Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A Time to Stitch :: Flat & Spiral Stitches

Well today is the day for the final reveal of our Time to Stitch pieces using both flat and spiral bead weaving. Therese and Christine asked us to pick one flat stitch (either ladder or brick) and one spiral (either Russian spiral or Cellini). The only stitch I had done before was Russian spiral, so most of these were new to me. 

I really wanted to try them all as they are ones that I've had trouble with in the past. Lucky for me, Christine and I had planned to meet up and she so nicely agreed to give me a live tutorial on both flat stitches. I've been practicing for several weeks now, and I feel like these are now comfortably in my stable of bead weaving options. If you've been stopping by my blog in the last week you'll have seen all of these stitches in the pieces I've been posting.

One thing I wanted to try was a beaded bead. I decided to give it a try with Russian spiral. This Native American inspired necklace uses 4 Russian spiral beaded beads. I also used some custom cut wood feathers that my friend Edi made for me. They just seemed to fit this pattern using a large wood focal, wood round beads and a wood button closure. I have had so much fun with this wood focal that Christine gifted me. This is the second of 2 pieces that I have made, and there is a third! It's in progress, so I hope to post that within the next few weeks. 

Yesterday I showed you some of the closures from all the bracelets I've been working on. This last piece is the one I showed yesterday with the large wood and shell button. The stitch is ladder with a picot fringe. I also used some polymer clay shells I got from pjBeads. I just love her beads! I wanted this bracelet to have a soft weave to it with a tone on tone color. The bracelet has a relax feel around the wrist. So that's it for my week-long bead weaving extravaganza! And now it's time to see what everyone else created for Therese and Christine's hop.

Therese Frank                   Christine Altmiller                  Maryanne Gross
Cynthia Machata                Bobbie Rafferty                    Katherine Gale
Sally Russick                      Niky                                        Alenka                                      
Kim Hora                            Karin Slaton                           Shirley Moore
Tami Norris                         Amy Severino                       Alicia Marinache
Lola Surwillo                       Mandy Duffy                           Kristen Stevens

36 comments:

  1. Hi Cynthia,
    You did an amazing job with all of the stitches you chose to do. I love the Russian spiral beaded bead necklace it is gorgeous and the bracelet is gorgeous also. Thank you for participating in mine and Christine's challenge.
    Therese

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  2. wow I can't imagine how much work you've put into these pieces. You so own the tribal look with these, amazing. Love how the bracelet turned out too.

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  3. Oh my goodness, these are breathtaking! Love how you're using what you've learned.

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  4. Cynthia, your pieces are beautiful, I love your beaded beads, the whole necklace is such a great design as is your bracelet, you must have spent so much time on your pieces and it really shows!

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  5. All I can say is WOW! You are a true artist as each piece is drop dead gorgeous! I am jealous that you met with Christine, too! You inspire me!

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  6. Wowee! These pieces are amazing! Congratulations on some great work!

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  7. Great work...love this piece! And I love how you incorporated the feathers!

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  8. You so knocked it outta the park Cynthia! Love, love, love the necklace with the russian beaded beads. The feathers are beautiful too!
    That bracelet is just a picture of beauty! What a great way to show off ladder stitch, adding the picots.
    And, yes, I am jealous that you and Christine got to hang out! :)

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  9. Oh my you have been busy learning! Your necklace is so beautiful. I have enjoyed your posts this last week as you revealed your work. I thought about beaded beads too and then once I got going just kept on beading.... It is always such a pleasure to learn along with you.

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  10. Cynthia, what a fabulous idea to make beaded beads from the Russian spiral! It really lends itself well to this, and the necklace is just wonderful - earthy and tribal and summery and delightful. Same for your bracelet, with its elegant muted color palette and spectacular closure. Thanks for taking us on the journey as you worked with all the stitches!

