Just a Thought

[Raphaela]

I am interested in bead embroidery, a beginning beader. After SharonB' online class 'A Personal Library of Stitches' I thought what about creating a 'Bead Embroidery Library' to which all of us could add? 

What I have in mind is a collection of photos of own work, of links to tutorials, interesting sites etc. according to topics covering one detail of bead embroidery at a time. Let's say basic embroidery stiches done with beads (chain stitch, feather stitch, ...) or beaded shapes (circles, spirals, ...) beaded nature elements (flowers, leaves ...), edges, fringes, beaded tassels, beaded beads, the use of buttons and beads, the use of  found objects in bead embroidery, stitching and beading combined or color blending with beads ... If we would cover one topic a month that should provide enough time to take some photos, give a link to our own blogs or sites or to other sites that have been useful to us. So over time we could create a collection for inspiration and reference, with a new thread for each topic (as the Stitch Junkies do) things would be in nice order and easy to find.

What do you think of it? Anyone interested?

[Virginia Burnett]

I like it. Are you just interested in bead embroidery or bead weaving (on & off loom) as well? A lot of bead weaving tricks/skills are directly applicable to embroidery - things like tension, managing thread length, etc...

[mary lou curry]

Hi Raphaela
Have you looked at Nancy Eha's website? She used embroidery stitches all the time for her seams on crazy quilting. I learned lots of neat tricks when she was at our guild doing two workshops. I have to confess that I have only used one technique several times with good success.
This is a great idea, good for you.
hugs
Mary Lou Curry

[Raphaela]

Thank you for your replies, Virginia Burnett and Mary Lou Curry. I am very pleased.

Mary Lou Curry, thank you for your hint. I haven't been on Nancy Eha's website for a while. Now she has even video tutorials for some stiches. So far I checked out the chain stitch tutorial only. I have tried beaded chain stitch in the past but did not return through the last bead when fastening the loop. Great trick. This will make the stitch easier to work, I think. Thank you.

Virginia Burnett, I have never done bead weaving so far. But I would not exclude something that I do not know about. I am interested in everything that can be included in bead embroidery, either directly stitched to cloth or worked separately and than attached. So why not bead weaving? And learning some tricks is always useful, I think, no matter where they originate from.

My intension is that we all together (or at least those who are interested) build a library. So of course anyone is invited to make suggestion of what should be included. Any idea is welcome.

[Elaine Wilding]

I love to bead on cloth. And a few weeks ago I found an old beading loom at a thrift store for a dollar what a find. It was a native american loom and even the instructions were with it. So, I am now going to try this. I love what beads add to a piece. They add such a shine and my work doesn't feel finished without beads.