A Time To Stitch 5 :: Same But Different

Therese and Christine are hosting another one of their famous bead weaving challenges called A Time To Stitch (#5 in the series) and this time we're focusing on using one stitch but creating variations on it.

I played around with several different stitches before settling on a simple flat spiral weave. I was actually hanging out with Christine when she showed me a simple stitch in a Beadwork issue and I realized that's it! I'll play around with this one.

That is one of the things I've learned from Christine; taking a simple stitch and playing with variations, and colors, and bead sizes, and bead shapes. She is a master at this and the theme this time has her name written all over it! Oh one of these times Christine you know we're going to do CRAW because we know how much Therese loves that stitch - LOL.

Ok, let's get started. The first set of beads I picked up were size 8s, or larger beads to use as the center anchor stitch. And then I picked up some fun brick red colored lentil beads with an off center hole. They made such a fun design with a 'paddle' look to it. I happened to have my apprentice in the shop with me (my daughter Anne) who loves to help with creating patterns or shooting photos. She was running around the yard picking up bits of nature to add to the photos, and so I let that name each piece. This one is then called 'wild strawberries.'

Next up I increased the size of the center anchor and pulled out these translucent celery colored tear drops. I love this color, and I miss it in the dead of winter when nothing outside is green. But Anne found the perfect reflection of it in this fern. You can see how the larger beads accentuate the curve in the spiral stitch for a piece called .... of course 'fern.'

I wanted to try yet another bead type for the accent, so this time I pulled out some dragon scale beads which can be tricky as you need to keep track of which direction they are going. Not always easy when you're beading in a spiral! In the 'fern' bracelet I blended the center anchor color and the accent beads, but in this one I wanted the center to stand out with it's own wave through the piece. So I pulled out silver which I really love with purple. Anne showed up with a fist full of 'wild flowers' for my photo and aptly named this one.  

For the finale I pulled out a beautiful wood focal pendant that Christine gifted me. It seemed perfect for my nature series, and I really just love its simplicity and beautiful tree blossom pattern. I wanted the pattern for this to look more like chain, so I went with smaller beads. I pulled out some cylinder rootbeer beads with a cat's eye finish. They felt like bits of branches to me, and so perfect to let the pendant be the star. I added small green-ish tear drops for the accent. It looks like a 'woodland blossom' branch to me, and a perfect way to finish my series in variations on flat spiral.

Please check out all the other bloggers participating in today's hop. Our hosts Therese and Christine. And all the rest of us: Kim, Maryanne, Lola, Dagi, Shirley, Alenka, LiliKrist, Amy, Crystie, Sally, Cynthia (that's me), Bobbie, Karin, LizE, Becky Pancake, Karin G., Ana, Wendy, Mary H. and Jasvanti