Barbie Doll hands with holes drilled are the strangest ‘beads’ I ever used!
September 18th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
This DVD sounds very exciting! I’ve played with beads, but really don’t know how to attach them so they won’t fall off sometime in the future. Would love to win one of the DVDs!!! Great review.
September 18th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
The strangest thing with a hole that I could imagine being sewn to a quilt is a doughnut, but only because it would be strange for the doughnut to last long enough around me to get it stitched on
I hope I win! I love Lyric AND beading! (and doughnuts!)
September 18th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
My father standard reply from my teen years would have been the hole in my head. Then there were the discussions of getting my ears pierced and what would follow – so daring in the 60′s. My pockets are always full of possibile candidates for beads. I will try to drill a hole through almost anything. Some that I have used – acorns, wisteria seeds, shells, rocks, feathers, and sharks teeth. Thanks for the opportunity Larkin. With your book and Lyric’s dvd, I could become a beading wonder!!!
September 19th, 2011 at 12:21 am
I think fruit loops and dried apple rings would be fun but the insects would get to them so I’d probably go with some metal hardware like nuts and bookbinding screw posts. Thanks for the chance to win this!
September 19th, 2011 at 5:10 am
Strangest thing sewn to a quilt with a hole….smooth white bleached fish bones found when looking for beach glass. Would love the book, especially the part about attaching cabochons. Have admired this about your work Larkin.
September 26th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
How about a keychain membership card to Trypophobias Anonymous?