Friday, March 28, 2008

Diaper Pattern and More Beads

Just taking a break from working - with beads, of course, today. Charts and text and all that stuff that goes with a little book re-write. Sometimes I think I should have left well enough alone - but I have progressed in skill and ideas since the first edition. Anyway, as my article on Diaper Pattern in the current issue of Needlepoint Now was apparently well received, I'm still playing with it - it fascinates me in that it can have so many looks, depending on fibers and accents used - and, of course, colors. The detail is from my TIF March piece, (which may or may not be finished before April 1, as I also have a painted canvas to do from the Peruvian Textile book) The discovery of how gorgeous the Petite Very Velvet thread is with the Kreinik Vintage gold braid led, of course, to another arrangement - an ornament in the same pattern - but with brighter colors. The drawing was put onto canvas first - you can see how it was divided into quarters to get the shape - something I haven't done before. Totally symmetric, but not just a plain diamond shape. I still see people struggling with the application of beads in small areas - making them look neat, and not jumbled seems to be an issue. I scanned a detail close-up to show my method, which is very very easy - takes very little time. Actually, it takes much less time than doing French knots!! The warp stitches are done with thread, and the beads are placed only on the little "dips" left by the weft. Rather than having a bumpy, crowded area of beads, it lies flat - and actually appears to be beaded solid - the light hits it and makes lots of sparkle!! On the detail you can clearly see the little areas where the warp stitches are - ready for the beads. I have a new web page look as of last night, and have now launched the diaper patterns as "e-patterns." This means they can be simply downloaded and printed out, rather than coming through the mail!! Do take a look here! Tish Watkins' sweet husband made the page for me - in his spare time from "saving lives" as a paramedic - and managing Tish's web page plus many others.

1 comment:

NCPat said...

I like the new colors together, and as always, excellent tips on seating the pesky beads!