jann's blog

February bjp rivoli

jannblock — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:00:41 +0000

My February rivoli is a two-sided pendant from a Linda Richmond pattern.

One side has a rose colored rivoli and the other is amethyst colored.

It measures 1-1/4″ wide and 1-3/4″ long plus the dangle.

It consists of a 12mm rivoli, delica 11s, and 15 seed beads.

The dangle is a 6mm swarovski pearl.

Linda’s pattern was very easy to follow and I love the result.

I found this really difficult to photograph.

January 2012 BJP rivoli

jannblock — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:02:43 +0000

I’ve decided to work with rivolis this year for the bead journal project. My January one is from the book Creating Crystal Jewelry by Laura McCabe. This is her crystal burst earrings. I have worked this pattern before but only made one row of crystal bicones around the edge, this includes two rows. This piece uses an 18mm rivoli, both 3mm and 4mm crystal bicones, plus delicas and size 15 seed beads and measures 1-1/4 inches in diameter.

Nora’s birthday quilt

jannblock — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:04:51 +0000

Today is my grand-daughter Nora’s 19th birthday. This very orange quilt is a generous lap size — 60″ x 68″. Her favorite color is orange, so when my friend Nancy Graham showed me these fabrics that she had hand-dyed I knew that I just had to have them. I modified the Hip to be Square pattern (Busy Bee Quilt Designs) so that the blocks were a smaller 8″ square. Nancy Graham did the machine quilting. Nora is thrilled with the very orange gift.

Lap quilt for my Mother-in-law

jannblock — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:43:51 +0000

I have just sent this quilt to my 96 year-old mother-in-law as an early holiday gift. Her living room has golds and pinks plus touches of green. This is the square dance pattern by Martha Thompson. The quilt measures 43-1/2″ x 51″. The top consists of batiks plus hand-dyed fabrics by my friend Nancy Graham, who also does the machine quilting for me.

Spring quilts

jannblock — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:27:53 +0000

Last winter and spring I spent four months making a queen-size quilt (82″ x 97″) for our summer cottage. I wanted something light and airy, quite different from my usual saturated color quilts. The yellow-green fabric in the swirl was a piece I purchased from a fabric artist in New Zealand. This quilt also includes other hand-dyed fabrics plus lots of batiks.

Then in May I decided to make a baby quilt (42″ x 49″). This quilt is made of batik fabrics.

April bjp flower

jannblock — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:45:47 +0000

Another morning glory with slightly different coloring. I want to put 2 or 3 of these on the finished beaded vessel.

March bjp flower

jannblock — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:23:05 +0000

This morning glory is from Diane Fitzgerald’s book, The Beaded Garden. The brick stitch flower is about 1-3/4 in diameter and is made with delicas and a size 15 seed bead edging.

February bjp flower

jannblock — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:23:45 +0000

This little ruffled beauty is so small, I decided to make two. I found the pattern for these in the Barbara L. Grainger booklet, Dimensional Flowers, Leaves & Vines. Each is about one inch in diameter and made of delica beads. (I’ve left the threads on the back so that I will be able to attach them to the beaded vessel sometime in the future.)

January bjp flower

jannblock — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:50:38 +0000

This is my fourth year with the bead journal project. My plan is to make a flower each month which will be mounted at the end of the year onto a beaded vessel. I will gradually bead the vessel throughout the year.

This flower, from the Beaded Garden by Diane Fitzgerald, is a brick stitched 5-petal flower following the directions for a pansy. I’ve used delicas for the petals. The flower measures almost two inches in diameter.

A quilt for Vivaldo’s mother

jannblock — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:38:48 +0000

I made this quilt for my son-in-law’s mother who lives in Brazil. My daughter, Heather, and her husband, Vivaldo, will take it to her when they visit in December. The quilt measures 62-1/2 x 69-1/2, big enough for her to use as a blanket on her bed.