The particulars: The pattern is Queen Mermaid by Mirabilia. The fabric is 28 count (done over 2) Sterling Silver hand dyed linen from Silkweaver. She was started September 2010 and completed May 22, 2011.
She is my first finish of 2011. Ack!
QM is my first project since deciding to switch over to using 28 count fabric instead of 32 count fabric. After struggling getting all the beads on Midsummer Night's Fairy with her 32 count fabric, I decided that I'd start kitting up projects with 28 count if there were a lot of beads.
And QM definitely has a lot of beads, but honestly? They're so scattered across her that I don't think upsizing the fabric made much of a difference, except perhaps for her beaded collar and crown. But you'll be glad to know that the beads are sitting nicely in those areas thankyouverymuch. If I'd substituted Miyuki Delicas for the Mill Hills, I wouldn't have had anything to worry about at all as far as getting beads to fit neatly on. Duly noted for future projects.
The briolettes are a nice touch as far as the sparkle factor goes but are just kind of hanging on to her lower body. If I had to redo, I'd probably relocate them so that they looked like they were hanging off some of the seaweed instead of just hanging on to random body areas. Just sayin'. Also, the areas on the pattern that were left open for the briolettes and flower treasures were entirely too large (and oddly shaped to boot), so I did quite a bit of filling in there.
As I've mentioned before, I intend on doing Mirabilia's Deepest Love as a companion piece to Queen Mermaid. I have her kitted up and tucked away with another piece of Sterling Silver linen but I'm not sure that she'll be my next Mermaid start. Enchanted is calling quite loudly so we shall see. Eventually I'll have them framed to match so QM and Deepest can hang out together, probably in the powder room.
