OhSewCrafty Blog

• Design by Joan Elliott
• Materials: Hearth Belfast (Colour & Cotton), DMC, Kreink, Mill Hill beads
• Size: 10.5″ x 14″
• Time to stitch: at least 20 stitchy days since 2020, sorry my record keeping over 21-22 isn’t great

Oldest WIP no more!  Fairy Rain is finished, second in the Aerial (or weather, as I think of it) series (I stitched Fairy Rainbow a few years back). 

The pattern is fine, the colors are cool and soothing, all my favorites, really.  The skirt is huge and definitely takes some time, but it’s bands of color, so the stitching is easy.  She is incredibly sparkly with allover beading and plenty of sparkly Kreinik, used mostly for backstitch.  As for the backstitching, there is a lot of it!  I’ve learned my lesson well and backstitched as I went along.  My favorite aspects of this chart are the rainy effect, all the sparkle of water with the raindrops falling around her, dripping down her outfit, emanating from her wings.  She revels in the rain and generates it too!  I also love her gorgeous inky black hair and beautiful face.  Her look is quite different compared to blonde Fairy Rainbow, and I appreciate the diversity in the collection.  And I like the puddle at the bottom, too.  The details in the chart are so lovely, and that’s a hallmark of Joan Elliott’s designs. 

As for the materials, I couldn’t be happier with the fabric I chose, Hearth is grey with a subtle undertone of purple, and it definitely reminds me of the sky on rainy days.  Colour and Cotton fabric is just lovely, easy to stitch on, my needle glides though.   Many colors of DMC are used, typically 3-4 shades of each tone, three colors of Kreinik #4 braids (indigo, gunmetal hi lustre, and silver), and three colors of beads (crystal blue, satin blue, and petite ice).  The petite ice beads are charted in between regular stitches, and I basically worked those beads over 1 thread in the fabric, between stitches.  For that reason, I think linen or even weave is best for this design.  And there are a small number of fractionals too, mostly for the face.

I did chart a lot of my own backstitch, because I dislike the stair step effect for “fancy” charts.  I like smooth curves and sharp points.  This lovely lady took way too long to finish, due to my long stitching hiatuses of 2021 and 2022.  But now, it’s a fantastic feeling to have another big finish! 

Now my rotation is devoid of Joan Elliott, sadly.  I’m considering the Blue Christmas Angel, but I already have the Sandy Littlejohns’s Christmas Angels on the go, or JE Father Christmas, but I have Jim Shore Santa’s Workshop in progress, too.  Besides, I currently have 15 wips (8 large/medium & 7 smalls/ornaments) so perhaps that is enough.