|
To Hoop or Not To
Hoop
Both Nancy Eha and Mary Stori
recommend hooping your work while beading.
I haven't hooped any of the quilted
items that I have beaded. I complete my quilt, do a minimum of
quilting by machine to hold all layers together and bind the quilt.
I then wash and machine dry the finished quilt and then do the
beading. That's the first and last and only time the quilt will be washed/dried. I would never wash
(nor dryer dry) a quilt that had beaded embellishment.
Yes, there are stitches that show on the backside of the quilt, but
that's okay with me as it is a wall quilt and the back is not meant
to be seen.
If I experience any distortion, I
will report that here.
Needles and Thread
I have the long, thin beading needles on hand, but haven't had to
use them for beading. I use John James size 8 needles, the
ones I normally use for handsewing. Once in a while, the
needle won't go through a bead, so I discard that bead.
Haven't had to dispose of many.
I use hand quilting thread to stitch on
my beads. Nymo thread is suggested by the authors. I
pull the thread through "Thread Heaven", a thread conditioner and
protectant, before threading the needle. If the thread has to
pass through the bead many times, as it happens in some beadwork
designs, then I use the Nymo thread as it is a much thinner thread.
Pat Tribbey |
