Oil Paint Sticks

I started this small piece with Markal (Shiva) Paintsticks a while back. Wasn´t happy with it and added some gold over the hole piece. Now I do some FMQ all over and it slowly is looking better. It is almost impossible to take a good picture. I might try a scan later. Maybe that will give a better detail view.With this piece I found a way to use up some of the Madeira metallic threads I was never able to use. I bought them a year or so ago and they absolutely didn´t work with me and/or my machine. I tried it all - tension top/bottom, different thread in the bobbin, all sorts of needles .... - nothing helped. And as I found the Superior Metallics which work without the slightest problem - just pop them in and quilt - I put the Madeira stuff away. But then, while quilting with 2 threads in one needle I thought maybe that would work. And it does! Now I have a golden Madeira and a poly-thread in one needle and both get along very well. It looks very interesting and with this piece I will try some colour variations and some colour combinations.

Oh, and I finally managed to update the blog-links. Lots of new links there...