Dark Queen of the Earth

Dark Queen of the Earth by Autumn Lane Stitchery — the second piece I’ve stitched from Autumn Lane’s four-piece Dark Queens series, following Dark Queen of the Seas. Where the Sea queen was undersea sorcery, this one is the forest — a dryad with antler-branch crown, wood-grain arms, glowing yellow eyes, and a teal-and-coral leaf-petal gown, standing inside an arch of twisting branches hung with charms, beads, and lantern-flowers.

Originally released as a 12-month mystery stitch-along running from September 2022, with multiple “choose-your-own-adventure” sections so different stitchers ended up with different hair colours, different facial features, and different optional elements in the surrounding scene. Mine has the red/coral hair option.

Stitched on 32ct Nightshade Opalescent linen from Under the Sea Fabrics — a deep-undertone hand-dyed wash with shimmer flecks woven through, the same opalescent base as the Bewitched I used on the Sea queen but in a darker, more forest-floor palette. Same trick: the soft glow around the figure isn’t stitched, it’s the fabric.

Threads are DMC for the bulk of the work plus Rainbow Gallery metallics for the highlights — the gold inside the lantern-flowers, the shimmer on the branches, and the accents along the dress. There’s also beading worked through the piece: the lime-green seed beads running down the front of the dress like buttons, beads in the hanging charms inside the branch-arch, and accents in her crown. Same finish-trick as the Sea queen — once the metallics and beads go in, the whole thing comes alive under directional light in a way the flat-floss-only version never would.

Finished January 5, 2024.