The final plan (sorta)

Everything now will be spontaneous placement.  The strawberries (ripe and unripe) and the beak will be stumpwork.. Shapes cut out of felt and then embroidered over.  The leaf shapes 1,2 & 3 will be satin stitched with Krienik threads and worked off block... The stems for the berries and leaves will be the same large cording I used around the bird.

Here is how the bird looked when I cut it out and pinned it in place.  I wanted  a blank space below the head and where the leaf curves up. The will act as a frame for the stolen fruit.  (see above photo)

The minute I pinned it on the block I knew I had made the right decision with the choice of fabric and leaving the metallic body unadorned.

I love using the larger cording when outlining something to be appliqued. I give it just the slightest roll outward and it pulls under any loose threads as I stitch it down..  I stitch almost all the way around and leave a small opening by the tail and then stuff it slightly with some batting.

I cut the leaf shapes from paper and pin them around until I am satisfied with them.  Then I can figure out the best placement for the strawberries.

If you look closely you can really see how much larger the braided cording is than the fine cording I used for the leaves... As I look at it now I realize I haven't used any of the gold braid in my stash.  I will try to incorporate some into my larger leaves...

Unfortunately I must dash into the shower and be off.  I'll be unable to stitch very little for 3-4 days.  It's a shame because I'm on a roll with this and could stitch nonstop for hours and hours..

Fool's Gold - Maire's RR block

I've finished the couched frilly leaves at the bottom of the block with 4 rows of gold cording..  I haven't beaded inside the leaves yet but you can see in the bottom photo how it will look..  I wasn't sure how if I want just a little beading along the stem or more all over side the leaf... So I stuck it in photoshop and tried it both ways..

I still have a few ends to trim and the loose ends  on the right will not be finished until I do the satin stitched leaf there...  I scanned the piece so the gold doesn't show up very well...

I'm doing the bird on a hoop the same as I do birds on felt.  So you can see that I did the same first step as always... a tight chain stitch all the way around...  Sometimes I run the cording along side the chain stitch but this time I am putting it right on top of the chain stitch.

The main feature on the bird was to be the jeweled wing which I did tonight..  At this point it is ready to cut out and applique on the block...

This is the thickest gold cording which I use...BUT it also the worst to finish as it does fray terribly. As you can see it is actually braided.  If I were doing it on felt I could poke a hole with an awl and put the end to the back.  But this metallic fabric is so fragile I don't dare poke a hole in it so I have solved the fraying ends in another way..

When I can tell where the cording is going to end I massage that section with a tiny bit of E6000 glue and as it dries I compress it with my fingers and then satin stitch the end and trim... You can see this technique where the cording on the head ends at the wing... Ordinarily I am hesitant to use glue on my projects but in some cases it does the job better than anything else.

The end on the right I will trim when I applique it on the block.

"I'll put it somewhere safe!" ..Sound familiar?

I'm always looking for something.. sometimes several somethings.  I know they're not lost because "I put them somewhere safe."  A couple weeks ago I actually was NOT looking for something.  It was such a rare occasion that I had to tell all my friends... Well it didn't last long.

Remember the antique brass door knobs I used as finials on two of the posts of my new railing....  ( I didn't show you how gorgeous they were when I polished them...).  I had two more knobs for the upper posts.

The upper posts were  6x6 and I had to order the black caps for them online. While I was waiting for the caps to come in the mail I wanted to put the other knobs "somewhere safe where I would remember them." and I did but I forgot....  So after the caps came I spent days and days searching for the knobs... Today I accidentally almost burned a batch of sour cream rolls and all that sugar made a mess of my baking sheet.  When I went back under the kitchen sink to get a super scrubber there were the knobs... I had put them in a ziplock bag and attached them with a rubber band to the can of "Brasso" cleaner.

What can I say...it seemed perfectly logical at the time.  So the lost is found except now I can't find the two wood caps that will hold the knobs............  Sigh.........................

Decisions

It's hard to say which I enjoy more... the design stage or the important decisions stage... Decisions I make at this point are not reversible and sometimes I don't realize I made the wrong decision until the piece is done.. So I try to take great care in my choices at this point.

Last night it was the fabric for the bird..  The bird is the most important element on this block and since the entire block is all gold, to make the bird stand out requires "super" gold.  As I went through my gold fabric I narrowed it down to a yummy elegant gold silk, a glistening gold taffeta and a small piece of metallic gold woven fabric... The latter won hands down.  Unfortunately it not scan well...

It actually sparkles and glistens like the ribbon pictured.  I do not want to lose this quality so will experiment with stitches that don't overpower it.. But the wing will be jeweled.. I only had that one piece of that fabric...about 5x7".. barely big enough for the bird as you can see.. Since it is woven and frays easily, I have backed it with Allie's wonderful knitted interfacing which will allow me to work with it off block on a hoop... My plan is to slightly pad it when it is appliqued to the block..

If you look closely you can see I have basted the outline of the bird on the fabric. I transferred the design to the back of the block using my "cut-away transfer" method and then basted it so it is visible on the front. And I do ALL the basic steps that I do for my birds on felt. The first and MOST IMPORTANT step is outlining it with a tight chain stitch to prevent fraying...  The chain stitch in this instance will also act as a guide for the couched cording.

Couching....what works for me...

I struggled with the gold couching on my first goldwork block but now it is one of my favorite things to do because I have found what works for me... On this piece I find I like 4 rows of cording and am making headway.

First my fabric has to be taut on a hoop or the cording shifts until you have several rows stabilized..

(Red Dot)  when I start I leave a little tail.  It is much easier than trying to work the end in tight at the start.

(Arrows)  Then since I have a long piece of cording that could flop around and be hard to handle,,,  I create a "path" for it with pins....see arrows. They don't keep the cording solid.  It just passes under the pins and allow me to adjust the slack and the tension.  It's like having another hand.

(Asterisk)  When I am doing a double strip as I will for the veins on these leaves, I fold a piece in half and start at the fold and work the two pieces of cording as one....  MUCH easier than going up and back for a narrow strip.

(Circle)  I leave all beginning and ending tails loose until I am completely finished.  I can do a much tidier job of it when I am doing a bunch together rather than individually.  I do a satin stitch on the final 1/16" and then clip closely.

Since this piece is light colored brocade and silk I do not try to carry it about to work on it...

And in case you have forgotten this is the rough design for this block... Maire had asked for an interpretation of the Wm Morris "Strawberry Thief".