Beaded bezels and oh, so much more!

If you think you might have trouble being taught some beading skills

by a fella ...

or if you have any sort of allergic reaction to  C O L O R 

then do not and I repeat, DO NOT

take a beading workshop with Thom Atkins ...

for a fella he certainly is, and he is most definitely

not afraid of color.

Not one little bit.

Every year the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, WA,  holds a fantabulous Quilt Festival,
a week-long event that includes special workshops by visiting textile & embellishment artists.
Thom was part of this year's talented contingent ~
and so was his very talented and beadiful sister, Robin Atkins!
You may like to revisit my January post where I wrote about them during Thom's one-person exhibit,
"Ten Year's of Beaded Quilts" to see more examples of his work.

For our "Beaded Bezels & Borders" workshop we were given
design kits filled with fun fabric by Laurel Burch and multiple baggies
filled with coordinating beads ...
I enjoyed this approach a great deal for it pushes you away from your comfy spot
and tweaks your thinking into a whole new realm.
It's always good to visit new & unexplored places.

Here's a couple examples from my yet-to-be-finished sampler ...

a "fence" with a lacy edge and a

peyote stitched bezel around a flat-backed cabochon.

Here's my shisha mirror *loudmouth* bezel ...
I can see myself there on occasion.

Thom is looking very serious, but in actuality our workshop was filled with loads of laughter.
Here he's clarifying one of his methods,

patiently answering the dozens of questions we fired at him.

The demo table was covered with examples of his own samplers ....
be prepared to swoon.

Shisha mirror cab at the top, flat-backed cab on the bottom.

We learned how to stitch the rope edging as well ...

This detail was from his cat piece ... 

I loved the flouncy effect of all those beads around that cab.

Fearless with color, that's how I'd describe Thom's work.

And this is the sampler that almost disappeared  into the bottom of my bag.

Isn't she a BEAUT?!

If you ever have the opportunity to learn firsthand from Thom,

oh, I do hope you'll take it.

In the meantime, his bountifully beautiful new book has just hit the streets,

"Beading Artistry for Quilts: Basic Stitches & Embellishments Add Texture & Drama."

Check it out.  Many more samples of Thom's work are viewable online.

And then there's this ...

included in his bio, a most interesting excerpt:

"Some 30 years ago, his sister, Robin Atkins, taught him the basics of bead embroidery

on fabrics.  He's been fascinated with beads ever since, but sewing beads onto fabric and

making stained glass didn't produce a decent living.  He was also tired of the fragility of glass,

so he went back to college, where he learned about welding, forging, silversmithing, and

bronze casting.  Bronze casting gave him back the tactile surfaces and the subtleties of

three-dimensional curves and negative space.

A car accident terminated his career in sculpting in bronze.

While recovering from the surgery to repair his wrists and thumbs, 

he thought about sewing beads onto cloth in such a way

that the beads and the fabric both had a say in the design.

He's been working with the delicate balance between beads and fabric in his designs ever since."

Making the most of our human condition.

Isn't that the best of what we can all hope for?

: : :

Thank you for visiting today ... I hope you have enjoyed all the 

C O L O R