Canada Wins Gold!!! Congratulations to all

To celebrate Canada's gold medals at the Olympics in Vancouver, here's gold worth stitching! According to Wikipedia, 'goldwork is the art of embroidery using metal threads'. This is a very specialized type of embroidery requiring a certain level of expertise. Using the proper materials is important.

The gold and blue sampler piece was stitched as part of a hand embroidery (level 5 ) course I took. It is worked on silk.

Inspirational pieces! Have a look at this sampler and this piece.







Check out these books on Goldwork:   
Beginner's Guide to Goldwork by Ruth Chamberlin provides a good introduction to Goldwork embroidery. This book explains the historical development of the style and includes a complete introduction to supplies and techniques used. The photos are excellent!

Goldwork by Valerie Campbell-Harding, Jane Lemon and Kit Pyman
New Ideas in Goldwork by Tracy A. Franklin
Metal Thread Embroidery by Jane Lemon

These are excellent books for Goldwork but I find them to be inspirational as well. You never know what will lead to a new piece of work!

Tanja Berlin has a free Goldwork Heart Design on her site. She has excellent instructions for anyone wishing to try out this particular technique. I've been fortunate to have taken a course with Tanja (not in this technique) and I hightly recommend her as a teacher.