PhoenixNakia message #1
Vulture Tapestry in progress~~
May 16, 2017 at 4:17:15 AM
 







This is the current beading project I am working on. It is going to be a tapestry for a good friend of mine who asked me to create him a beaded vulture. He lives in New Mexico and makes small wooded tapestry hand looms and tools for them and many other looming needs. My friend Jim Hokett appreciates what vultures do for the world as clean up crew. He collects vulture memorabilia and wanted something special to add to his collection. He merely wanted a 5"X5" beaded vulture, but me being me decided that would not do. So now I am creating this "monster" of a tapestry for him. I used 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads to create the vulture.

I first beaded the vulture itself in  the peyote stitch finishing the edges and bottom part of his beak in brick stitch since peyote does not lend itself to form curves in a way I needed it to. The middle pic is the completed vulture which measures 9 1/2" across at its widest and 6" top to bottom at its widest. I decided to create a background to compliment the vulture in loom stitch. It is 20" wide and will be at least 17" high when finished. The height will be determined by what I feel gives it the look I am stirving for. Once the background is finished I will applique the vulture to the right bottom corner. The first pic shows what I have done so far on the background witht eh vulture temporarily placed in its position with double sided sticky tape.

At present I have 32 lines of beading done on the background and estimate it will take 250 lines in all to complete it. It is 310 beads wide using 11/0 seed beads of mix brands. I started this project last yr in Oct and hopefully be finished some time this summer, August at the very least. It takes me 1 1/2 to 2 hours to pick up a line of beads and sew them down for the background. I am using my 38" Zeus Mirrix loom, my other beading looms were not wide enough to use.

The 3rd pic shows the small photo Jim sent me he wanted the vulture to resemble. I did the best I could to recreate the colors in his head. Given I had to order all the Miyuki beads for thsi project I was at the mercy of thinking a color was perfect only to get it in and see it was still not what I needed. After ordering various reds and pinks a third time I gave up and went with what I had. Colors of beads look very different on a computer monitor than in person. I only have the craft shain stores in my area which do not carry Miyuki Delicas, so buying in person was not an option.

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PhoenixNakia message #2
Re: Vulture Tapestry in progress~~
May 16, 2017 at 4:35:50 AM  (in response to PhoenixNakia message #1)
 


Forgot to show what I am attempting to create for the background. This was an earlier photo of the background before I finished the vulture. I was dividing my time between working on both. Now I can devote my time when off from work to the background and it si moving faster.   I used colored pencils to draw an old dead tree on the left side and colorful evening sky to give the elusion that the vulture is sitting high upon a limb just out of sight, getting ready to roost for the night. Since I didn't print out a pattern for the background and it is simple, I am picking the colors for it freehanded. I will tell you that does add to the time it takes to bead a line on it.

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PhoenixNakia message #4
Re: Vulture Tapestry in progress~~
May 17, 2017 at 1:24:26 AM  (in response to Stitchboard Admin message #3)
 
Thanks Melanie,

I have to say this is my first beading tapestry I have attempted. I do like working on something more than jewelry. I still work up a little jewelry mainly for gifts in between so i don't get tired of this porject.

My friend lives in New Mexico about 500 miles from me. He hasn't seen it in person, I do send him progress pics which he loves seeing. My hopes are to get it completed by August when I take 20 days off from work. If I can get it done by then, I will hand deliver it to Jim. I have not told him my plans to do this. Won't until I know I can make it all come together  at the right time. LOL

I do have the beads on a square board that is covered with the velour stuff. I have 3 professionally made boards I bought. For this I found the square one I made from a ring holder box I bought from the craft store works best. At first the beads were in neat little piles. Now they are all mixed about in one big pile of "bead soup!" Works ok since I pick what I need as I go along. With jewelry I try to keep the piles separate and if need be I use alphabet beads to identify which color goes where.

Here is a pic of the "bead soup" beading board I'm using for the vulture project. I will keep you updated with my progress as it gets farther along.

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PhoenixNakia message #6
Re: Vulture Tapestry in progress~~Update~~
March 3, 2018 at 3:54:51 AM  (in response to Stitchboard Admin message #5)
 
Hi Melanie, haven't been on in a long time. Just too many things and not enough time to enjoy any of it. I am still working on the vulture tapestry, about 6 inches left to finish the loomed part. Then the "real work" will begin tucking in all the 311 warp threads and attaching the vulture permanantly to the bottom right corner. And deciding how I will attach it to the Mesquite limb I have waiting for it to hang. And of course getting it to its new forever home.

