A couple of weeks back, I finished this lovely lady, Lavender and Lace Angel of Winter. It was stitched as a housewarming gift for a dear friend of mine and as soon as I can afford to frame her I'll be giving it to her. She's stitched on Silkweaver's 40ct Poltergeist Linen, using Sullivan's floss, Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid and Wisper threads and SJ Designs Petite Beads. Very happy with how she turned out. May have to stitch her (and the other three in the set) for myself someday!
Before I post my next finish, just a note on the Sullivan's floss. It's not as soft as DMC or Anchor, nor does it have the sheen they do, however, it is quite nice to stitch with. The coverage is much better than DMC and it doesn't tangle, shred or knot up any more than Anchor or DMC do. Thumbs up.
And second, a note about beading on 40ct. Well, using size 15/0 (petite) seed beads if they're spaced out they fit very easily. If there is a densely stitched area of beading, you may have to do a little bit of fudging - skip a bead here and there - to make them fit. I've had the same issue with size 11/0 beads on 32ct so it's not more difficult than that. If you can find matching colours in Delica size 15/0 (labeled as DBS instead of DB) they fit better than standard round size 15/0 beads, but the colour selection is very limited in comparison.
Okay, on to my second recent finish, Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty. This one is stitched with DMC on 40ct Silkweaver Karma Linen, the beads are Toho size 15/0. I did change the colour of one of the beads, Iris - they seemed too red-violet. So I changed them to one that was more blue-violet. They look very blue in the picture, but they're much more purple IRL!
And a WIP - I'm much further than this now, working on the last two colours in her skirt. This is Mirabilia's Fairy Moon in my own colour scheme. The fabric is Sassy's 40ct Nightfall linen (approx DMC is 158 and darker, the picture shows it much lighter than it is) and I wanted the colours to really stand out, and I just felt the colour scheme was a little drab on this fabric. Plus, I wanted to avoid ANOTHER white dress. After all my changes, her dress is still white, but with purple shading instead of brown. Very happy with how she's coming along, and if my beads ever get here, I'll proably be done her in the next week or two. I'm a little concerned with the beading on this one, often after dying fabric shrinks a bit - well this one definitely did. It's no longer 40ct, but 46ct (yes I'm getting 23 stitches per inch). Shouldn't be a problem in most places as they're fairly scattered, but the moon may give me some hassles - if it does, I think I'll just sub it for Petite Treasure Braid or blending filament. ;)
If anyone wants my conversion, it's here.
As for my next project, I'm torn. I've worked up a conversion for Mirabilia's Stargazer, though I need to order beads for her. Lauren from Sassy's Fabrics is dying me up a custom colour for it that matches up perfectly and will be on it's way to me soon, though probably not before I finish this one. She's also doing up a lovely sky blue for Mirabilia's Cinderella, which I do have all the beads for - unless I change more colours on the fly which is a possibility. Several other Mirabilias, Lavender and Laces, Passione Ricamos and Joan Elliotts are calling me so who knows. Plus several of my WIPs have been calling too. And I just got another (to add to my 40 or so) HAED design which is just yummy and I might have to start - I think I have fabric for it. And as soon as I get my Christmas stash money, I have fabric on order for 3 other HAED pieces which I'd actually like to start AND finish in the next couple years. AND a couple of Ink Circles are calling me too if I can ever settle on colours for them. ARGH! So much to stitch, so little time. ;)
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