Category Archives: and Other Stuff

Beading Again

I tore myself away from quilting for a bit to make a couple of necklaces with some beautiful Hand Blown Glass Beads.  These are simple, but elegant necklaces strung on Bead Smith Flex-Rite Beading Wire.  Other beads include Seed Beads and Swarovski Crystals for some sparkle.

Beading is a great hobby; you can have so much fun with color and texture.  And, look, I have combined my quilting with the beading here by using some of my batiks as a backgrounds in my photos.

I have not done any beading in quite a while, but I remember the trial and error of finding just the right materials for jewelry making.  I always had good luck with Rio Grande tools and findings and I loved looking for vintage beads on eBay.  I  found inspiration from beading magazines and books.  200 Beading Tips, Techniques & Trade Secrets is a book available from Amazon.com that looks like it gives an excellent overview of the tools and techniques for someone just getting started with this hobby.  Also, Interweave publishes many excellent beading magazines and books, including several free e-books.

And, you might enjoy browsing around my Bead Stringing Site.  I started this back in 2001 when I took an HTML class at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.  Yes, the site is all hand written code.  No page generating tools were used for that site!  I have not added any content to  the site in years, but the site still gets a fair amount of traffic.  Using Word Press to publish blog posts is much more convenient, but knowing how to tweak things with HTML still comes in handy now and then!

New England Quilt Museum

Since I suddenly have a bit of time on my hand (day 10 of the Federal Government Shutdown) I decided to drive to Lowell to see the new exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum.  As I walked up the stairs to the gallery I was pleased to see two Denyse Schmidt quilts on display. This is so obvious in retrospect.  The name of the show is “Roots of Modern Quilting” and the quilts are from Denyse’s book “Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration”.  It would have been more interesting if Denyse’s quilts were in the same room as the two vintage 30’s quilts that are similar to hers.  But, I think the vintage quilts may be part of their permanent display and perhaps that is why they asked Denyse if they could show her two quilts. Perhaps you will notice them in the photos I took which can be viewed HERE.

Later I came across a quilt by Jen Sorenson which I recognized because we are both members of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild.   Her quilt is a modern hexagon quilt and there was a similar vintage quilt on the opposing wall … in solids, not the typical Grandmother’s Garden colors and layout.  Look for these in my photos, as well.

Seeing these Modern quilts next to the vintage/antique quilts makes me wonder … what is the difference between a modern quilt and a contemporary quilt?