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Saturday, January 10, 2015

A Time To Stitch 6 : Charts

The first post of 2015!!! If not for this Hop, I am not sure when I would have posted again.  I am not highly motivated these cold, grey days in winter.   But here we all are, ready to Hop around, see some beautiful beads at this Using a Chart Event:


I decided to make a few 1.5x1.5" squares for the Bead-It-Forward charity that takes these little squares and turns them into little quilts, ornaments, and shadowboxes.  Once they are finished, they are auctioned off and all the proceeds go to Breast Cancer charities.   You can find the guidelines for donating here.  Amy of Amybeads now runs Bead-It-Forward and I used her free patterns.  They seemed like charts I could read.  And I could!  
One thing about reading charts, at least for me, was the S.L.O.W. pace of the project...that, and as Cynthia and I discussed for the picture graphs, there is no allowance for the occasional spirit bead!  There is not a more "oh deary, deary me" feeling than when you get 2/3 done with a little square and you see a mistake way back in row 6.  

When I set out to make some of the squares, I instantly grabbed size 10 delicas.  Still not sure why my mind went there, but it did.  Here is what my square looks like:

photographing beads with an AB finish is so AAARRRGGGHHH
When I measured it, it was larger than the guidelines required.  It took me way too long to figure out I needed to use size 11 delicas.  No excuses other than my brain stopped functioning for a few days.  So here is it along side the proper size delicas, so you can see the size difference:


Here are the next few I did, threads still on until I get them mounted on the Lacy's Stiff Stuff, as per the guidelines:





love this AB Matte!!!


All these dragonflies were done in 2 Drop Peyote.  I broke out of that and into Square Stitch to do a Hummingbird.  While the Square Stitch charts are easier to read since the rows line up perfectly, the piece takes longer to do and there is more thread visible.  Here is it held up to a snowy window ~ love the glow it gives :



And it laying flat (which is the last photo of the post so you can move on to the next person on the list ) :



Thank You to Amy for allowing us to use her patterns and for taking on Bead-It-Forward.
Thank you to my partner, Therese.  I couldn't be mildly organized for these hops and I wouldn't grow as a beader without you :-) 
And thanks to you guys who sign up for our challenges.  You make it fun and easy!  It's Just Beads, after all.

Please go see what all the other A Time To Stitch Sixers made:

23 comments:

Becky Pancake said...

Hi Christine, Great job on your squares. I am so pleased to see others doing this also. It is a project near to my heart as my Mom and sister have both had breast cancer. I too do squares for the Bead it forward quilts. I have for 6 years now and this year I brought it up to my bead group and several other members are also contributing. Than you for hosting this fun hop.

Pepita said...

Hi Christine, thank you for this addictive challenge. I was enjoying every minute of it :-) and can't wait the next one!!
It's great you are sending your pieces to Bead-it-Forward cause, cancer showed up too close to me and it's really a devastating desease.

Maryanne said...

Love your squares! It's interesting how different the size of the 10 and 11 Delicas is.
I hope you had a great holiday! Happy New Year! I've been thinking about you but I just can't get a handle on life right now! Stay warm!

Karin G said...

I love the idea of the squares to contribute a charity, your squares are lovely.
Thank you for this challenge.

Amy S. said...

I LOVE ALL THESE SQUARES!!!! What a great illustration of size 10 vs size 11. Christine, THANK YOU so much for hosting this fun challenge and especially for highlighting Bead-It-Forward. Every day I get more excited and more passionate about the project and this is just another example of things that get me excited! These all came out great and I can't wait to see them in person!

Paula, Chief Bead Officer said...

Hi Christine, I love your Bead-It-Forward squares. That hummingbird is just darling. And you may be on to something with the size 10 delica beads. Most of all, thanks again for hosting this challenge. It was a great way to kick off the beading new year!

AntiquityTravelers said...

