So Naughty.....

Truly....

Back in the last round of kitting up Mirabilias, I had a piece of Amsterdam Blue linen that I wanted to use up, and decided to do Queen Mermaid on it.    After I got the floss...I was a bit "meh" about the floss drop on the dark grey-blue fabric.   

I think it could have worked, but the Amsterdam Blue just wasn't bringing anything to the table to make Queen Mermaid pop. 

I obviously wasn't in a hurry to start the project (having so many going and a bunch of other Miras also kitted) so I just sat on the project, occasionally thinking about what to do.    I was ok reconsidering the fabric because I already had the piece;  I don't feel like I'm "wasting" it as it will just go back into storage where it's been the last 2 years.

Anyway....I go play on the Mirabilia Fabric Viewer fairly regularly, and after playing around quite a bit, I have really grown to like the idea of doing Queen Mermaid on a pearly gray background.   Of course, there are a lot of options there, in both solid and hand dyed.   You know me - I don't especially like a busy background, so I prefer either solids or just a subtle design.   Since solids are a lot less expensive than hand dyeds, there's that to consider as well.

I jumped into a conversation on a Mira discussion board about the fabric for Queen Mermaid, and it was suggested that she's a great companion for Mira's Deepest Love, because they both form either side of a circle, like so: 

In fact, someone rather ambitious has done both mermaids on one piece of fabric here.....isn't it fantastic?

So of course, now I'm sold on doing them both (although I will do them as 2 separate pieces), which means that I also want to do them on the same color of fabric....which means that I not only have to buy a new piece of fabric for Queen Mermaid but also for Deepest Love...have I mentioned that my budget is really tight right now?  LOL   Fortunately, I already have the pattern for Deepest Love.

Anyway....I've been jonesing to get started on Queen Mermaid the last couple weeks, especially with Sleeping Beauty drawing to an end.   I narrowed my fabric choices down to Zweigart's Pearl Gray (a solid) and Silkweaver's Sterling Silver.   Both pieces are heavily beaded and as difficult as it was to get all the beads on Midsummer Night's Fairy on 32 count fabric, I had decided to start using 28 count fabric for heavily beaded works when possible.

I've been playing around all morning with sizing so I can buy the smallest piece of fabric possible (and therefore spend the least), and if I do them on 28 count and deal with there only being about a 2 1/2 inch margin on either side (there will be a larger margin top and bottom)...I can get both pieces on a fat half of linen.  YAY!  I really try not to have extra pieces of un-assigned fabric in my stash;  it's both the storage and the cost of having something that is not being used.   Obviously it's a good savings if you can make a pre-sized cut of fabric work for you rather than buying a bigger piece and wasting a bunch of it. 

So the winner?

Silkweaver's Sterling Silver.  I broke down and ordered a fat half this morning. 

I think they will be beautiful on this fabric.    I know a lot of people really like the brightly colored hand dyed fabrics, but they're just not my speed for the most part.   This has got a lovely subtle shading, like Fathom from Picture This Plus, which I did both Mermaid of Atlantis and Sleeping Beauty on.  I got a fat half there and squeezed as much onto it design-wise that I could, and that worked out well. 

So yes...I was naughty.  I didn't really need this but sometimes, you just have to!