Moorish Bead, Diane's great class

Have you been to a San Diego Bead Society class?

This happy looking bunch all took advantage of Diane Fitzgerald's being here in March to spend a day learning from one of the Beadweaving greats.

According to two of the attendees, Ellen and Dee a great time was had by all.

It's always a delight to meet someone who is a renowned beader and find that they are also a warm and friendly person, and that describes Diane Fitzgerald.

All of us in class worked on making a cornerless cube, with either two or more color delicas.  Several of us had Diane's book, Shaped Beadwork & Beyond, which has directions for the project, but there is nothing as good as having the designer there to teach.   The cornerless cube is made up of six flat peyote squares and eight flat peyote triangles that are zipped together.  Diane started by describing the shapes and how they are the basis for many different forms.  She demonstrated each shape on large beads so everyone could see, and covered lots of techniques from how to start a double thread so that there is no tail to weave in through information on zipping the shapes together and finishing the cube by dipping it in floor wax to make it stiff.

In addition to covering many techniques used in making the cube that can be applied to other beading, Diane showed us how to make her Bubble Bead with two hole lentils (or two hole triangles), and gave us directions and a kit for a pretty pair of earrings.  And, she shared the secrets of her bead kit with us, including tools she finds helpful and items she takes to keep her bead kit pretty and fun. 

I'll end as I began, everything about Diane and the class was a delight.

Classes are a great way to increase your beading knowledge and the San Diego Bead Society is an excellent resource for making these classes available.  Why not have a look at our upcoming schedule and expand your beading repertoire?  Click here or at the link on then top of the page to see who is coming next!

Class with Cynthia Rutledge

 A long time bead artist and teacher returns to San Diego.  You may recall Cynthia got her start beading at San Diego's the Shepherdess.  That was in my early days of beading and I remember it well.

Cynthia will be giving a two day class resulting in a stunning bracelet featuring a cushion cut cz as the focal.  A k nit cable band embellished with seed beads and crystal is the perfect backdrop for the center stone.

Kits will be available in four different colors.  This is a unique opportunity to study with one of the best.  Click here to sign up while it's still available.

written by Marcia DeCoster

Brenda Schweder comes to the Bead Society!

And she's giving a class!  Brenda uses the jig she developed to bend wire into amazing, creative designs.  She'll show you how to wrangle that wire to make many beautiful projects.

If you'd like to see how Brenda does it, click here to sign up for class

written by Marcia DeCoster

Diane Fitzgerald talk and class!

On Saturday March 21st Diane Fitzgerald will be speaking at our monthly meeting.  In her talk "Fads and Trends in Beadwork." Talented seed beader Diane will discuss the latest in the beading world, including the new two hole beads and shaped beads. Please join us for an exciting program.


It's bound to be a wonderful class, with many years of bead knowledge to be shared.  The Moorish Tile Cornerless Cube looks like an especially versatile beaded bead sure to delight you with many different color combinations.

To enroll in this class click here.  

written by Marcia DeCoster

David Chatt Right Angle Weave Intensive

written by Marcia DeCoster

Those who were fortunate enough to take David Chatt's class offered by the San Diego Bead Society had a rare treat!

David brought what he refers to as his sketchbook, a huge collection of bits and pieces from his years of study.  Besides being a visual treat, it guided the workshop experience as David willingly went through the hows and whys of whatever piqued someones interest.  On the right you see a standing structure which is covered hardware cloth.  It can be cut to any size and shape and can be bent so it lends itself to being covered with CRAW and making structures.

Here we have the interior of a pyramid.  David started out giving us a few hints and challenged us to sort out how it was done.  Given the talent in the group and the propensity for spacial thinking more than one student was able to go away and build a pyramid!  I was not one of those people….

Here we have day four and the group of happy beaders who enjoyed every minute of the experience!

Next up is Judy Walker, who you can see tucked in the back left there.  Judy will be teaching her loom work class and it another rare treat to work with someone with such a huge breadth of knowledge.  See more details here.

Judy Walker in February!

We are very fortunate to have Judy Walker come speak and offer classes.   She has a wealth of experience and it's always a treat to learn from such an accomplished artist.

At our February 21st meeting at the Mingei in Balboa Park, Judy will be speaking on her own beaded journey including highlights from a trip to Japan.

Judy will also be giving a loom class.  While she has a paperclip loom of her own design which enable you to not have to weave off all the ends (always a good thing) should you already own a different loom and would like to take advantage of Judy's years of experience you can bring you own loom to class and Judy will work with you.

If you would like to be a part of this learning experience you may sign up here.

Judy Walker has been beading for over forty years. Teaching at national bead shows and other workshops, she is well known for distributing chocolate and buttons with funny sayings. Her beadwork has appeared in numerous books, magazines, touring exhibits and galleries. Judy is a two-time winner of the "Treasures of TOHO" international beading design contest. She taught in Japan in the fall of 2006.

Judy's book, The Beaded Sphere and Variations, was over a year in preparation and grew out of her wish to contribute more to the artistic field she loves so much.

Judy has learned that cats make it very difficult to accomplish beading. She lives in Monrovia, California with her husband Richard, their four cats, and her large collection of beads.

ABOUT JUDY

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If you haven't loomed this a great opportunity to learn patterning with one of the best.  Look at the rich colorations and patterns below.

David Chatt

Written by Marcia DeCoster


David Chatt will be presenting his program 'Unecessary Objects, a non traditional approach to an ancient form' at our January 17th meeting. 10:00 a.m. at the Mingei Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego.

David has a long history of bead weaving and has been instrumental in advancing the popularity of right angle weave and cubic right angle weave with his innovative use of both stitches.

I was fortunate enough to have taken a class with David back when Bead and Button was still called Embellishment, seventeen years ago.  He shaped my own explorations of the stitch and I look forward to hearing him speak.

I was also fortunate enough to see his Retrospective at the Bellevue Arts Musem in 2005 called "Two Hands, Twenty Years and a Billion Beads"

David will be giving a four day class the Sunday and Monday following his program and the next Saturday and Sunday.

To register you must be a member of the San Diego Bead Society (membership may be paid for at the time of class registration) To be taken to the class payment and registration page, click here.

Stay tuned for updates on future programs and classes.