I'm baaaaaack!

So, let's state the obvious: it's been almost 2 months since I posted. I've been kicking myself about it throughout my entire hiatus, but I just haven't found the energy for blogging. In preparation for this post, I took a bunch of pictures of all of the things I've made lately (I have been making things, I swear!), but even then, I wasn't quite sure where to start. 

Since the Refashioners challenge is going on right now, and since I'd really love to win that prize pack, let's start with that project, shall we? When I first started getting into sewing a few years ago, the couple of blogs that I followed were very big into refashioning. I saw so many cute projects made with men's button-down shirts, so I headed off to Goodwill and picked up quite a few of them (at fill-a-bag prices, they were only about $0.25 each!). 

After just one failed refashion attempt, I threw the remaining shirts in a corner and forgot about them...until I saw this picture of a quilt top that Sewaholic had been working on, and knew I had to do the same. 

[It was a windy day, I swear (/hope) it's straight!]

Luckily, the shirts I'd picked out way back when had a very unified color scheme! Cutting the shirts apart was a task, but I plopped down on the floor with some good (trashy) T.V. and set about getting as many usable pieces of fabric as I could. I decided to go with
6" x 6" blocks to maximize fabric. I also decided, kind of last-minute, to keep the pockets as a fun little detail. 

When it came time to do the actual quilting, I was inspired by Handmade Jane's method, and went with complementary blue thread to fit the theme. I also found some random gray cotton in my stash that I decided to use for the binding (very proud that I decided not to go out and buy store-bought binding for this one). 

The layout took me a while, but I like how the alternating vertical-horizontal stripes stripes turned out. 

I had no idea what to use for the back, but I stumbled on some great chambray at Wal-Mart for $1/yard! After washing, it turns out that it's not actually so great (though I shouldn't be surprised at that price tag) - it tears easily, so I'll have to be really careful when using this. I do like the look of the quilting on the back, though!

I have no idea how big this is, but there's a fair bit hanging over the edge of the fence at the top. Maybe a skinny twin? I can't decide if I want to keep this for myself or give it as a gift, but I do know that I love it!
 

Bonus: I've got extra bit all pieced (though I'm not sure how to finish it, because it's really not big enough for anything). Any ideas?

Anyway, hopefully I can get back to my regular blogging schedule soon (although my upcoming trip to Istanbul might throw a wrench in that - I definitely plan to buy ALL of the fabric, though, I'll have to show you when I get back!).

 

Long-awaited Walking Dead Quilt is DONE!

Warning: this will be a very picture-heavy post. I've tried to restrain myself, but...too much goodness to share.

This all started over Thanksgiving. Shopping the JoAnn Black Friday sale, my mom stumbled upon some Walking Dead fabric right before our number was called at the cutting counter. We had no idea what we were going to do with it, but we knew that we had to have it. Three were cotton prints, one was a flannel (the latter of which I haven't used yet). I'm not exactly sure when the idea for this baby came to me, but it was sometime during the making of my wanderlust quilt (around Christmas) that I thought about doing something similar, using a quote or catchphrase combined with a visual symbol of each person.

 

I eagerly started crowdsourcing ideas from my parents (both loyal fans) and friends, though I will say that I already had quite a list of ideas going (more ideas than what made it into the quilt, actually!).

I wanted a good representation of all of the main characters, or as many as I could get. Some were easy to think of (Michonne = katana, Rick = sheriff's badge, hat), and some proved much more challenging.

 
[Rick's badge, Michonne's katana, and poor Carl, copied from a design found here.]

Re-watching the New Years marathon certainly helped come up with more good quotes. Rick and Carl ended up over-represented, Lori got left out (spoiler alert: I was so happy when she died!).

[More Rick, asking the important questions. Daryl's wings and best quote ever. Maggie's quote coupled with what she's (not) afraid of - she doesn't have an easily recognizable symbol, does she?]

