Fantail pattern revamp - Day 303-305

It has been ages since I made a fantail!
I have 2 very cute fantails flitting about the trees in my garden at the moment, and they inspired me to re-look at my patterns. I knew they were missing something, and then it came to me.. legs!!!
So after a number of failed attempts, (including strange little copper ones!) I have legs I am happy with. They are wrapped with cotton to make them look more life like.
they still have some movement with the wire so can be moved to help with balance or to help perch. I now have a little flock... next... can I do the same thing with my takahe?!

More Fantail Brooches - Day 13

Sunday was a day of Fantails. I needed to make some more brooches and caught myself finetuning some of the design.
My original brooches have a solid border, but I was curious to see how they would look if it was cut closer to the actual shape. I will need to mull this over before my next batch, as I think the closer one is better.

 Here in NZ this bird is actually called pīwakawaka. 
 (Bonus... click on the picture to go and hear some fantail sounds)

 Mythology lesson for the day....


In Māori mythology the fantail was responsible for the presence of death in the world. Maui, thinking he could eradicate death by successfully passing through the goddess of death, Hine-nui-te-po, tried to enter the goddess’s sleeping body through the pathway of birth. The fantail, warned by Maui to be quiet, began laughing and woke Hine-nuite- po, who was so angry that she promptly killed Maui.