The Feather Fairy

A long-standing hobby of mine is cross-stitch embroidery. I started my first one while I still at school and haven't stopped since. In recent years, I've had less time for sewing, but it's still something I pick up occasionally and continue with. Tonight, I finished my latest project, The Feather Fairy.


The colours are much bolder than what is shown in the photo. (It could also do with an iron!) This design is one in a series of patterns from Mirabilia, of which I have completed about 15. I have also worked on about 10 Lavender & Lace patterns, created by the Mirabilia's designer's mother. To be honest, I don't know how many I've completed in total over the years; I ran out of wall space along time ago, so most are now packed up and sitting in my parents' basement. You guessed it: I'm a process person, rather than someone who is motivated by finished products.

The Feather Fairy is one of those projects that I started a couple of years ago. Stitching with cotton (DMC) is what I enjoy most and I have several hundred shades in my collection. This pattern had four spools of Kreinik metallic braid (it's expensive!) and some dark maroon seed beads. Again, I had dozens of shades of glass beads so decided to cut back on costs and substitute a similar colour I already had for the ones required. They seem like a good match and add some great texture.

Now all that's left to do is for me to stitch a signature at the bottom (usually my initials and the year), then I will take it to Nancy's Embroidery to choose a frame. Nancy's also stretch and pad it before framing. I'm quite discerning with the frames I select. It's a process I prefer to do on my own, ie without 'helpful' assistance from well-meaning observers. I place my embroidery on the floor and then browse all the frames available. Almost every time, I end up going with the very first frame I grab off the wall. Once or twice I went against my initial intuition and was disappointed in the final result, but the rest look great.

One of my 101 goals is to complete two embroideries within 1001 days, so that makes one more to go. I have already ordered my next pattern. The Bliss Fairy will match the The Feather Fairy.