Friday, February 17, 2012

Book Review

Creative Quilting With Beads
by Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader
Published by Lark Crafts
ISBN: 978-1454703365
Paperback, 128 pages


Beading and quilting have collided and it's a good thing. Beads are beautiful all by themselves, but when you add them to the surface of a quilt, they create sparkle and interest and excitement. Filled with many fun projects by many different artists, the book offers a variety of styles and great information. Learn how to affix beads to your quilted project and learn some basic quilting skills if you need a refresher or are new to quilting.

I love these Flower Magnets! These would look wonderful as embellishments for quilts, a hat, your purse or tote, or even worn as a brooch.


This next project, Flowers on a Hill, has a country/vintage feel for me and is very sweet.


The Pomegranate Book Cover is beautiful and I love how the beads are used for the pomegranate seeds. Clever! This would also be lovely as a wall hanging.


The Sparkling Heart mini quilt is so cute and would be a wonderful gift for a loved one. The layers in this project provide so much visual interest.


And here's a project by fellow Twelve by Twelve friend, Deborah Boschert. Love Letters is a very freeing style of project that is easy and fun.


The book starts out with a basics section covering tools, supplies and techniques.  Then you will find over 20 great projects by a variety of designers.  A beautiful gallery section is included for even more inspiration and also templates are included for the projects in the book.  I'm now itching to get my beads out and get going!