Beading It Forward

Hey stash busters!

I hope you are all having fun with your beads and busy busting that stash! Today we have a special post from OTTBS Facebook Group Member Janine on the groups' joint effort for Bead It Forward, thank you Janine!

"While looking for inspiration on a small scale for a project, I stumbled on a picture of a Bead-It-Forward square. I had no idea what it was so I looked it up and was lead to Bead and Button's blog (see link on the sidebar) about the ongoing project. I was excited to participate and posted in the OTTBS Facebook group. I had only been a member of this group for about 5 1/2 months at that point and hoped I might get a couple people to join in. That was August 23 and within 2 hours, much to my shock and joy, not only did I have 32 other members willing to participate with me, but I had made contact with Jane Danley Cruz, an Associate Editor with Bead & Button Magazine, who was willing to allow any squares donated by our group to be kept together in quilts. By the next morning, I was spearheading the project that would inspire our group to, up to this date, create over 70 squares!

Artist Jeanette Shanigan was the driving force behind this amazing project until 2011, when she handed it over to Bead and Button magazine. Last year, 2011/2012, they had 900+ squares sent in and to date have donated over $19,000 from the proceeds of these amazing quilts, shadow boxes and various other applications made with these tiny little pieces of art. The theme for the 2012/2013 project is "Flowers: Stitching to find a bloomin' cure". The OTTBS group's squares are varied but all beautiful. Some abstract and some literal. Some subdued in color and others wildly vibrant. Not only do they reflect the variety of the personalities in our group but, in their own way, pay tribute to the men & women who have beaten breast cancer, each one important and special in their own way.

These squares have brought us together as a group and united us in a common cause. It is my hope that in the next 3 months before our group's personal deadline of January 15, 2013, that we can do another 70 squares at least."

Not only has Janine organised the groups efforts but she also beaded the four beautiful squares shown above and kindly let me share them here. If you would like to see the other squares beaded by OTTBS Facebookers, the link to the group is on the top right of the page. Even if you aren't a member of our group, you can still join in, see the Bead & Button website for details.

Happy beading!

Sarahx