Here'a the newest pic of what I have gotten done since the photo I added last year. I can only get about 4 lines of beading done to it in a day of beading since it takes me 1 1/2 to 2 hrs to pick up and lock down each line of beads. I measured how many lines in an inch and it comes out to 13. You can see I have made progress since last year's pic. I did take a couple of months or so off from working on it through the Christmas holidays so i could bead a few gifts for friends locally and online. It was a nice break in working on this big rascal.

Sooo, given I am not a mathematician and not sure of the correctness I figured it out to be 221 lines of 310 beads for a total of 68,510 11/0 seed beads for the loomed background when finished and will be 20" wide by 17" high. When I look at that total of beads it will be I can see why it has taken me well over a year to get this far. And that bead count does not include the vulture which is done in 11/0 Delicas peyote stitch and hard to get an exact count due to it being a freeform shap. Needless to say I ahve not attempted to get a bead count on it yet. LOL

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PhoenixNakia message #7
Re: Vulture Tapestry in progress~~Bead Room~~
March 3, 2018 at 4:24:02 AM  (in response to PhoenixNakia message #6)
 
Also wanted to show a photo of  where I spend my tiem when not "working for bead moneys". I finalyy found homes for the rest of my parrots I had left last summer. The room I had their very large walk in enclosures was my old bedroom, turned bird room turned bead room now. I think I got it straightened out and moved most of my beading stuff in it last Aug. My hubby had been in the process of tearing the wall between the room and living room down to open it up when I moved the birds in there. That was like 4 yrs ago.  He finished  getting the last of the wall studs out this past Oct.

I love having my own personal space to sit and bead, watch tv and surf the internet. It's awesome to have plenty of space to work and my dogs love being able to sprawl out under the 4 tables I have for my work. As you can see the walls are still not finished out. Maybe in the next 5 yrs hubby will get it all done. After all he has so much to do now that he is retired for almost 2 yrs such as~~eat, sleep, chat on Facebook, eat some more~~Do I sound jealous? Why yes I am, but hopefully I can retire in 4 yrs.

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PhoenixNakia message #9
Vulture Tapestry in progress~~
April 3, 2018 at 2:39:56 PM  (in response to Stitchboard Admin message #8)
 
Hi Melanie,

Thank you, it has come out better than I expected. I have 65 more lines to go on the loomed beading part and that will be at least 2 more months of work given I get to work at least 2 nights of my 4 off on it each week. I'm striving for it to be completely finished as in attached to the limb ready for hanging by July. My reason for needing it finished by July is if I am able to hand deliver it I can plan this the last week of July or 1st week of Aug. That is when I have put in for and approved 20 days off from work. I ask for these times every year, counting that as my vacation time, tho working for the state I never need to take actual vacation times and that time not used adds to my sick leave time. I use my holiday and comp time instead for my only time I ask off during the year.

Anyway, this week I did not work on the loomed beading. Instead I am waiting for more dark blue sky beads to come in from Aura Crystal Beads. I normally can find these particular beads at my local Michaels, but lately they have not restocked their TOHO seed beads as often as they used to. Maybe they are against selling as much as they can and think they will wean me off using them.  The seed beads are the only oens I do buy locally since that is about all the local craft stores near me offer. The Delicas and specialty beads I have to order any time I want to use them.

Will post more pics when there is significant progress on it. And of course when it is finished.

De'Andrea~~

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PhoenixNakia message #11
Re: Vulture Tapestry in progress~~
April 18, 2018 at 5:54:36 PM  (in response to Stitchboard Admin message #10)
 
Ok, newest update photo of the loom beaded background for the vulture tapestry I am almost to the end of! 37 more bead lines to go!!!!!! I am trying to get the beaded part done so I can concentrate on the ahrd work of finishing it off and ready to hang. Kinda' funny with a piece this large that as I approach the finish line it gets harder for me to want to continue. It's like I am so ready to finish I have to tell myself it will never get to that point if I don't get busy and bead!! It has come along and looks better than I expected or imagined.

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