And sew it is finished….

A day of rest following a lot of paint stripping (we are redecorating the outside of the house), and I finally managed to finish the ‘Bird on a Wire’ goldwork project by Helen Stevens. I am quite pleased with the results, although I think that I will need to work further on my ‘s-ing’ (the technique used to form the branch) as this is not of equal size along the length of the branch.

I have learnt a lot of new techniques during this project, including basket weaving and using gold plate, and have to say that at the moment I am really enamoured (maybe a little strong!) with goldwork. But what to do with this piece next – is the only option to mount and frame it for a wall? Any ideas?

And sew to the next project……. anyone who knows me, knows that I love brooches and that before becoming a teacher I worked as an entomologist studying ground beetles (amongst other things) – what better project could there be if I combined both interests? I bought Jane Nicholas’ book ‘The Stumpwork Beetle Collection’ sometime ago and have been wanting to attempt one of her projects for a long time – but did not feel I had the appropriate skills in goldwork. But why not now?

A beautiful book by Jane Nicholas

Gold beetle by John Paul Miller.

Carabus coptolabrus

The thing is – I want to go big! I love the stylized gold beetle so maybe I will use this, although the appearance of 8 legs does not sit right with me, so he needed a little adapting. Apologies but drawing is not my forte…

Now all I need to decide is which method of padding to use – do I follow Jane Nicholas’ method, or maybe simple stuff an outline of material as I did for the 3D goldwork bird by Helen Richman.