Feathers

One of my loves and inspirations is feathers.  I spend as much time looking at the ground for feathers as I walk as I do looking up in the trees for birds.  Last year when I was making a bag I embellished it with three types of feathers - beaded, real feathers, and a kantha feather.  Another feather I made a few weeks ago was from a piece of silk.  I drew a line down the centre of an imaginary feather with a gel pen, then cut it out and frayed all the edges with a pin.  It looks really lovely.

Silk feather

This is the "feather made of feathers" ...

Feathered Feather

It is rested on a piece of recycled flanellette sheeting that I dyed for the project - wonderful random warm colours.

Care of Feathers for Collectors:

In search of info on this topic, I found this page on EBay about caring for feathers, and I am linking to it for your interest.  Another thing I was told by someone is to always freeze feathers overnight (in a plastic bag, not on the shelf!) and this will kill any bugs on them - remember that one of the reasons birds shed feathers is because the wildlife on them is getting too itchy.