Update on March

I feel sad to realize how long it is taking me to finish up my monthly Bead Journals. But I am determined to finish each month and complete my set of 12 pieces. I have all my sketches done, bases ready and beads selected...just need more beading time.
I am slowly working on finishing March and am anxious to get to October's, which is now calling to me after a year of silence...which is annoying!
Anyway, back to March's BJP....this is how the central swirl looks today. I started this piece when I was beginning a new job, and I have since left that job. I worked there for almost a year but found it too much to handle with all my other responsibilities. This seems to be reflected in the how busy this thing is looking!
I have no idea where this piece has ever been going, but every time I pick it up I seem to know the next thing I want to do. This is how it is looking at the moment. On the computer screen it looks a little bit like an octopus!

Back to beading

Oh dear...my poor neglected BJP blog! I am finally back to beading more these days. It is a relief because a) I am so far behind and desperate to make some progress and b) I love beading so much!

I am trying to finish up my 2007/2008 series so that I can get on to my next (much smaller in size!) series.

Here is the progress I have made with March.

It was amazing to me coming back to this project after such a long period of time away, how all the feelings I had associated with the beginning of this piece came flooding back....such as, my anxiety about starting the new job, wondering if it was the "right" thing and where it might lead.

It reminded me of my love of "starting" things, the excitement about birthing something new, the potential for creativity and growth.

I started the beading by sewing on a turquoise bead in the centre of each blob that had that colour painted on the original fabric painted base. I think there were 8 of those.

I have read that the colour turquoise represents life, abundant growth, renewal of life and energy...interesting for starting any new job, and this job in particular.

Then I started beading around the turquoise beads in circles of purple beads.

Starting March

March was a very busy month for me as I started my 3rd part time job. It always makes me smile when people talk about me working part time, since I work more than full time hours over my 3 jobs. I wish I wouldn't be bored with just one job, but that's the way I am.

So this new job is a 2 day a week contract at the Health Centre working primarily with new Moms having post partum depression. When I was looking for a fabric in my pile of painted pieces, this one jumped out. To me it looks like tiny fetuses and I thought it would be perfect for this new beginning, especially a new job with babies.

So I cut out a 8 1/2" x 11" piece and started auditioning threads to do the machine quilting. Looks like I'm using blues (the words "baby blues" just came to mind!) and purples.

Then I started the machine quilting, which when it goes well (as it did on this little piece) is very relaxing and fun. I enjoyed quilting around the purple blobs and doing some fun little things in the centres in blue thread.

Now I'm ready to start the beading.

Finally finished February

I am so happy to be finished with February. It was lots of fun but the pressure of finishing all 12 pieces before September has been weighing on my mind. I fixed the two issues that were bothering me about this piece. First I beaded a loop over the line of bugle beads that I didn't like, which softened up the appearance of that line. I used the same beads as in the line beside it and that seemed to help it blend in better.

Then I added 10 beautiful Swarovski Margarita beads that I bought last fall. I had used some on my September piece and found these pink ones in my bead stash recently. They were perfect for filling in some of the empty spaces, like the corners. I really like the look of the top left corner here. I like how you can see the machine and hand quilting lines, and the beaded lines. Very pretty, if I do say so myself!

Here is the finished February...

And now I can move on to March. I have had the fabric picked out since March, so I can dive right into the thread auditioning and machine quilting. I love starting a new project!

Still February?!?!

I cannot believe I am still working on February!!!
I finally finished the beaded loop edging and am happy with how that turned out. I was starting to be excited about finishing up February and sewing on the hanging sleeve. But then I started not liking the solid line below the purple sequins. I don't know why I don't like it now, since I liked it before? I don't know why this page won't just be done! Maybe the line is too definate or not the right colour? Now I have to think of how to fix that line. I'm sure my old friend Martina would have something to say about that. Here is what I wrote about her last year - click here. I went back and read what I wrote and was reminded once again to enjoy the journey, and not be so focused on the outcome.

Beading Tortoise

Do you know the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare? (Click here to read it.) I am the Beading Tortoise! One of my favorite sayings is "slow and steady wins the race". Not that the BJP is a race, but I am up against a deadline and starting to feel like I must hurry and not enjoy myself as much.

I have greatly enjoyed working on my February piece. I love the colours and the swirls, although I do remember saying way back in June that I didn't want to bead more swirls!! Maybe practise has helped me like them more. Although the end of this piece is in sight, I always tend to dawdle near to the end, since I don't want it to be over. My logical brain says "get on with it" and my emotional brain wants to soak up every last bit of the beading. Kind of like when I finish a great novel in which I loved the characters and am not ready to open a new book or get to know any new characters yet!

Anyway, I have finished the hardest step for me and that is turning the outside edges in and slip stitching the edge closed in a straight, neat fold. It's the "straight" part that is difficult. But I remind myself that it is hand made, not a perfect machine made edging, and is supposed to have character (ie. be crooked!).

Can you see the little pink snowflakes on either side?!? It snowed at the beginning, all throughout the month, right through to the end of February - mountains of snow. This is a carry over technique from my December piece (still unfinished because I am uninspired to work with red and green now!) and my January piece in which I had 6 beaded snowflakes.

I have also finished the hand quilting part to hold the layers together. I took a photo (near a sunny window to show the contours) of the back so you can see how much hand stitching I do on each piece.

Still working on February

I am moving along at a turtle's pace on finishing February, but enjoying the process. I first posted my background fabric choice and quilting in February - click here. And in all the time I have spent looking at it and beading it, I didn't notice that dark painted line that starts behind the top left heart swirl - how odd!!
Oh well, the photo update isn't very good quality, but you get the drift of where this piece is going.
I don't think I have done much with sequins in the BJP series, but I do enjoy them and have had fun with the road of beaded sequins that were the perfect colour.
I couldn't resist adding a pink snowflake, and am still thinking about making one or two more since February was such a snowy month (click here)!!
March is calling me very loudly - saying "hurry up, let's get this show on the road"! But I'm not quite ready to move on yet, so I'll spend a few more evenings with February.