October 22, 2020

Beads without End

with Martha Forsyth and Pat Iverson

7 - 8:30pm EDT

online via Zoom

Buy access to this presentation in the SOFA section of the FAC Music Shop.

About the Workshop

Join us Thursday on Zoom to learn how Martha and Pat got started with bead crochet in Bulgaria. This session will not be a beading lesson, nor a sales event; instead, they'll share some of their adventures and experiences in learning and teaching this technique, and show costume and beadwork pictures.

About Martha and Pat

Pat Iverson and Martha Forsyth are the founders of Beads Without End, a small women's collective who make crocheted beaded jewelry - and whatever else suits their fancy.

Martha had heard about/seen bead crochet, and knew that it was done somewhere in Bulgaria. Fast forward: A chance encounter at a gas station in Bulgaria in 1992 netted Martha the information that "anybody" in the town of Sârnitsa (Сърница) could teach her how to do this bead crochet. Accordingly, two years later when Pat and Martha (and Martha's husband Dick) found themselves visiting friends in that town, they asked their hostess (a school teacher) if she knew someone who could show them how to do it. She did indeed: one of her students took some time out of her haying to come and visit. She pulled out of her pocket a baggie with some beads, some thread, and a tiny crochet hook in it. Martha (who understood Bulgarian better) sat in the hot seat, and Pat (who spoke crochet better) watched over her shoulder. And the rest, as they say, is history.