Glass Birds

 Last night I finished the yo yo runner for my DS.  It always feels good to finish something, even a small table runner.  

Moving on to another UFO on the list.  This one has only been in the UFO basket for about a month.  The famous glass artist, Oiva Toikka (OT) of Finnland, produced many beautiful works of glass art during his lifetime.  I came in contact with his work while living in Germany.  He had a way of making the bird look simply shaped, but adding metallic accents and color for texture.   One day while window shopping, I spotted a beautiful glass bird made by the artist.  It was a fat red bird with a metallic head and spotted with metallic glass in the body. Of course, I couldn't afford to purchase it.  That was over 15 years ago and I still remember it.  About a month ago, I saw an article to challenge yourself making a small piece interpreting your favorite artist (not necessarily a quilt artist).  So, I chose OT and his glass birds.  

I've been saving silk fabric pieces and silk threads for years, so I chose some of those.  I also wanted to use the foiling technique again, so added that to it.  The background fabric is a dyed piece of cotton I did last year.  I had a piece of Angelina fiber that looked metallic, so I wanted to use that for the beak.  All these bits came together and I went to work on drawing out a bird representing OT's work.    

This is as far as I've gotten.  I may do some altering (ripping out).  The pieces are simply appliquéd using monopoly thread, but I don't like the look, so I may try the silk threads.  I also want to do the trapunto technique.  When finished it will just be the size of one of my post cards.