Prairy Wildflowers, my term for the ‘carpet of flowers’ or ‘shaggy caterpiller’ or any number of other names for this simple bracelet is just a brick-stitch band with a dangle stitched through every base bead—sort of like a persian carpet, I guess. At any rate, one of the glassact board members had taken a class and offered to teach us the technique, as sort of a present to us.

The piece in progress, showing both front and back sides.

The down side to having hundred(s) of cool different shapes is then they cover your desk...what a mess. In fact, the boxes of shapes are ranged outside the frame.

In fact, since this event was scheduled weeks or months ahead, I had many opportunities to buy beads for this project, and got some from as far away as Minnesota and Texas. If I'd bought the kit, I think it would've been $60 or $90. As it was, I think I stopped counting after $300 or so worth of flower and leaf beads. Of course, this way I got to make much bigger, richer looking fringes, to the point where the sides of the bracelet curl under itself. Oopsie.

It's also meant I've had to lengthen the bracelet. I graduated both the 8/0 seed bead base as well as the thread colors; but once I clip the knots and stitch the base to a support (e.g. leather) neither of these are going to show much. I've been working on this sporadically for the last year; perhaps in another year or two I'll finally finish.

Last modified: Sat Aug 21 02:49:01 2004

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