April BJP--Robin's Egg Blue for Spring

If keeping up with this blog is an optional--no obligation--activity, why do I feel guilty about being a blog posting slacker? And why does the blog nag at me when I ignore it? Enough of the philosophical questions and on to the April BJP.

The April BJP was completed in May. I first blogged about it here in early April on the day we left for our super-fabulous trip to Turkey. At that time, I counted 32 different kinds of Robin's Egg Blue beads in the lower part of the piece. As far as I can tell without using a jeweler's loupe or making myself crazier than usual, I seem to have succeeded in making each column a different kind of bead. There are a few additional kinds of beads in the top part. I'm not going to count them mostly because I don't want to know exactly how many different kinds of beads I have in this color. Too embarrassing.

Technical Details:

The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with Dye-na-Flow, probably a combination of Azure Blue and Emerald Green.

Although we weren't going to discuss this further, I think there are close to forty different kinds of beads in this piece. An embarrassment of beads. The largest ones are five lentils. The smallest are 15/0s.

I used the backstitch and the stop stitch and a bit of couching in this piece.

The piece is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

I used size AA C-lon thread in turquoise.

What I Was Thinking:


This Robin's Egg Blue color is a nice color for spring. Robin's Egg Blue is definitely a 50s name for a color. My mother used to describe this shade of blue as Robin's Egg Blue. When our older grandson was about five, we found a robin's egg (already hatched) on the sidewalk in front of our house. It was this color. Finding an egg was very exciting so we brought it inside and put it on a table in the living room. He didn't take the egg home with him, so about a week later we disposed of it.

But seriously, I was thinking about the trip to Turkey--both before it and after it--as I stitched this piece. It was the Best Trip Ever!

Issues That Came Up:

I wrote in the earlier post about my Persistent Goal-Directed Behavior. I do suffer from it. I'll try to learn to embrace it.

And then there was the embarrassment of beads. Get a grip, woman!

The May BJP has been finished for several weeks and the June BJP is about 3/4 complete. Both are blue. Watch for another post in a day or two.

Blue Again for April

In the description of my March BJP, I admitted to having an embarrassingly large number of cobalt blue beads in my stash--so many that I couldn't find the space to use them all in my March project.

And then came April. No joke, I think I have a larger variety in this Robin's Egg Blue I am using. While the March cobalt blue piece had almost no variation in value, these Robin's Egg Blue do vary in value. Even the beads that show as silver or pearl have a Robin's Egg Blue cast.

When I began to see the pattern developing in this piece, Persistent Goal-Directed Behavior kicked in. At that point each column was constructed of different beads. I became determined to see if I could complete the entire lower part with each column different.

So far, so good. With the exception of the beads used as stop beads and spacers with bugle beads, each type of bead appears only once. That would be 32 different kinds of beads. I have three more spaces to fill, and I may be able to achieve my goal.

And what will the top part look like? I don't know, but it will be Robin's Egg Blue.

Note: No shopping was needed to make this piece. Well, no shopping in March or April.