We asked Vicky Pritchard, a regular designer for Beads & Beyond magazine and member of the Spellbound Bead Co team to review this new title for bead stitchers...
It is hard to believe that this is Cynthia Rutledge’s first book, as she has been a name in the beading world for many years. This book, aimed at intermediate to advanced beaders, is most definitely worth the wait. With inspiration taken from beautiful historical paintings, the fifteen projects in this book have a classic timelessness that will appeal to a wide range of beaders.
The designs in the book use a combination of seed beads, cylinder beads and pearls alongside faceted beads and crystal rondelles.
The Cubic Zirconia stones and settings that are used are a little harder to come by, but are
available directly from Cynthia Rutledge’s website.
A web search reveals that a
limited number of stones are available from UK suppliers too.
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| 'Time in motion' ring project |
The projects use a variety of stitches, including
Herringbone, Netting, Right Angle Weave and Peyote Stitch. For the ring band on
the project I tried, the Time in Motion ring, Cynthia describes a modified
thread path for odd count peyote stitch that I will most definitely be using in
the future, as it eliminates the stiffened edge of the beadwork
that you normally find with a traditional odd count peyote turn.
that you normally find with a traditional odd count peyote turn.
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| Clear diagrams and instructions for all projects |
I found the instructions and diagrams for the projects to be
very clear, with every step well described and illustrated. I did find the
working sequence to be slightly out of order to the way I would have done the
piece, as at one point I had three half finished components on my beadmat, with
all of the associated thread tails. By altering the order in which the
components of the ring were made, you could have worked the pieces and finished
them off as you were going along.
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| Vicky's version of the 'Time in motion' ring |
I did substitute the CZ stone in the ring for a 10mm rivoli
that I had in my stash, and it seems to work as well as a CZ for this design.
I’m not sure if it would work as well for the other designs - but I can’t wait
to find out!
Looks good!
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