FGP#20 Background Right Angle Weave

Last week we had a family vacation scheduled. We took our two adult daughters, our son, his wife and their 6 year old daughter on a cruise out of Baltimore Harbor to the Bahamas. I took my beadwork.

Since the project is due next week and I had been working 12 hour days at home, I had to continue to do so on the cruise. My first hurdle was just getting the project and tools onto the boat through security. They confiscated my hammer. I had to beg and plead for my pliers which I need to pull the needle when it is a smidge tight. I really can't work without it. They finally let me have the pliers because they were bent nose (so that I could reach under the beadwork to grab the needle against the board). They agreed that I would have a hard time stabbing someone with a bent nose pliers. But they ignored the hand drill! To move the nails, I predrill a hole so that I can just tap in with the hammer. I would hate to miss the nail with a full force hammer strike and smash my beads. If I really wanted to stab someone, I think that a drill bit would be much more effective than a pliers.

I worked in my cabin and on deck. I didn't go to any shows and didn't get off the boat at ports of call. My only break was dinner. Evenso, I believe I managed to put on weight.

The background is to consist of right angle weave surrounding brick stitched lines to form the dance floor and tie the figures together. I began by supporting the upper Charleston figures around the heads and shoulders with right angle weave Then began establishing the brick stitch dance floor squares with larger beads as well as rectangle, cylinder and triangle beads. I followed the lines of the collaged pattern underneath but not the colors. After all, clubs are black cards--no red allowed. And I wanted the background to be gray on gray so as to distract less from the figures.

Now, I was really dissatisfied with the speakeasy door and its eyehole. I felt that would not translate well reduced to playing card size as well as be too heavy a feel in the upper corner. In order to keep the entire background gray, I decided to eliminate the brown door. Since the Charleston era relates to prohibition and prohibition is what drew women out to clubs to drink (men always had had their "gentleman" clubs), I replaced the door with cocktails and liquor bottles and distributed them on both sides of the figures.

The first bottle and its cocktail included some medium and large triangle beads to simulate ice cubes and of course were done in brick stitch--two beads high to accommodate the height of the triangle beads. Note the hint of cherry--not too red, of course. The  bottle was stitched in vertical rows to contrast with the horizontally stitched glass and to give the bottle straighter sides. While stitching, constantly compare the beadwork to the photo to maintain shape, size, color or value and direction of bead rows.

Encapsulate the cocktail and bottle in right angle weave maintaining contrast at edges--light background around dark sides and dark background around light sides.