EDGING THE PAGES

 I got one of the eleven Bead Pages edging stitched on today.

  Then I quit that project and went and straightened up my batting mess.  Too many batting scraps and they were taking up too much space.  I bagged up the smaller ones to be rid of and organized the rest by type - most of them are Dream Cotton natural select.  And I found I have more wool battings than I had thought.

TRYING DIFFERENT LOOKS

 I moved some of the pieces around.  Then moved them around differently.  Then did it again.

This could be an endless exercise.

MIGHT BE INTERESTING

 I chanced washing the little fabric squares of the found African fabrics.  I added a Color Catcher and caught a little red which I thought might happen.  But, there was little to no ravelling of the edges.  

I pressed the wrinkles out and put them up on the wall.

It looks better than I thought it would!  Now I'm thinking about what color to use as the filler.  Maybe different colors for each area?

FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS

 I fused some black wool onto the back of the wool piece I've been working the birds onto.  This will hide the knots from the applique stitches and decorative embroidery on the front.  After it cooled I cut the birds out leaving a quarter inch outline around each.  I decided the legs were wrong on the wren, so I will need to unpick them and re-stitch them before I cut it out.

They all still need to have a blanket stitch stitched around the outside and a ribbon or string attached which to hang them with.

ANTWERP STITCH

 I watched a video so I would understand how to do the Antwerp Stitch correctly then stitched it onto my Exquisite Bead Book pages using the hand dyed perle cotton #3 thread I made in the workshop.  I have eleven pages so far and I need to make another for a cover. 

And I need to add beading to the edges of each page.  But, the project is moving along.

FOUND FABRICS

 When I was looking around for something else, I came across a bunch of African fabric sample pieces.  What a treasure.  What shall I do with them?

ANOTHER BEAD PAGE

 I've finished another bead page.  This will be the last one like this.  Soon I need to start on the edgings.

STORAGE FOR THREAD

 I've had storage boxes for my Aurifil thread for years now.  But I was stacking the boxes on top of each other and it was a pain to pull out the one I wanted and to put it back in it place afterward.  Then I saw that Darrell had made himself a a cabinet for his little storage boxes and offered to make one for my aurifil boxes.

And here it is:

It is very nice!  But, I have more than just Aurifil thread.  I have a lot of Wonderfil, too.  And, since there is room in the boxes I've decided to incorporate them all together.  I think I'll sort them by color using the Joen Wolfrom color cards.  And I have space for 24 boxes, which coincides with Joen's number of color categories.  However, I will need a separate box for neutrals.

This will be so nice!

BEADING PAGES

 I'm making progress on my beading pages.  And I think I'm getting a little better at the whole process of beaded embroidery.