Oct 27, 2023

AND THEN...IT WAS FRIDAY

Hello, Dearies!

My adventures in beading seem to have struck a nerve, I see. Fear not, dear Friends! Stitching with needle and thread will always be my first love, but in the interest of sucking the marrow out of life and learning new things, I promised myself to be fearless in the face of the unknown.

I am not at liberty to share pictures or other details about the class, but it is intended to be a beginner's class on how to do several different stitches in beading that are independent of a fabric or canvas ground material. If that confuses you, you're not alone, because all this time I thought "I'm a beader and a stitcher", but this new beading is not the embellishment kind of beading that I've done before on various and sundry projects.

Make sense?

On that note...

One of my favorite parts of stitching is when the Show & Tell happens. At one of my Guild meetings, my stitchy friend Linda showed a piece that she had just finished, and it was breathtaking! I stared and stared at it until I realized that I had that very project in my WiP basket! 

This is Solitare by Kurdy Biggs/Threadles, and I'm tickled to report that I finished it last night!

Isn't she swell? I have to say...after a LONG day of feeling like a complete nincompoop with that other beading project, it was life-affirming to sit down LIKE A BOSS and finish this up!

The gizmo in my previous post is a bead tray, Dearies. It's basically a flat case-like thingie that opens up to reveal two flat surfaces with bead mats attached to them. The two sides separate, so you can use them one side at a time, which is what you're seeing in the picture:
You can find them at the big box stores and bead shops, but I found mine on the amazons the day after I saw that my class buddies had them and I felt like a dork without one, much like I did during the Trapper Keeper crisis of 1982.

So there you have it. A lovely day spent chasing little balls of glass all over the place, followed by a good long sleep in the big girl sleigh bed.

I have the entire day to myself while Rich does his thing over on campus, and then we're heading to a hockey game. I'm contemplating a nice afternoon of doing nothing but putzing about in the cube room studio, since I am determined to make myself a nice little travel tool kit, and I want to see what I might have lounging around in there.

(I bought one of those travel faux leather jewelry boxes from the amazons that everybody has made into a tool kit, and I have been dying to figure out how to finish it forever. I might try the YouTubes later to see if there are any helpful videos, but in the meantime, I'll just fuss and fret over it some more.)

That's the Friday report from CS2, Dearies! It's dreary as h-e-double-toothpicks out there, but feels like it's about 80 degrees! Blech weather, if you ask me. Dreary requires cool and breezy so you can at least cuddle into a sweater!

Thank you for stopping by! Are you well and safe and doing something fun? Come tell me all about it!

11 comments:

  1. Coni, such a cool stitch! You might take a look at the floss tube from a couple back from Colorado Cross Stitcher. She has Tanya from Scarlett House on showing how Tanya made her box. Tanya was one of the first to start the nutty craft we’re all now attempting 😂. Glad you’re enjoying your EGA. I’m just east of Indy, so enjoy pretty much the same weather as you. Love reading you🥰. Judy

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  2. Marilyn in San FranciscoOctober 27, 2023 at 7:47 PM

    mary@needlenthread.com has a great article on beads and beading today.

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  3. The first half inch or so of every “off-loom” beading project is usually the hardest, so don’t despair : ) It gets easier to tension and find a rhythm once you have enough to actually hold onto. Kurdy’s projects can be addictive; I’ve only finished two, but have three more in the queue…

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  4. Our weather dropped about 20 degrees during the course of the day. Time to get all the patio furniture packed away this weekend and some stitchy time worked into the weekend.

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  5. Beading isn't for everyone, but if you get the hang of it, you'll love it - and have another hobby competing for your time! I don't bead nearly as much as I'd like, but the projects still call out to me "when is it my turn?". For the tool/travel case, Colorado Cross Stitcher did a Floss Tube with Tonya Brockmeyer showing how they made them. Great video. Not sure what number but around August or so.

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  6. Solitaire is gorgeous. I love Threadles.

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  7. Kurdy at Threedles would be thrilled to see a photo of your finish! She loves hearing that her designs escaped spending eternity in the UFO closet. It is a lovely finish!

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  8. What a lovely finish on the Threadles piece, Coni! Enjoy the hockey game and hopefully the fall weather conditions will reappear. I am waiting patiently/impatiently for their return to my neck of the woods. Thinking of you!

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  9. Coni - I tried to find said bead board/tray on Amazon, but was not able to find it. Does it have a name or manufacturer? I have 5 stocking to bead in the VERY near future!

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    1. On amazon search for Bead Buddy Save and Go. Or you can search the Bead Buddy store also!

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