There are a few designs that I just think are kind of brilliant and/or particularly well-executed:

[Sign on the tree Daryl and Andrea found, along with a (grim) noose that I really like the look of. Rick's pistol, with the "Python .357 very intricately made (better up-close). Carol's revolver with some pretty flowers.]

Another favorite: the map leading to Terminus, with the same handwriting as is found on the signs. And, drum-roll, please...a signed logo square (more on that in a minute)!

That's right, as soon as I found out about Walker Stalker Con Chicago (Feb. 21st), I knew I had to finish this and take it with me. The deadline was pretty tight. I had 20 squares to finish embroidering, interfacing, squaring up, and then the back to create. 

The back...I am really proud of. I got the idea to blood-splatter it, how fitting is that? My first idea was to use some fabric dye and really get in there and splash it around. But where to do it? I wanted to hang it over the fence, but my yard was covered in three feet of snow - not very practical. Then a friend suggested doing it in the shower for easy clean-up. Great idea in theory, but in practice? I ended up with dye in my nose (for DAYS afterwards), bruises from slipping and sliding in the shower, dye splattered on everything in the bathroom, and when I washed the fabric and all was said and done...I had a blotchy pink sheet. Sigh. So much for that idea. 

Luckily, I found some good fabric paint, and after some trial and error, developed a method to my madness (involving some painting and some really fun splattering).

Now, back to the con: 

I met T-Dog (a.k.a. Irone Singleton), who gave me a HUGE hug and signed my quilt! He was such a sweetheart, spent several minutes with each person in line, had conversations with them, and seemed to really care what they were saying.

 

I also met Daniel Thomas May (Allen, one of Tyrese's group) - before things got too crazy we were able to have a nice convo with him. I apologized that I didn't have a square for him, but he was still impressed, ha. He actually asked me if he could take a picture with me and the quilt!

 

I also chatted for a bit with the actors who played Jackie and Jim. They admired my quilt, but no autographs or pics because I was feeling cheap (who knew cons charged so much for that stuff?)

Finally, Jay Bonansinga, author of the Walking Dead novels, first admiring, and then signing, my quilt. Turns out my friend knew him!

I also had to include a shot of my favorite group of cosplayers - these people were seriously impressive:

[Daryl, Beth, Maggie, and Glenn]

All in all, it was a pretty fun day. I caught lots of people admiring my quilt, pointing, staring, and some even asked me where I got it...to which I proudly got to say, "I made this!" I handed out a few business cards, and am even thinking about offering custom designs on Etsy (though I never have much luck with sales!)

And, if you're still with me, some more close-ups:

[Rick encouraging Lori to have hope after Carl was shot, because instead of talking about horrible things when he woke up, "He talked about the deer." Beth's best quote, along with the instrument she used to take her revenge. Shane's necklace with Rick's quote (because Shane didn't have any good, short quotes). The prison, and "pulling together."]

 

[Can't remember whose quote this was, but that brain is seriously impressive. More Daryl, because you can't have a Walking Dead quilt without a crossbow. The group's motto (when they can follow it).] 

[Herschel's quote and crutches. Glenn's "walker bait." And of course, baby asskicker.]

This turned out to be a pretty decent stash-bust. Almost 3 yards of Walking Dead fabric, a huge king bedsheet (which I'm counting as 4 yards), and some interfacing and batting I had on hand. The only thing I bought for this was the fabric paint (and dye, whoops), and the bias binding. I really got my nerd on with this one, and I love it!

*Edited to add: I'm now taking custom orders! Visit my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ForWhoItsFor

Wanderlust Quilt

I love to travel. Ever since got off of the plane to study abroad in Barcelona when I was 19, it's been in my blood. I lived abroad for 2 years and during that time, traveled to around 15 countries. This wanderlust inspired me to start my globe collection (currently at 7 globes and 2 big pieces of map artwork), my travel-themed scrapbook paper collection, and, though it's harder to find, my travel-themed fabric collection, the latter of which led to this beauty: 

I found the fabric with the cancelled postage stamps a while back and, though I didn't have a specific plan in mind, I just had to have it. 

