Saturday, September 5, 2009

GUINEA FOWL FEATHER

Yikes.....my fingers are really sore from hand quilting (not a surprise since my callouses are long gone after concentrating on beading lately). So, I'm taking a little break and am back working on another project.


Here's my inspiration......a Guinea fowl feather I spotted at my friend Dort's homestead. Dort is our 'Mother-earth' member from our PTA small fiber art group who raises various animals/birds.....

I drew a larger/longer shape on Pellon light-weight (non-fusible) interfacing.


The interfacing was hand basted along the outside edges of a piece of woolfelt....next the feather was outlined basted as well. This provided the shape on the right side which I've begun to fill with beadwork.

Creating circular shapes has been more difficult then I anticipated. I've tried numerous methods and was able to stitch circles but none achieved a flat appearance. In the end I had to choose between flat and not so round or elevated and round. I went for the flat look. I hope in the end the spots will work.

On this detail view, notice the right side of the feather tip......I've gone back and added some raised bead clusters to provide some 'fluff'. A few rows on the left side will also be 'fluffed'.....

When it's finished, I'll share the final work.

2 comments:

Anita Heady Fiber Arts, LLC said...

Ooh, I love this piece!

Nanette said...

I'm loving this guinea fowl feather. Can't wait to see it finished.