What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Interesting!

I wonder, how many beads are there?

Still interesting, and not as many beads.

These designs are much easier than they look thanks to fusible webbing, and can be stitched by hand or machine.

Beads again, and I am back home again after a week with 30 like minded friends, old and new, sometimes stitching, sometimes talking, and often laughing.

The shape of the beads in these designs is my favourite applique shape … simple in itself, but can be used to create an unlimited selection of designs on projects from a pot holder to a king size quilt.

This project file was started so Icould try to find some interesting ways to turn straight Strings of Beads around corners, and grew to include not so simple strings.

The collection of corners kept growing to connect a wide variety of strings.

The shapes of the beads would be hard work at each end of every bead if you chose to do needle turn applique by hand, but I didn’t even try making String of Beads quilts until fusible webbing hit the market, and I have done them by machine and by hand.

Nice one!

The colour of the border/binding makes it look like it has just been added to a very old and faded quilt!

I do like the old part of the quilt though!

Simple, applique and quilting … love it!

Forgot to add quilting to the border! Sorry!

I love playing with these simple leaf shapes, and though I have been sidelined by mixed bead shapes as well, today’s designs today have just the one shape.

Who really needs lots of different shapes when one shape in a variety of fabrics can be arranged like the second design?

I like it.

Much more interesting!

Looks like somebody has been playing with a bead collection, and the results look good.

I think the first one is the winner by a narrow margin.

Interesting mix, Christmas or not!

Love the second design!

The making one of these is much more enticing since the introduction of fusible webbing, and scan and cutting machines. The hardest decision is will I do the stitching by hand or machine.

Love the outer row of blocks in the second design!

The first design almost looks like flashing lights.

I need more strings of beads to drape around a Christmas tree! Great replacement for tinsel.

Nice, but missing something.

That’s better.

One simple applique shape … so many ways to add them to a quilt.

Love the second design today …. love the way the blocks came together to form frames around the clusters of beads on four of the blocks.

I like it.

If only I could keep my strings of beads, chains holding pendants in my jewelry box in such attractive tangles!

I love it …though I have to admit that I love pretty much every String of Beads design I have found anywhere, right from the first time I saw a blurry black and white picture of the basic block.

I guess you know I love the second one too.

Nice one, and it brings back memories of being allowed to play with button boxes when I was little … by my Mum and grandmother on dad’s side of the family. Scattered amongst the buttons were beads, and some of them were pearls.

Love the quilting in the second design.

This project file started when I wanted to find ways to turn corners of beaded corners … it continues to grow several years later. A single straight line of beads can turn a corner without any embellishment, but it is much more fun to add a little cluster of some sort.

Of course, it is much more interesting to tangle up the beads along the whole length of the border too.

Interesting, but think the blocks in the middle would look better surrounding the fan blocks around them.

Love the second design as it is!

Gran’s New Beads are a very mixed bag of beads … round, diamonds, teardrops, ovals … and they form strings and clusters, both for applique and quilting designs.

Tangled up together they make Strings of Beads, Double Wedding Rings, clusters and starbursts and pretty much anything you like.

I love the first design.

Enough beads to be interesting, but with some open spaces for some equally interesting quilting.

I love the second one too … find a heap of colorful but close matching fabrics, and start cutting, and place on a neutral background!