Finishing touches

I am finished with beading the block for the Alliance for American Quilts, Crazy for Quilts contest. Which is also a fundraiser for the organization and all blocks entered will be auctioned off on EBay.
I have named the quilt Crazy for Beads and the block is 12" finished with a 2" border. I decided not to do any beading in the border and will add a beaded picot biding to the edge. I think the motifs and border fabric that I added to the block created a subtle Asian feel to the design that is quite pleasing.

What I did add over the past few days are some bugs. ever since I picked up a copy of Jane Nicholas Sumpwork Dragonflies and The Stumpwork, Goldwork and Surface Embroidery Beetle Collection and I have been wanting to incorporate some of these fancy bugs into my crazy quilts.

The bugs were a great way to fill in some of the empty space with out being too busy or another flower motif. Bugs and flowers go so well together anyway. First I added these little lady bug beads I have had in my stash for a few years. I used the gray beading thread to add the legs.


Next I really wanted to add a beetle. Jane creates some very realistic beetles in her book using leather and bead and various embroidery thread. I went for a generic beetle using a size 11 matte gray delica bead for the wings, size 15 beads for the red tail area, then some size 11 silver lined beads for the body and three size 11 iridescent beads to form the head. Again I use the gray beading thread to create the legs and antenna. I just love how he turned out.

The last bug I added was a bumble bee. I started by searching "bumble bee" and "honey bee" on google to check out some images of bees. I found a line drawing of a bee and realized it was the stripes combined with the shape of the wings that really identified the bug as a bee. This little guy was created using size 11 silver lined gray beads for the dark strips and a size 15 opaque pumpkin colored bead for the other stripe on the bee. The head is a size 6 black bead with the size 11 silver lined beads use to create the eyes. For the finishing touches I used black thread to create the wings, legs and antenna. The antenna are finished off with an iridescent purple delica bead on each tip. Again I am very pleased with how he turned out.

This block came together so beautifully and I am very excited to see where this treasure ends up.