Green Beaded Bangle

Even though I started with more planning for this bracelet, I wasn't very happy with it until it was nearly finished.  Once I decided to add the flowers, it finally came together. 

Here's my green beaded bangle:

top of bracelet

 

side A

side B

Blue Beaded Bangle

This bracelet (and another) have been UFOs for too long, but now this one is finished, and soon the other! 

It all started with an online class at Joggles, where we were taught the necessary skills, and then we needed to design our own cuff, and although I started with a plan, I let it evolve as I went.  Being worried it might not come out, I decided to make two, just in case one didn't turn out, I would be able to toss it and finish the other using lessons learned on the first (back-up plan / escape hatch...).  Having two in progress was great for a while, but then they had to be set aside while I worked on other things, and I kept moving them every time they were in the way.  Well, I finally decided I'd better get them finished so I could the beads away, and here's the blue one:

top of bracelet

side A

side B

Jewelry and Quilting

The second Figs and Ginger panel has been pieced!  After doubling my calculations and tallying up the squares needing to be cut, I looked at the cutting for one of the panels and found the number of pieces I need to cut are exactly the same as if I was making another panel from the book!  Of course, I won't be using all the blocks in the quilts, but still need to stack, cut and re-sort the decks in order to make the additional blocks I need.  I'm hoping I'll be able to make a coordinating pillow or two with the extra blocks.

On the jewelry side of things, I've been wire wrapping beads and made this set from copper wire and stone beads.

I'v

New Necklace

These beads have been in my stash for a while now, waiting for inspiration.   They could have become a bracelet with small jump rings between them, but I decided I'd rather have a necklace.  I made S links and a clasp, and then joined the links with pairs of twisted jump rings. 

More Jewelry

I'm still practicing my wire working skills, along with some other projects, even though I know I need to get back to the Figs and Ginger quilts which have been waiting for me.  I think I've finally learned to make decent eye pins, jump rings and beads with eyes at each side! 

I sorted my furnace glass beads by color and used all the odd ones in this necklace.  The mix of colors goes with most of my clothes, so I could easily wear it every day! 

The donut bracelet was probably started over a year ago, but I ran out of donuts and finally found more that would coordinate with those already wired onto the bracelet.  My large donuts had been lost in the house for a long time as well, and I have no idea what made me put them where I found them, I'm just happy I finally found them and had a large donut that would coordinate with my bracelet!

Another Bracelet!

Copper and furnace glass, what a beautiful combination!  I loved making this bracelet, and think I did a better job at scaling the jump rings and eye pins to a smaller, better size this time.  I still need to experiment with making the S clasp in a smaller size, as well as learning to make other types of clasps.

Wirework 101

This past Friday, I was able to take the beginning wirework class, Wirework 101, at Quiltworks Northwest, which is not just a quilt shop, but also contains a bead shop and is also my local Bernina dealer.  I tried working in copper and bronze and found these beads in their shop.  The tag says Howlite Mosaic Magnesite, and I thought they were the most beautiful beads! I managed to finish making this bracelet before I left:

I've still got a lot to learn, but loved the class, and have a new bracelet to wear!

Progress, and finished projects

A friend and I have had our baskets needing to have rims finished, so we decided to work together this week. Her quilt basket is finished, and my recycling basket is finally finished, thanks to Basketmaster Nancy and her Mini Muffin Basket pattern. You see, I didn't like the way the first rim came out (too wimpy for a large basket), so I ripped it back off. As my friend Cathy suggested, I began the rim again, but with #3 round reed (instead of #2 in the pattern directions), and it still seemed too soft for a large rim, so I unbraided it while it was still wet. I remembered that I had downloaded Nancy's Mini Muffin Basket pattern, and it had a similar rim, so I decided to use her directions. There were some differences, and it made all the difference! It now has a sturdy rim and I"m happy with my basket. Thank you Nancy!!!





It's the end of the school year, and I needed a teacher gift, so I decided that I'd make a bracelet for my son's teacher, since she seemed to really like the last one I had given her. The first one I made is the green bracelet, but I wasn't sure if it would be the right gift, and decided to make another, different bracelet and made the blue wire work and bead bracelet. I didn't have the exact size wire that the pattern I was working from called for, and had trouble with the thin wire (that I decided to use because I already had it) breaking as I was making the blue one, so although I'm happy with the way it looks, it will remain mine, and I just plan to fix it in the future, if necessary. Therefore, the teacher is receiving the green bracelet today - possibly as I write this blog entry:-)

While I had the bead and wire supplies out, my friend and I decided to make shawl pins. We ran out of time, but may get them finished when she comes over later today. Here's how mine looks now:

When I was on Whidbey Island yesterday, I found a cute border and ric-rac to use on my mesh tote. I'm not sure I'm going to use the magenta strap webbing now, so will dig through my stash and see if I can find something that will work better.

This warp has move much slower through the loom as the threads are much finer than the other projects I've made, and I need to stop every 6 repeats to change colors (I tried carrying the unused thread along the side, but didn't like the look). Yesterday when I checked to see how much warp was left, it looked like I was getting really close to the end, so I decided I would just go for it, and stay up until it was finished. Yes, I stayed up way past my bedtime, but look what I have to show for it, probably 4-5 yards of beautiful fabric. It's in the washer and I'll measure it when it's dry and pressed to see how much I have to make something with. [It was supposed to be kitchen towels, but I wove it as yardage so I could decide later.]

Giveaway reminder

Today is the last day to leave a comment and be entered to win one of these three:

Jewelry and Stone Donuts

Teri asked where I found the stone donuts - I found them at Fusion Beads in Seattle. They also have a website, and the website has newer products that are available before they arrive in the brick and mortar shop (I had gone there looking for beads in their newsletter, but they weren't there yet). You can find the donuts starting on this page of their site (in the New Products area of their site - near the bottom of the navigation menu).

Giveaway

In celebration of the blog award, I thought it might be a good time to offer a gift to those of you who not only read my blog, but take a minute to post a comment. Now in order for me to award it, you will need to provide me with your email address, so that I can contact you if you win, to get the mailing information (if you don't want to post it in the comment, you can provide it in a separate, private email. You have until Sept 26th to leave me a comment to be entered into a drawing to win your choice of one of the following:

Good luck to everyone!

Jewelry making

As you can tell, I've been busy making jewelry......

I love stone donuts, and here are just a couple things that can be done with them.

Green is one of my favorite colors to wear, goes with so much!

My bead version of a charm bracelet.

And a silver watch that can go with just about everything.