Beading with Glue

I don’t use beads that often, but when I do I generally glue them.  I use Alene’s Jewel-It glue which works amazingly well.  (That is to say, if the quilt just hangs on the wall it will never lose beads.)

I thought my quilt, In Amongst the Reeds and Rushes, needed a little spark, so I added beads.

The trick, when adding a random spray of beads like this, is to get them to actually BE random.  I used several techniques to get my desired arrangement.

First, I sprinkled on the larger beads.  They bounced and rolled and landed every which way.  Just what I wanted.  I photographed the results, but then lifted them off.

Instead, I started working with the smallest seed beads.  I wanted them to be spread in little irregular puddles, with lots of scattering.  I decided to treat them like glitter.  You know: put the glue down, add the glitter/beads and shake off whatever doesn’t stick.  But, how to get irregular glue?  I used the ruffled end of a frilly toothpick as my paintbrush.

While applying the glue, I rolled and fiddled with the toothpick, so the glue went on splotchy.  Just what I wanted.  I shook on the beads, then gently dumped them off.  Voila!

Finally, I went back to the large beads.  I made a little puddle of glue on a paper plate and, using tweezers, dipped each bead, individually, into the glue and placed it on the quilt.  I referenced my earlier photos and arranged them accordingly.  Perfect!

My quilt, Red Strata, got a similar treatment.

Red Strata

This is a very easy way to add a little bling to your quilts.