Goldwork shining through.

A good many of the first mailing of both goldwork groups are starting to show up on blogs and lists... and a wide variety of approaches are evident... I think the whole thing is new and I hope an exciting challenge to most in the both groups... There are too many to put in one blog so I will add them over the next few posts.  I had tried goldwork with Christmas trims a few years back and began to gather anything that was gold.

Arlene (also in Australia) is the most knowledgeable in the art as she actually took goldwork classes while in England..  On the left is her block for me... Her leaf is gold tulle edged with cording... 

I had asked for Jacobean flower which was not a favorite of hers... But quite often on such flowers each petal is a different pattern as hers are.  I was fascinated with the center which I believe is padded and a technique I see often in my goldwork books.  I am anxious to do it.  An area has a felt padding and is covering traditionally with gilded kid leather...  But I plan to cover the felt with other goodies from my stash...

She is definitely the goldwork bug expert and her beetles are to die for...  I am so tickled to have one on my block and I'm sure she will add them to any block if asked.  She even teaches an online class class on "beetle making" at Joggles.com.  This is on my "to try list" also...

I know Karen in Australia did a whole quilt with gold and called it "All That Glitters".  A flower made from gold ribbon is also on my "to try" list and she has one here.  One thing that wasn't on my list is a surface technique such as she did upper right..  It's on my list now as it reminds me of some of the goldwork from India I have seen on the Internet.

This is Janet's work for Flora... I received the blocks in today's mail.  In the photo I think the gold leaves tend to overpower the flower but NOT SO when you see it in person...  The flower is just stunning

It is gold netting which has gold sparkle in it and is edged with gold  chain stitch... The center is filled with gold beads...  I am anxious to start on one of  the blocks and will post about it on my other blog.

The Flora's fabric has a lot of black detail and Janet chose to finish all the seams with lovely black stitching combining her gold work with crazy quilting...

I will add some more blocks in my next posts... I am so delighted to see everyone experimenting with this.  I sent out bags of stuff from my stash and I am watching for it as the blocks emerge.