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Quilting and Beads

Beads can be used in many ways to add extra decoration to embroidery, and they give a lovely sparkle and texture when they are used with quilting. The beads should be very small as large ones will look too heavy. The smooth padded surfaces of English and Trapunto quilting provide the ideal contrast to the beads, especially when they are decorated by sewing the beads in the crevices between the raised shapes.

trapunto shells with beads In this design the top fabric is backed with butter muslin. The shapes of the shells are outlined with backstitch, then working from the back a small cut is made in the muslin backing of each one. The shell is then padded with fleece or wadding and the cut edges are oversewn together. The design is decorated by sewing tiny beads in the gaps between the shells and a network of small cross stitches covers the background. Long fly stitches are worked over the raised shells.

by Muriel Best © The Embroiderers' Guild 1994. First published in the Young Textile Group Project Book, Autumn 1994.

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You can find out a bit more about trapunto at Trapunto, part of a great page of links on the history of quilting from the World Wide Quilting Page

 

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