Beading Artistry for Quilts: Basic Stitches & Embellishments Add Texture & Drama

When I first opened Thom Atkins book Beading Artistry For Quilts my jaw dropped faster and lower than a dot-com start-up stock in the 90s on a Monday morning. There are just not enough adjectives to convey the full extent of Mr. Atkins artistry, but I'll try:Vibrant, Colorful, Sparkling: Atkins' luminous palette begins on the cover and does not let up until the final page.Exceptional, Exotic, Exquisite, Thrilling: This is beading fusion like we've rarely seen outside of museums.Incomparable, Unprecedented, Rare, Superlative: Atkins' unique background, skills, and abundant passion result in staggeringly unique artwork.That's just about the photos; the text itself is imbued with Atkins' friendly and humble style. (But back to the photos, I have to point out there are 29 pages (29!!) pages of gallery photos at the end of the book, several with both full and close-up shots.) Atkins also gifts us with a "Bonus Feature" on creating a beaded bezel using cabochons. Throughout, Atkins shares his experience gracefully and enthusiastically; he is clearly an artist of supreme caliber. Somehow he manages to impart a feeling of accessibility and kinship, despite the very advanced level of beading presented here.Instructions, techniques, and tips are plentiful: stretch the thread before beading, know your bead vendor and ask questions about their bead quality, how to make special fringes and picot edge stitches, how to accommodate different hole placements, combining couching with other stitches, how beading is effected by environmental factors, and much, much more. Atkins also freely mentions specific brand names when suggesting various tools and notions, such as  Terrifically Tacky Tape 1/2 Inch You might want to know that while Atkins provides a great deal of information about beads and fabric, this is *not* a straight how-to project book. By this I mean there are no project designs with specific step-by-step instructions that will get you from his finished concept to your own look-alike piece. Beading Artistry utilizes more of a generalist "look what you can do" approach, full of wisdom, insight, and inspiration.Prepare to use your own plethora of adjectives when you peruse and study Beading Artistry For Quilts; you might even need a thesaurus.Beautiful.

No matter where you are in your beading or quilting journey, this book is for you. Beginners can use the clear charts to start using the four basic bead embroidery stitches right away, while accomplished artists (and everyone else, for that matter) will find abundant inspiration in the many sumptuous photos of the author's work. Some basic knowledge of how quilts are put together is assumed, but anyone who lacks that knowledge can easily pick it up from a quick internet search.This is not a project book. Instead, there's a discussion of supplies and tools, followed by an explanation of the four bead embroidery stitches that form the basis for all of the author's beaded work, as well as variations on each stitch. Even if you've never attached a single bead to fabric before, the instructions are clear enough for you to understand and get started.Once the basics are covered, the author shows how he's applied them in his work. Well-drawn diagrams and copious close-up photos illustrate each design concept.The writing is down-to-earth and infused with the author's gentle humor. And -- I must admit it -- there's a special spot in my heart for anyone who learned to sew on his grandmother's treadle sewing machine (as I did -- and I still have the machine).Experienced beaders will recognize that this book barely scratches the surface of beading techniques, but that's not really what this particular book is all about. It's much more about the marriage of beads to fabric, and the design considerations involved in finding the perfect balance between the two in any particular art quilt. Although you can certainly learn some technique from this book, it's much more of a concept book than a technique book. Advanced beading (and bead embroidery, and quilting) techniques can be found in many other excellent books. This one is more of a springboard for your own creativity.

Arrived in stated time. Very good condition. Book has clear instructions and illustrations. Just what I was looking for.

I purchased this book on impulse because I do many types of fine needlework, including embellishing crazy quilts and surface embroidery. This looked like embellishment 'over the top'! I am really enjoying using this book, after reading it cover to cover. In fact, I recently had a get-together with a few fellow needleworkers for the sole intent of using this book's chapter on working with bezels. We had a delightful afternoon teaching ourselves how to attach cabachons to fabric using the instructions provided. Each of us came out with a beautifully attached cat's eye stone on fabrics of our choice thanks to the good directions and photos in the chapter. And we have taken the author's suggestion for the future to buy beads in several sizes for each color so that we can use some of his techniques from other chapters. Each of us has different tastes in needlework, but the techniques and instructions can be applied to many styles and finished effects. This book is a keeper.

I don't think I have ever bothered to review a book. This one is amazing and if you are concidering it, I would just buy it now. What if it goes out of print and you miss out? I have had it a couple weeks and the first day I was looking for something, anything to bead because I was hit with inspiration and creative energy. Ever since I have taken it everywhere (even camping) in case I have a moment to look through it agian. Thom is a fabulous artist, the pictures are wonderful. You will not be dissapointed unless you are hoping for actual project to do. He provides info on various techniques and lots of visual inspiration, it is up to you to use his knowledge to create your own art.

I bought this book because I love hand embroidery and I love beads but had never quilted and wondered if it was for me. Frankly, I fell in love with the colourful cover (how shallow of me!) but the contents really did not disappoint. This book worked for me on very many levels. First of all, I looked at the art and tried very hard not to dribble over the illustrations; then I read the very friendly and encouraging introductions, went back and had another look at the Gallery and *finally* read it for the practical 'how to...' stuff.Thom Atkins teaches, and it shows: his instructions are clear, frequently humorous and very tolerant - the notion that 'if a man on a galloping horse can't see the fault', then it's okay, is very reassuring! His explanations are clear (I now make my knots his way, after nearly forty-five years of another method), his love for his work infectious and his art impeccable. If this book doesn't make you, the textile artist, want to create instantly, then you are probably dead!His work is colourful and meticulous and has many different moods: you are, I think, sure to find something that chimes with your own. Even if you don't want to make, but just wish to look, then this is an excellent book - but I bet you'll end up making your own art quilt!

The amount of knowledge that Thom imparts is phenomenal, easy to read and absorb I know that this book will be a source book not only for quilts but many other crafts, it is most definitely inspirational. Really loved it!!

All good things combined - that's Thom Atkins' book "Beading Artistry for Quilts": Sumptuous pictures of beautiful quilts = pure, irresistable inspiration; excellent language = a great pleasure; to-the-point, how-to sketches = effortless learning of beading techniques.At the beginning of the first chapter, Thom asks "Why use beads on a quilt?", and he immediately provides us with his own answer: "I would as well ask you, why sing, why dance, why write poetry or paint paintings?" That's exactly it! Why waste time asking? Just do whatever you are compelled to do, for the sheer joy of life. The spirit of the book is set.The reader is getting a lot of thorough information about beading techniques and their asides, through seemingly effortless, even playful verbal explanation as well as through the clearest-imaginable sketches, plus loads of great photographs, all of them in colour.At the end, just before you can jump into the gallery and get captured there, there is the "Bonus Feature - Making a Beaded Bezel". Well, I have made some beaded bezels before, but quite honestly, I read through this section in one sitting, and I could not have been any more spell-bound if I had been reading through a detective story.All I can say is: Even if you love beads only a tiny, little bit, get "Beading Artistry for Quilts" by Thom Atkins, and you will never regret it!

Wunderschöner Bildband mit vielen wirklichen "Schätzen". Viele Detail-Aufnahmen. Man bekommt sofort Lust, selbst mal wieder etwas zu gestalten.Kann ich sehr empfehlen.

Producto est perfecto.