Last week when I showed you the beginnings of this silk embroidery project, I didn’t realize exactly how difficult it would be to write about something, without showing you the “Whole Something.”

Some of you guessed right away that this silk project is a bird of sorts – and it is!

The design is inspired by the swashes and flourishes of ornamental penmanship of the 19th century.

This is the type of ornamental, swashy penmanship samples I’m talking about. I chose a much simpler design as my starting point – these flourishy things can get so very ornate!

When I first approached the project, I was thinking in terms of black-on-white, or black-on-parchment-colored fabric, to mimic as closely as possible the pen work. But as I worked through the preliminaries, that idea just didn’t grab me. After all, the two mediums are completely different. What may look beautiful done with pen and ink will not necessarily look the same when attempted with needle and thread.

Then, I went to the other extreme – I contemplated whitework, with a lot of texture, since this would be practically opposite of the pen work, which is black and completely flat and one dimensional. But that didn’t grab me, either.

So I settled on my Greatest Love – silk, with a touch of goldwork. Nothing like working within one’s comfort zone, eh?

One thing I have discovered along the way is a nice way to create a slightly textured background with a bit of glimmer to it. I’ll show you that discovery next time we take a peek at this project!

A little peek here, a little peek there. At least you know I’m working on something!

Tomorrow, needlework tools! I’ll be giving away two nice groups of Bohin needlework-related tools, including needles, scissors, and the like! See you then!