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Bead quilt tutorial


I didn't really ever plan to write up a tutorial on this piece, but since it was featured in Chapter two of Bored By Back Stitch (page 32), I've gotten too many requests to ignore.

I know it's not technically a quilt, but that's what I'm going to call it since traditional quilts were the inspiration.  Please don't yell at me about it!



1. Cut a piece of fabric just slightly larger than your final desired measurement to account for shrinkage while beading.  Cut and iron a lightweight fusible interfacing to the back.



2. I started by measuring off the central square and stitching its outline in, of all things, BACK STITCH!  See, I don't hate back stitch...I just want variety.




3. Next I added back stitched lines off to each side of the central square.  These were filled first...




4. ...one by bead embroidered herringbone stitch, which was then topped off by another back stitch line.




5. ...and the other side by bead embroidered peyote stitch, which was also topped off.




6. The next block was filled in with bead embroidered right angle weave.  This block did not end up being the top, but at the time I wasn't sure.




7. Starting from the middle, I worked bead embroidered chevrons out towards each edge.  See how they are taller than the block outline?  No problem: just make the lines longer!  I added short stacks between each stitch, but I didn't fill the central holes so that the fabric color would shine through.




8. I added free-standing bead embroidered chevrons to each corner and filled them to round them out.  See how uneven and wonky some of the black lines are?  Not to fear.  The next step is to run thread back and forth through all of them, adding beads where needed and filling the holes completely with thread.  This acts to straighten out the lines.


9. With the lines as straight as I can get them, the quilt was finished off by stitching a blanket stich border with embroidery floss and beads, and then stitching it invisibly to a piece of mat board.


Copyright 2014 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.


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Comments

DVArtist said…
This is very pretty. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Nicole/Beadwright
How sweet. Given that it's postcard size I assume you would have hang this on a wall in a grouping. Or do you have something else in mind, Cyndi?
Cyndi L said…
I just mounted it onto mat board and learned it against a vase :-)