"Monterey Seascape"

"The Lotus Eater"

"After the Rains"

Quilts & Tapestries
by Thom Atkins

Beads are another love of mine. I have been working off and on with them for some thirty years, starting with jewelry and adding bead embroidery and most recently, embellished quilts. One of my mentors has been my sister, *Robin Atkins, teacher, friend, and fellow beadophile. It was under her tutelage that I learned bead embroidery. I have since adapted the basic embroidery stitches for the application of beads to quilts. The work here shows my journey into the relationship of beads and fabric.
It started when I was rear-ended on the freeway and couldn’t do sculpture any more. I could, however, manage fabric and beads. Since I needed a new job, I began to explore the relationships between beaded and quilted surfaces and how they relate. I wanted to see beads as an integral part of the design, not just sitting on the surface. Beads and fabric complementing one another, neither one predominating, balanced. These quilts are the results of my explorations to find that balance. Recently I’ve been looking at the textures created when I sew the beads thru the quilt to the back and adding that element into the over all design of the quilts. That, along with various new techniques such as dyeing, painting, printing and reverse appliqué, have kept me working happily, if for no other reason than to see if the results look like what I have pictured in my head.
Announcement: I've written a book! Available soon HERE.

"Colorado Sunset"

"At Risk"

"Beetles in the Chard"

"Australian Dreamscape"