I find geometry baffling. Oh, sure, when I was a teenager, I understood the concept of proving theorems and even enjoyed the task. I arrived at the right answers even though I always left out a few steps of the logic required to arrive at a solution to the problem. No one, including my math teacher Jay Calkins, who now lives in Orono, could figure out how I got the right answers yet have the reasoning wrong. Is there such a thing as math by intuition?

What, you may ask, does geometry have to do with making fabric beads? Answer: Drawing an isosceles triangle, which has two equal sides.

The triangle is the pattern. So go ahead, get some paper and draw a line 1 inch long. Mark the center. Place the ruler, at right angles, on that mark and measure out 4 inches. Mark that point. Now draw a line from that point to the beginning of the 1-inch line and draw another line to the end of the 1-inch line to make a triangle. Use the pattern to make a template from heavy paper you can trace around.

Are you having fun yet? Good, because we’re way beyond geometry now and ready to move on to building the beads.

Go find the box where you keep fabric scraps. Chose lightweight cottons, linens or silky stuff. If you don’t have a scrap bag, check your closet to see what you’d be willing to sacrifice to the craft goddess. Iron creases out of the fabric. Trace around the template and cut out the triangles using a rotary cutter. Or cut each one individually with scissors.

You’ll need a small knitting needle – a size 3 or 4. If you don’t have knitting needles, use a small nail – a hardware store is a great asset to those of us inclined to craftiness. (Don’t ever forget that – even though from time to time you may encounter things geometric in the store.) I prefer to use a nail instead of a knitting needle. The nail I use is bigger than a panel nail, but way smaller than a spike.

Starting at the widest end of the triangle, roll the fabric around the knitting needle or nail. When you get to the last inch, spread some white glue on it, finish rolling and hold the pointy end fast to make sure it sticks. A glue stick will work for this, too, but not as well. Slip the bead off the needle.

Make a few more beads. After the glue has dried, think about the yarn and thread you have hanging around the house. Choose giddy colors, metallics, eyelash, embroidery floss, crochet cotton. Cut snippets of thread or yarn and wrap the strands around the beads, knotting the ends and leaving them about a quarter-inch long. Fine-gauge wire – remember what I said about the hardware store? – threaded with tiny glass beads makes a nice embellishment, too.

String the beads on a length of waxed linen thread using glass beads as spacers.

If you don’t want to mess with fabric, cut triangles from fashion magazines instead. Make the triangles only a half-inch wide at the base instead of 1 inch. One page will yield several dozen beads. Roll these around a size 2 knitting needle, glue stick the last inch and finish wrapping.

String the paper beads on fishing line. Add beads as spacers.

Paper and fabric beads are a fun project for mothers and daughters to do on rainy days. Visit http://www.hiraeth.com/ytg/projects/beads/bead1.htm for more information about making paper beads.

Snippets

. Remember aprons? I’m seeking readers who have apron-related stories and memories they’d be willing to share for a future article.

. The Moosehead Quilters will hold its first quilt show, Quilts in the Woods, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at DBK Catering, Pleasant Street, Greenville. Tea on the veranda will be available 1-4 p.m. To learn more about the show, call Libby Collins, 695-3858, or Paula Hanson, 695-3648.

. The Wilson Museum in Castine has in its collection a valentine sent to Abigail Almira Hawes in 1856. The valentine also may be viewed at the museum’s Web site, www.wilsonmuseum.org.

Ardeana Hamlin may be reached at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.