Last week I had a lovely time speaking and teaching for a guild in Rockford, IL. My friend Lori is the program person there, and it was such fun to spend time with her and the Sinnissippi Quilters. I especially enjoyed sharing my Silhouettes and Shadows lecture with them because the first quilt I show in the talk is my Lake Sinissippi quilt (note the shadows on the pier).

Rockford, IL, our home in Watertown, and my parent’s cottage are all located on a portion of the Rock River; the cottage portion being a dammed up area of the river that formed a lake back in 1845. I began to wonder why the Rockford version of the name was spelled differently from our lake. After an internet search I got my answers:
Sinnissippi in Rockford ~ The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 299 miles (481 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. The river was known as the Sinnissippi to the Sauk and Meskwaki peoples; the name means “rocky waters”.
Lake Sinissippi in Hustisford, WI ~ The lake was originally called “Cranberry Lake”, and then “Hustisford Mill Pond” and “Lake Hustisford.” Later, the name was changed to “Sinissippi”, from an Algonquin phrase, “sin sepe,” which means “lake-like river.”
Either way, it was fun to share this quilt with them. My other lecture was also well recieved, and they had a wonderful system set up for the lecture to be seen live and via Zoom.

The next day I had a fun group join me for my “Where Do I Start With Fiber Art” workshop. We had such a good time that I couldn’t resist doing a collage of each of them with their art in progress:

Thanks ladies!
Towards the end of the class, I did a demonstration on some of my beading techniques. As I was sharing my favorite one, I mentioned that it had been featured in an article in AQS magazine many years ago. I looked it up and, since I have a lot of new quilters on my blog, I thought it was time to repost it. I call it “Well Behaved Beads”! Here goes:
Trying to pick up tiny beads that are sitting on a table, with a tiny needle, which is tethered by a thread to your work, can be aggravating. Years ago I came up with a way to make those beads behave and have them a lot closer to my work surface. These techniques are included in my book “Where Do I Start With Fiber Art” along with other beading tricks and information (click here to purchase a copy of that book).
The magic tool is clear mailing tape! And it’s really quite simple:
When the Lord dropped this idea into my brain, I was working on a project that was using a mixture of beads. I decided to sprinkle the beads on my quilt, near the area I wanted to bead, and placed a 2″ length of mailing tape over the loose beads. This held them to the quilt so they couldn’t run away. Once my needle was threaded and I was ready to begin, I rolled the tape back onto itself so a few beads came to the top.

I was then able to touch the tip of the needle to the hole in a bead and – it hopped right on! I stitched it to the quilt and continued unrolling and beading until I was done, or I had to stop.
If I stopped before I was finished beading that area, I simply rolled the tape back down against the quilt to capture the loose beads and went about my business until it was time to bead again.
Hint: If it’s going to be more than a couple of hours before you get back to the beading, I recommend rubbing the beads off the tape and into a container as they will get sticky if left on the tape too long (ask me how I know 😊).
After beading in this fashion for a while, a new idea hit! I could use the tape to keep the beads behaving and precisely where they’re needed by wrapping the tape around my finger:
1. Wrap a piece of mailing tape, sticky side out, around the forefinger of your non-dominant hand (i.e. left, if you’re right handed).
2. Pour the beads you’re working with onto a flat surface and dip your taped finger into them.

3. Knot your thread and bring it up through the quilt where the first bead needs to go, touch the tip of the needle to the hole in a bead and it will hop onto the needle. Stitch that bead to the quilt and repeat.

Voila! Beading can be done in the doctor’s office, at kid’s sporting events and even in a moving vehicle. One of the best advantages of this technique is that the beads are close to the work area and so, as the thread gets shorter, the beads are still easy to reach. Also, the tape tube can be pulled off your finger if you’re called away, and slipped back on when needed.
I hope you’ll give it a try! Please send comments or photos if you do.
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And one more thing…
Marie was in my class in Rockford and before I even had this post ready to go she sent me a photo of the FINISHED art quilt she made in class.

It’s always so much fun for me to see what a talented student does with the techniques from my classes. Great job Marie!