Saturday, March 13, 2010

Mornin', ladies!

Hope all of you are well and stitching like crazy!

I joined the Bead Journal Project (BJP) this year, just to see what I can do with it. I wanted to keep it in the Crazy Quilt realm, since that is my favorite thing to do. First I needed to do the piecing on something a bit sturdier than just muslin in order to hold the beads well. I found a dress of Ultrasuede at Goodwill and decided it would be perfect for my needs. After cutting out the seams I had enough to make 12 8" squares for backing. When finished, each block should end up right at 6", which will make a nice size wall hanging.

Now that I had the backing and size determined, I needed a theme. I spent nearly the entire month of January coming up with and discarding various ideas. I've been wanting to do a rainbow or color wheel quilt for awhile, so that's where I finally ended up. The 12 months of the BJP will work perfectly with the 12 colors of the traditional color wheel. So, these are the 12 colors I'll be working with:
Color wheel

Taking a lead from others working the BJP, I printed out the color wheel, cut it in wedges and taped them on cards. I put them all in a box and blindly chose one for each of the 12 months. Here are the first 4 months of 2010:
Fabric Jan-Apr
January = Violet
February = Blue
March = Blue-green
April = Red

Another challenge I set myself was to use only stash items for both the fabric and the beads. I have since modifed that to allow myself to buy from Goodwill as long as the items are already discounted since my fabric stash was a little thin in an area or two.

Anyhoo, on to January. Here is the first pieced square, in Violet on light blue ultrasuede.
Jan block pieced
I love the center fabric! I decided I wanted to make it a fairly traditional block, so I did the seam treatments all in beads, here are some progress shots for your perusal:

Jan Beading begun
First seam treatments with sequins as a base for short stacks, a ruffled seam and a fan.

Jan block more beading
Next came some intertwining lines of beads, a not very successful bugle bead set, some beads treated as cabochons and the beginnings of a fringed seam in the top right corner.

And here is the finished block for January:
Jan block finished?
The finished fringe on the upper right, more intertwined bead lines on the left, another fan, a flower and the lower right beads increased to a "shield."

I'm not sure how successful this block is; however, I'm viewing these 12 blocks as a major learning experience so to me it doesn't need to be a full success in order for me to learn something from it. I want to learn Robin's techniques and adapt them to crazy quilting. I imagine that as the year goes on, each block will teach me more and become more fully rounded as a "bead embroidery."

Although you can get up close and personal by clicking to embiggen each photo, I thought I would include a couple of close-ups here in case you are tired of clicking. ;0)

Jan block detail 1

Jan block detail 2

Jan block detail 3

I'd appreciate your comments and thoughts on my first BJP piece.

12 comments:

Rian said...

Well, I can say this--It's knockin' my socks off! You are off to a terrific start!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

This is definitely up to your usual standard of WOW!! I am going to anxious to see what you create each month.
Carol

Crazy Mama said...

it's bright, so richly saturated in violet, and the complementary yellow just really sets it off!

allie aller said...

This is magnificent, Marty! Beautiful as always...! Glad to see your post today. It has been too long!

How is that ultrasuede to stitch through, by the way?

Betty said...

WOW, I love it.

sydsider said...

Worth the wait. Stunning!

bubbygigi said...

I love your January block and the idea of doing a crazy quilt. That format fits into the BJP so well and you do it superbly. Crazy quilting is also one of my loves and I hope to improve my skills by watching what you do. Bubbygigi

Anonymous said...

I sit with a crazy quilt group once per month, they would go crazy for this project! Right, bubbygigi?
It's beautiful!

Susan Elliott said...

It's a beautiful beginning Marty and the idea of a color wheel is a great one as well as wanting to learn something new and adapt it to what you already know and love. I believe you will learn many things this year on your journey...I wonder what they will be?

Reading your post, reminded me of how I felt when I began my first bjp. And I learned way more than I could have imagined. I do know, for certain, that the journey is the point. To beading beautiful beginnings Marty...and to you,
Susan

Marty S said...

Wonderful! I'm crazy about it! (Sorry, I couldn't help it...)
Marty S
Crackpot Beader

Robin said...

I'm crazy for your colorc, for the perfection of violet, for the complimentary color of yellow, for the fans, for all the techniques used and yet it doesn't scream that it's about technique. You are an accomplished CQer and this new direction will surely develop and broaden your already considerable skills! Bravo!

Robin A.

Robin said...

PS. I just read the other comments and noticed that Alli asked how you like stitching through the ultrasuede.

I'm curious too, because I basically don't like it at all. If you find it difficult too, you might try a stiff woven fabric as the stabilizer... maybe denim...

Robin A.