Experiment with Star Anise

A friend of mine brought back some spices from India to remind me of the scents of the country. Among them was star anise.

According to Wikipedia, star anise "is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening."

I was really taken with the star shape of the fruit and could envision it in an art quilt. So, I have been playing with a beaded rendition of the shape.

Here is where I have gotten to. You can see the original dried seedpods  and my beaded interpretation.

Will keep you posted on how this develops. I have one more beaded design idea to play with.