Positive Negative: Greed vs Generosity and Entitlement vs Responsibility is my most recent double sided bead tapestry crocheted piece. The open rim and positive dazzling interior invite and emanate love and the qualities that I hope will overpower the negativity of the exterior.
Positive Negative: Greed vs Generosity and Entitlement vs Responsibility, cotton thread and glass beads, 7″ x 9 1/2″, 2022.
I should probably rename it Negative Positive because this basket was rejected by one juror but awarded second place in another international exhibit, Small Expressions, sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America. This traveling exhibit will be at Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, WA, July 5 – September 3, 2023; Haywood Community College, NC, September 21 – November 9, 2023; Yadkin Valley Fiber Center, NC, December 8, 2023 – February 15, 2024; and Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Gallery, TN, March through early May, 2024. I hope you’ll be able to see it in person and soak up the positivity!
My three day tapestry crochet workshop (August 26-28, 2023) at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, PA, is already open for registration! We’ll do the above projects, one each day. I’ll also teach how to design motifs with three different tapestry crochet graph papers, use a bead spinner to thread beads onto yarn, and block projects with a steam iron.
A large hook, two wool yarns (one beaded), and loose single crochet stitches will be used to tapestry crochet the flat bead felted bag on Saturday.
A cylindrical beaded basket will be tapestry crocheted with a smaller hook, beaded cotton threads, and tighter stitches on Sunday. Each thread will be loaded with one bead color, eliminating the need to load the beads in a specific color sequence ahead of time! The motif is formed on one side of the fabric by adding a bead to each stitch and on the other side the colored threads echo the image.
Flat tapestry crochet will be the focus on Monday. Unlike traditional crochet, flat tapestry crochet does not show the back of the stitches on every other row.
It will be lots of fun and learning, too! I hope to see you there!
I shared the inspiration and technique used to bead tapestry crochet “White Lies” with juror, Judy Zugish, and other HGA Convergence attendees at the recent “Dogwood to Kudzu” basketry exhibit. Just click the picture or the caption to hear more about it. Thanks so much for making this video, Kennita!
The Handweavers Guild of America ‘s Convergence last week in Knoxville, Tennessee, was educational, relatively safe, and so much fun! Don’t be fooled by their name, though, because this organization embraces a lot more than just weaving, including spinning, dyeing, felting, sewing, bobbin lace, sprang, and crochet!
On Friday morning I taught how to load size 8 seed beads onto Aunt Lydia’s size 3 crochet cotton thread with a spinner, how to design a motif, how to carry a color, the bead tapestry crochet stitch, and how to crochet a basket with a beaded motif. For more about this class, take a look at my previous blog with a link to a video.
Cara Ann Gunderson designed a cute beagle on TC paper, then transferred it to square-ruled paper to bead tapestry crochet it onto her basket.
Penny Morgan beginning the sides of her basket.
During class everyone was able to complete the base and start the bead tapestry crochet motif on the sides.
Like everyone else, Sarah Gottfried began her basket during class . . .
. . . but finished it afterwards on the same day!
I visited exhibits after class. There were so many in the Convention Center and downtown that I had to return several times over the course of the conference to take them all in.
My Yes No bead tapestry crocheted basket was included in the Instructor’s Exhibit.
White Lies was awarded third place in the 2020 Dogwood to Kudzu basketry exhibit. It was shown this year because the conference was cancelled in 2022, actually, it was postponed.
What else did I do? Well, I attended talks and fashion shows, learned how to do sprang with Carol James, toured Arrowmont, the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Collections Preservation Center, and crossed the state line to visit the Center for Craft, the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, SewCo, and Local Cloth in Asheville, NC.
The best part, though, was meeting so many talented and excited fiber enthusiasts in classrooms, ballrooms, lecture halls, elevators, and on the tour buses. Time well spent.
The Handweavers Guild of America’s Convergence 2020 has been postponed to 2022, including the exhibitions. So, what a happy surprise when a letter arrived informing me that my White Lies bead tapestry crochet basket had won the third place award in the Dogwood to Kudzu basketry exhibit!
A member of The Handweavers Guild of America wove the exquisite Third Place ribbon!
Very interesting, especially since the same basket had been rejected from Convergence’s Small Expressions exhibit; different judges and different criteria and different odds. It just goes to show that rejection of your work should not be taken personally, because the very same piece can achieve greatness in another venue!
White Lies, bead tapestry crochet, glass beads and cotton thread, 8 1/2″ x 8″, 2019.
This basket was inspired by the news, social media, and situations closer to home.
Let there be light. Let there be truth. Let there be no more white lies!
