Saturday and Sunday: November 16 and 17, 2024

Time: 9:00 to 4:00 pm each day, with a break for lunch

Class Fee: $350/Non-Members; $325/ Members (with membership discount code)

Class Description:

Circles can be found throughout the natural world and in human designs from diverse cultures across millennia. Circles appeal to us on so many levels – they are simple and elegant; they’re curved, organic, and smooth, with no sharp corners; they evoke a comforting sense of completeness and totality; they’re in the hugs that embrace us and the nests that protect baby birds. Circles are as familiar as the dot of an “I” or the period at the end of a sentence. They come to us in images of the Earth from space. Circles are as tiny as a subatomic particle and as large as a black hole. In this workshop, we explore and create a sampler or small art quilt of circular motifs in bead embroidery. Working with a wide variety of beads, we will learn, design, and stitch a diverse range of circular forms that could also be used in future stitching on art quilts, garments, and other fiber art.

This two-day workshop begins by introducing all the stitches that make up the backbone of bead embroidery—those stitches most commonly used in contemporary beadwork on fabric. After initially exploring the basic stitches of bead embroidery, students advance to learn ways to beautifully and securely incorporate larger beads, buttons, and cabochons into their fiber work. They also explore a variety of edge stitches and fringe techniques while continuing to work on a sampler for future reference and inspiration. The class culminates with students beginning to develop their own bead embroidery style while exploring designs that range from sparsely-stitched individual beads to densely beaded focal areas. Students have opportunities to explore known variations on introduced stitches as well as develop their own visual vocabulary of bead embroidery.