It was fun to watch these in progress and they turned out wonderfully! And had to laugh to myself as I was reading your post that I didn't even get the size of the squares right as I thought they were 2x2? I really can't seem to stay in my swim lane for these squares! But you did with flying colors - LOL

This was a great challenge and always look forward to this hop with you and Therese! Thank you for hosting another challenge (to me)!

Kepi said...

Great pieces Christine, amazing how much size difference between the 10s and 11s, and what a great cause. Thank you so much and Therese too for hosting this hop...great fun!

Miss Val's Creations said...

Nice work on the squares Christine! The dragonflies are so sweet. Great cause too. I'm sure they will be much appreciated. I must agree photographing an AB finish is a pain in the ass. :)

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

These are awesome squares, Christine :) The cause is a great bonus!

Therese's Treasures said...

Hi Partner!
Well another successful ATTS challenge down. What to do next? I love your squares the color are so vibrant and the Hummingbird in square stitch came out beautifully I would do another on in size 10 delicas and make it into a sun catcher. It is amazing how much difference in size there is between the 10 and 11 delicas. I was thinking maybe you could decorate a small box with the size 10 Dragonfly. Thank you as always for being my partner in the ATTS challenges I could not do this right without you.
Therese

windrock studio said...

Thanks for sharing this about the Bead it Forward, that's wonderful and so are your squares! Wish I had more knowledge to contribute intelligently but me & beads, ya know?

kimmykats said...

I always love to see what you are up to.....one of these trips your way we are going to have to keep going till we get there! The drops I used were from you....I was using them no matter what! thanks so much for your flying missile help....sort of liking those little things!!

ACBeads said...

Hi Christine! Thank you so much for hosting this fun challenge. I love your Bead-it-Forward squares and I think you are more patient than me because I wouldn't venture myself in making one piece in square stitch.
All the best,
Ana

Karin Slaton said...

I just finished a lovely afternoon and evening hopping around to read the design stories of all today's participants. Thank you so much, Christine, for spurring us all to action. Loved reading about your oh-so-colorful dragonflies and learning about Bead-it-Forward. (I had the opposite seed bead problem, I accidentally started my design with a combination of 11's and 15's. My error didn't show up until the 4th row. Lots of frustrated row-ripping ensued!)

Your dragonfly outlined against the snowy window actually reminds me of spring - it could be skittering across the surface of the water. Dreaming of warmer days!

Lola said...

Love that dragonfly pattern and all the possible color combos! Beautiful! Happy New Year!

Wendy said...

they look brilliant! Delicas is definitely the right choice for peyote.

Bits of Learning said...

Christine! God love ya, doing square stitch! It seems to take forever to stitch. The peyote dragonfly look great in both the size 10 and size 11's and I love how the hummingbird looks like a stained glass piece when held up in front of the snowy (the cold and lack of sunny has been less then inspiring around here) window. THANK YOU so much for co-hosting another wonderful challenge!! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Liz said...

Love your dragonflies and hummingbirds. They will make great bead it forward squares. It's been such fun to look through all of the participant links. You ladies always throw a great party! I hope you don't give up on posting altogether, chase those winter blues away by making something colorful (something that sizzles to melt the snow!)

Kokopelli said...

I LOVE that hummingbird! My favorite of all the squares. Love how the light shining through makes it glow. Thanks for hosting this challenge.

Unknown said...

Dragon flies and humming birds! We're both having January summer yearnings. Word charts. Are you familiar with Wordle? Would love to see how you'd render a Wordle in beads! (Gauntlet thrown :-)

Unknown said...

Love your color choices! The slow pace of beadweaving is a major reason why I do bead embroidery. Plus, directions = ugh, for me. :)

Nelly May said...

Phwoar! Your squares are gorgeous! I admit being biased because I love all things dragonfly but your humming bird is a beauty too.

Thank you so much for including me in my favourate hop of the year xxxx

(Sorry it took so long for me to actually get to the hop - family stuff happening.)