In this second posting on how to create a contemporary beaded art quilt, I’ll talk about how I choose the embellishments. On the home page of my web site ,I bill myself as the “Self-proclaimed Button and Bead Queen of Maryland (USA)”, figuring that if I give myself the title, no one can take it away from me. However, if you were to see the contents of my studio, (see photo below) most people would agree that I’m at least in the running for this coveted title. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a collection of treasures. My ex-husband used to complain that the floor was going to fall in, but now that’s not an issue, because he’s, well, my ex, and I can feed my button and bead habit now however I choose. I choose to do so a lot, as I’ve met few buttons I don’t like.
When I start a new art quilt, I get out a plastic shoe box and start filling it with bags of colors and shapes of buttons that I want to consider using. I often then have to switch to a larger cardboard box as I don’t deny myself choices. The largest design elements, like the buttons and pins, are sewn on first, as they’ll make the biggest contribution to the composition. They also take up the most space, so I don’t have to bead under them. Then, I work my way down to the smalle elements. Sewing the buttons early on can make for quite a lot of snarled sewing threads later in the construction process, as all of my buttons and beads are sewn on by hand. However, because the buttons and pins make the most impact on what’s seen on the surface of the quilt, and they’re what people seem to pay the most attention to, I put up with tangled threads catching on their edges.
In the photo above, you can see some of the buttons that I pulled for consideration for this Work in Progress quilt, “Circles of Black, Circles of White 7”. I always have way more choices than what actually ends up on the finished piece. The tiny little black and white doll buttons in the bottom of the photo I order on eBay from Hong Kong. I’ve used a lot of them in various colors in this Circle series as they’re nice to sew on around the black and white striped circles using contrasting embroidery floss. Above those, in the middle of the photo, are several larger variations on those black and white circle buttons with different widths of rims. In the upper left, there is a blue glass button, in the middle right, a large gold glass one, and the bottom right, next to the black and white doll buttons, a medium sized gold glass button. These dramatic glass buttons are coming out of Czechoslovakia. They are made from antique molds, but with modern materials, including dichroic foil. Those shining circles of glass add a colorful punch to the surfaces of my quilt and draw a lot of attention and comments. Finally in the center of the photo is my signature hummingbird button that I use on all of my quilts. I thought I had bought a lifetime supply by purchasing a 100, but as that box is running low, I went back to order more. I was quite disappointed that they seem to be going out of production, so I scrambled around on the Net and found another 100.
While editing this part of my Work in Progress series of blogs, I realized that it was getting way too long, so this first part is about how I choose the buttons for my art quilt surfaces. The second part of “Choosing the Embellishments”will be about the large beads, metal stampings, and the seed beads I use and should appear next week. I’ll leave you with this photo of the sagging shelves of some of my button and bead collection. Who knew that some little bits of plastic, glass and metal would get shelving that is supposed to withstand 150 pounds or 67.5 kgs, to bend over time. There are six more shelves not seen in this shot for my little acquisitions. It all started so innocently, just a few buttons here, a few beads there..but more on how I choose what goes where in the next posting.
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You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com
To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.
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