Perler mania

Sometimes you just get an idea and it wont lose its grip until you do something about it. I saw a placemat someone had made on IG and just had to give it a go. I am a bit to old to have been bitten by the perler bug as a child, and I had previously only seen small items made from perler or Hama beads. The concept of ironing to make them stick together was also new to me. The serendipity of coming across Hama beads at 40 % off in a local shop the day after made it clear to me that I had to give it a go. It turns out that there are mats that link together so you can get as large a surface as you want, and that you can by bags of perler all in one colour as well. A quick visit to this shop and I trotted home happily with six mats and bags full of read,white and blue beads.

Working with the beads turned out to be just as much of a mindfullness experience as those adult colouring books, and over the next few days I spent some calm hours beading along in between other tasks, making a mat for my kitchen counter in blue and white to go with my striped Cathrineholm bowl with a bow to those pretty lotus leaf bowls I have been searching for. I put a piece of parchment paper on top and used my iron to melt the beads together, and it worked just fine.
On the red and white one I was a bit too heavy handed, so there is an area that melted all the way through, but never mind, I'll just place a bowl or vase on that area when I use it.

Once these two mats were made I was done with the whole perler craze. For now anyway, so beads and mats are put away until the urge strikes again. Back to quilting.