Off loom project

In keeping with my pledge to work on all my unfinished projects, I'm posting one of my off loom beadweaving pieces.  Off loom is stitches like peyote, two drop peyote, herringbone, etc.  So here's my project:

Betcha can't guess who this is?

Yup, it's Merlin!  I'm doing this picture of Merlie in two drop peyote.  All I have so far are his ears. 

When I am finished with this, Merlin will be twice immortalized in beads!

 

Finish and Update!

It's been a while since I've blogged.  Didn't realize that until now.  Honestly, beading has been sort of lagging because of my work on quilts, but it's been hot this weekend.  Too hot and humid to sit upstairs and sew.  

So, I finished my black, red, white, silver bead embroidered bracelet.

This is my favorite bead embroidered bracelet to date!  

AND...I did some work on Fanny Fandango, my bead enhanced doll.  

 Her hair is made from the threads I collected from ripping fabric to make crocheted rugs.  I have a bunch left...maybe for my next doll?  I don't have much more to do on Fanny.  Her arms and legs need some attention and I've made her paper clay high heels I need to paint red and glue on her feet.

Beaded Dolls

Remember her?

Probably not....She's Griselda, my Nifty Fifty doll...I made her to celebrate my 50th birthday almost three years ago.   And when I finished Griselda I started on her BFF, Fanny Fandango:

 At some point, I ran out of ideas for Fanny, and she languished around the beading area half-conceived, half abandoned.  I placed on the end table near the couch recently so I could look at her periodically to see if anything revealed itself.   Last weekend, I put a few beads on her...quite a few actually...and this morning I got an idea of how to do her hair and how to decorate her legs.  Here's what Fanny looks like today:

Her hair won't look like that, I was just trying materials t o see if I want something other than just beads.  I do.  The strings you see are leftovers from ripping and crocheting cloth into rugs.  I figure I might as well use it and it seems to suit Fanny's outrageous personality. I won't spill my ideas for her legs as I need to do some testing to see if I'll like what I think I'll do.  But, at least Fanny is getting attention.  Poor old girl has been very patient, she deserves to be finished.

Citrus Punch Bead Embroidered Cuff

Finally finished a bead embroidered cuff that I've been working on for AGES.  I call it Citrus Punch.

Not the best side pictures, but you get the idea.  I used my own glass cabochons created in my own kiln and various yellow and red beads.  I've noticed that a lot of my cuffs are red/yellow/orange...tired of those colors.  So, my next cuff is black, white and red with silver accents.  It's a very commanding piece!  I'm about halfway done with it, so maybe pictures the end of this weekend. 

Update

After I finished Merlie's tapestry, I took a break from bead weaving on the loom. Then I started a new project on my loom.  It's this pattern:

 It's from a picture I took in Rome in 2008.  It's a manageable 9" by 9", so I'm not worried about finishing it.

This is what it looks like now:

 


And then there is the Red Victorian Lady.  According to the photos I have, I haven't worked on her since Nov 2011.  

She's a huge project and it takes at least an hour to do one row if I don't make mistakes.   I am determined to finish her.  The question is when.  


Generally speaking after 10 hrs at work, I don't have time to quilt or sew when I get home.  But, I do have time to work on a row or two from these two projects and work a little on my beaded embroidered cuffs.  Those are going to be my projects during the week and I'll sew on the weekends.
 

FINISHED!

Well, it's a little behind schedule, but it's finished!  Merlie is now immortalized in beads!
I'm going to back it with felt and sew it on to a piece of coordinating fabric with batting behind it.  Then I'll find a frame to put it all in.


And here he is:

15 more rows for Merlie Beaded Tapestry

Not much left to do on Merlie Beaded Tapestry.  I want to be finished by the end of the month.