Red is finished!

I spent my Saturday beading and adding the finishing touches to Red by Mirabilia.  She was my New Year's New Start for 1 January and I was stitching her as part of the Mirabilia SAL going on over on Flosstube.  Last year I named three charts that I was desperate to start in 2015 as they had been on my wishlist for ages and Red was one of them as I adore fairy tale themes, costumes and dresses (incidentally the other two designs were Plum Pudding by Glendon Place and A Flamestitch by Scarlet Letter).  As this year I am having a moratorium on Chatelaines and HAEDs (HAEDs turned out to be very easy to give up!), it means that all my stitching time can be dedicated to all the other designers' charts I have sitting in a drawer that I've wanted to stitch for ages!

So here she is, Red - my first (and probably my last!) Mirabilia and fifth finish for 2015:

 

 

Red is stitched on Crafty Kitten's Winter Skies belfast linen and I am so pleased with the way she turned out on that fabric.  I was going for a "Winter Wonderland" feel rather than an "Enchanted Forest" feel :).  I stitched her skin over one and although it was a bit of a killer (I'm naughty and don't use a magnifier!), I think it was worth it!

 

The part I enjoyed the most was actually the beading which surprised me.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE beading - just not beading with Mill Hill seed beads, I've been spoiled by the Delica beads of Chatelaines!  I was feeling a bit meh about her until I added the beads, they really made the design for me.

 

 

 

I think if I'd stitched my first Mirabilia a few years ago, I would have gone crazy and stitched a fair few, but after stitching Chatelaines it's hard for other designs to measure up for me sometimes.  As the majority of my finishes end up in The Finished Drawer, the enjoyment of stitching is all in the process for me - picking my own colours, the threads I use, the different techniques and stitches required etc - and not so much about the finish (I will add at this point that I am a stitcher that has NO UFOs!).  So although I may not stitch another Mirabilia myself, I will continue to enjoy seeing others stitch them up as they are beautiful designs - that is the great thing about stitchers sharing their work, you get to stitch vicariously!

 

Now I get to play with my stash and pack away my Red threads and pull new ones out for my two Operation Threadporn projects for February.  The desk in my craft room is covered in threads that need to be bagged and tagged so as I'm a bit stitched out after finishing Red, playing with stash is the next best thing to stitching!

 

And what's next for Red?  Well she is destined for The Finished Drawer, but don't worry she'll have Celtic Spring and Joan Elliott's Medieval Lady to keep her company and show her the ropes .............

 

Happy Stitching!