8/30/2012

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.

2 comments:

Marilyn said...

Looking good so far and I love the bird's wing. It will add sparkle - always a good thing. I think my middle name should be "crow" because I love sparkly things.

Anonymous said...

That is one beautiful bird! Your technique for ending the gold cording is wonderfully inventive. It looks perfect where the head and wing join. This block is turning out to be your grand finale!!
SusieW

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