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  11. I want to live inside this page.
    I cannot even form the words about what you made and how much I truly am blown away by your talent and vision. Those Feathers I know so well! With that Focal I knew you would be brilliant with. With those so colorful and beautiful beaded beads. And then the bracelet~I still cannot believe those are not real shells! And your multi-strand ladder, picot is luxurious and has a absolutely beautiful drape. That button/focal is perfect~hard to know which side to feature. You are so So good at whatever it is you decide to do. Thanks so much for all your inspiration and for being a part of this :-)

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  12. Wow I have been so inspired by your posts this week featuring the many stitches. Now today you go and blow us away with this! I love the tribal/Boho feel - it is very much what I am into lately. You have so much talent and the final pieces are stunning in color, design and elements used.

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  13. I love that bracelet! Your work is so gorgeous and every piece is so unique! I love the stories behind them too!

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  14. You are amazing! Have enjoyed following you all week, its been a fabulous journey!

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  15. Very cool! They look like they took forever!

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  16. Those are so pretty!! I couldn't imagine the amount of time you put into making them.

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  17. These are some pretty amazing pieces! I agree with you that the wood feathers from Edi fit your piece very well.

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  18. These pieces are gorgeous! Very well done. I'm stopping by from the Thursday's Favorite Things blog hop. I'd love for you to visit my blog if you get the chance. Hope you're having a fabulous week!

    xo,
    Stephanie
    Diary of a Debutante
    www.stephanieziajka.blogspot.com

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  19. Gorgeous! This is a fantastic idea! This would be great to link-up to my Create It Thursday post...it's live now! http://www.lambertslately.com/2013/05/create-it-thursday-2-plus-features.html

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  20. Beautiful! These are so intricate!

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  21. Wow! Cynthia, these are fabulous! That necklace with Edi's wood feathers is a masterpiece :)

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  22. I love the designs those wood focals have inspired. The feathers and vivid colors in the beaded beads add interest and flair. I can see wearing this necklace with a t-shirt and blazer...or an all-black outfit. Yum!!!

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  23. Absolutely Beautiful Jewelry. I love the uniqueness of your pieces. My Fav the spiral

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  24. Amazing pieces! your hard work paid off! :)

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  25. All your pieces are beautiful! I love what you did with them! Thanks for the comments on my blog. I appreciate it.

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  26. Hi Cynthia, those are really gorgeous!!! I've admired also the other pieces you've showed in previous posts. You've taken this challenge and made it a great display of your work. Really well done!

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  27. Cynthia, everything is fabulous! The Russian spiral beads are so beautifully done. Edi's feathers look so fun dangling. I love that last bracelet with all the neutrals. The polymer shells are so sweet. :)

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  28. Cynthia, WOW!! I scrolled through your week of beadweaving and boy, oh boy have you been busy. Each piece is so unique and the color palettes and composition of the designs are fantastic. Dear Lord, did you lock yourself away in a room for a few weeks? You have accomplished so much, WOW! It was agony just for me to get through the cellini spiral and you stitched yourself up a whole week of projects :) GOOD FOR YOU!

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  29. Everything you have shown today is amazingly beautiful!! Love it all!!

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  30. Cynthia. Your pieces are all great. Your designs are very creative. My favorite is the first piece with the wood leaves fringe. It's great that you learned new stitches.

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  31. You have certainly mastered those new stitches! Everything is lovely, including that gorgeous wood/shell bead!

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  32. Oh la la!! I love every piece, specially the Native American necklace. The contrast of the bone colors with those fabulous wood feathers is so pleasing to my eye!

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  33. Wow Cynthia! Your designs are amazing! I'm a huge fan of beaded beads and that's the first thing I thought of as I started working with the Russian spiral, but the stitch was so zen I couldn't stop myself! I love the colors you used and the end result. Fantastic as always!!!

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  34. I'm not really a fan of beaded jewelry, but these pieces are just amazing!!! Very beautiful!
    I'm your newest follower!

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