A Good Start For February

I've got a good start on my February BJP. It's not going to be finished by the end of the month. After all, there are only about 9 hours left. Ok, I could finish it by the end of the month. But between now and midnight, I've got a few other things on my schedule, and they take precedence.

Like eating. And sleeping. And typing this post...

I have to say, however, that February has been a very productive month. You can see the little white doll I made in the post below. And there were a couple of other creative projects I completed.

And there were what seemed like lots of extra meetings this month. They were all worthwhile, but they took time and preparation. And none of them were cancelled because of bad weather.

And an extra exercise class twice a week--also worthwhile.

And some good books.

And I'm getting ready to teach a class on Beaded Edgings and Fringe next week at our Fiber Arts Guild.

And there's an amazing social event coming up this weekend.

And someone needs a Hope Stone so I'll put that together before I finish February.

You'd think that with the extra day in February this year, I could get the BJP finished. But February is still two days shorter than January and March.

This is not my only adventure with tardiness. You can read about my February 2009 BJP here and here.

You probably noticed that I did not blame an excess of vacuuming for taking away my beading time. No excess of dusting, either.

White Doll Finished!

I finished the white doll last weekend. She doesn't have a name yet. She has gone on a little trip with two of her girlfriends, Little Greeny and It's Not Easy Being Red. I hope that they'll find a name for the white doll on their journey. I expect them back the end of May. Road trip with the girlfriends! It sounds like fun!

Here's Little Greeny:


And here's It's Not Easy Being Red:


The little girlfriends really haven't gone that far away. They're at Second Reformed Church in Zeeland for a fiber arts show. I'll go over to visit them next week, after they get settled.

White Doll Front Completed

The front of the White Doll is finished! She now has a face, but she has no name. She'll find her name in her own good time.

It's very important for a doll to have a heart. Hers is a Swarovski crystal.

The next step in the process is to attach the back to the front of the doll. Then I'll stuff it with fiberfill. I'll finish the stitched together edges with a beaded picot stitch.

I haven't decided whether or not to add beaded hair. The back of the doll is not beaded. She could have hair just around the edges of her head or hair completely covering the back of her head. I do not intend to bead the rest of the back of the doll.

Any suggestions for a hairstyle?

If I Only Had A Face...

If I only had a face,
I could smile.
I could talk.
I could laugh.
I could cry.
I could hum.
I could sing.
I would sing.

Folly? Or Not? BJP January 2012

It's a new year. A fresh start. A new beginning. White beads symbolize this new start to a new year.

But is it folly to think that we can begin again with each new year?

Technical Details:
The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff.

This piece includes 15/0s, 11/0s, 10/0s, 8/0s, and 6/0s, hexes, cubes and bugles. More than 25 different kinds of beads were used.

Stitches used are the backstitch, the stop stitch, couching, and some fringe.

The piece is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

White Nymo thread in size D was used.

What I Was Thinking:
To what degree can we start fresh at the beginning of each year? Does This is the first day of the rest of my life make any sense at all?

If we could start anew each January 1, would we really want to?

If we decide we can't start fresh, are we admitting defeat?

Or can we pick and choose what we carry over from the previous year?

Is it folly to think that we have any choice in this at all?

I've thought about this issue before. You can see my January 2010 page here. I don't think I've changed my mind in the past two years.

Issues That Came Up:
I used the beading thread I picked up at the dumpster diving place for ten cents a bobbin. It's labeled Belding Corticelli and for all practical purposes, it's Nymo. My research showed that Belding Corticelli makes Nymo. My guess is that the production has improved since this particular thread was made. I found that lubricating the thread with Thread Heaven helped limit the fraying.

My 2012 BJP pieces are 2.25 inches by 3 inches. For the past two years, my pieces were 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. I wanted to make my 2012 pieced a little smaller so I would have more time to work on other beading projects. It doesn't sound like much of a difference, but the earlier pieces are 8.75 square inches and this year's pieces are 6.75 square inches. That's significant.

I started this piece by making the three quarter-circle corner sections. Then I made part of the frame, followed by the "branch of flowers." That's where I got stuck. I liked it, but I needed to fill in the background. This had happened before, and I did not enjoy trying to fill in the background. You can see that project here. So I ripped out the branch of flowers, completed the background, and put the branch of flowers back on.

It was really difficult to get a good picture of this white piece. It looks better in person. I'd show you, but it seems to be hiding at the present moment. It will reappear in it's own good time so it's probably not necessary to do any radical cleaning.

And with the spare time from the smaller piece I've made a very good start on the little white doll.

UFOs or USPs? And Who Will See My Lining?

My sewing group is having a UFO challenge. We're challenged to finish as many UFOs (unfinished objects) as we can during January, February and the first part of March. There may be prizes!

I don't have a huge number of UFOs--or at least I don't have a huge number of UFOs that I want to work on this winter. I may be competitive when prizes are involved, but there's a limit! My UFOs are unfinished for good reasons. Really good reasons.

But I do have a number--an adequate number--a significant number--a substantial number--an embarrassing number--of USPs. Unstarted projects.

These USPs are projects for which I have the idea, the fabric, the pattern, or at least two of those three. Some of my USPs may be almost vintage USPs. Last winter I completed a nearly vintage project, a lap quilt called Fabric in its Prime.

My first USP was a pair of navy corduroy slacks. Nothing fancy--pockets, front zipper, belt loops. I purchased the fabric last fall so I could replace some slacks that were getting rather worn.

My second USP is a white beaded doll. I've made two white dolls before. You can see the first one in this post. She was sold. The second one was given away. This is what she looks like. But I wanted a white doll for myself so I decided to make one. She's about half beaded.

My third USP is a purple corduroy jeans-style jacket. I've used this pattern McCalls 5191 twice before. Each time I make a few more alterations, but it's a fairly loose fitting jacket. I leave off the pockets which are right below the yoke.

The pattern does not call for a lining, but I'm not crazy about raw edges on the inside of a jacket. My first jacket was made of cotton with a little spandex. I made flat felled seams instead of the topstitched seams called for in the pattern. I bound the edges of the facings with a quilting cotton. My second jacket was made of a mid-wale corduroy. It was too thick to make flat felled seams without big lumps. So I lined it.

This third jacket is made from a fine wale corduroy that is somewhat heavy. So I decided to line it, too. It has a rather bright lining. Make that a fantastically loud lining. Purple, red, fuchsia, blue, green, yellow, orange, even metallic gold. Perfect for a purple jacket. But who will see this lining? No one, unless the laundry elves come in at night. Who will see it? You will, because it's right here:

Starting on January BJP

I've been working on my January 2012 Bead Journal Project. After a bit of embroidery, I felt the need to edit, to revise, to modify. So I did.

This is before:



This is after:



Yep. I ripped some beading out. See those tiny dark spots in the photo above? They are the holes in the Lacy's Stiff Stuff where the needle and thread went through. The thread is gone, but the beads the thread was holding on are in a very small plastic bag. I'll put them back on starting tomorrow, and I'll use the before picture to put them in approximately the same places.

But what happened in the meantime? What happened after I ripped the beads out? You'll have to come back in a few days to see the final result.