My mom found these iron-on embroidery patterns on clearance at Hobby Lobby and knew I'd love them. I'd never done any embroidery before, but she was right, I did absolutely adore them. My initial plan was to only use the patterns for the countries I'd visited, but another plan began to take its place once I found this fabric:

I picked it up at a garage sale last summer, and the kitchy world landmarks print initially reminded of Roisin at Dolly Clacket, though I didn't think I was quite adventurous enough to wear it like I imagined she would. I snagged 3 yards of it and once I got it home, it all began to come together. 

I only used 10-12 different colors of embroidery floss for all of the prints - I really like that the instructions have you use colors that coordinate so well.

Once I got the idea, I could barely stop. Even when it came time for all of the tedious bits (interfacing, squaring up), I plunged through it like a champ.

I'm so so happy with the way it turned out, especially considering I'm a relative novice at both embroidery and quilting. I didn't cut many corners on this like I normally would - I wanted it as close to perfect as I could get it. (It looks much wrinklier in these pics than in real life.)

Will definitely approves, too. I barely got all of the cat hair off of it before he jumped on it again! Everything but the bias binding was from my stash - great start to the new year!

Where's your wanderlust taking you these days?

Oh! I also finally joined the bandwagon on Instagram - my username (is that what the kids are calling it?) is forwhoitsfor. Lots of sneak peeks on there, and I'm always looking to follow more crafty ladies (and gents)!

Rainbow stash-busting

Well, after almost 9 months, it's finally done!

As usual, it's far from perfect, but I don't care, I love it!

I've talked about this a couple of times in the past, but it was inspired by this beauty:

[Hope Valley quilt by Jolene Klassen]

For once, almost all of the fabrics I used were from the stash, woohoo! I only bought 1/4 yard for this project specifically. All of the colored fabric was stuff that's been sitting around for quite a while, and the white on the front and the blue binding were recent stash acquisitions as part of a HUGE quilter's auction. 

I think Will (my new kitten, yay!) approves, don't you? 

This was definitely a labor of love, and impatience. While I certainly see a lot of flaws with this quilt, no one else seems to, and I did learn quite a bit. I'm already eagerly looking forward to making another...my Pinterest board is overflowing with ideas. I just can't decide where to start. What do you think?

Quilt progress!

The quilt top is now done!

 

It's not perfect by any means (but is also not nearly as wrinkled and crooked as this photo makes it seem), but I still think my friend will love it!

For the gray border, I used this random piece of fabric from my stash:

I think I picked it up for $1 or so at a garage sale, and there were probably 3 yards of it...but I didn't realize until I unrolled it that it's a tube of fabric!  So strange, I've never seen anything like it.

I still need to figure out what material to use for the back. My friend has been very specific about the color that she wants, but I don't think she realizes how expensive fabric can be, and I'm trying to use up my stash, so...I might just pick up some dye from JoAnn and have a go at fabric dyeing for the first time! I've been wanting to try it for a while. Does anyone have any tips to offer?

Let's talk about WIPs

For those not in the know, WIP stands for work in progress, and I've got quite a few of those going on right now. I was going to do a combined post with my UFOs (unfinished objects), but since there are so many of both, it'll have to be a two-parter. 

First up:

T-shirt quilt for my BFF. She's been complaining that I robbed her of her entire wardrobe to make it, so she'd like to see the quilt sooner rather than later. I told her that it's way past time for her to stop wearing college t-shirts anyway (she graduated 6 years ago). Still, I figured this would be an easy way to get started sewing again.

 

These are all of the shirts she gave me. I'm mostly just winging this in terms of finished measurements (as I did with my own). I decided not to cut into all of these because I wanted the quilt to be 3 shirts x 5 shirts and didn't end up needing all of them.  

The largest logo is almost 12.5 inches wide, so that settled the question of square size -  13 x 13! Alas, I realized too far in that 2 of the shirts weren't wide enough (my BFF is tiny), so I'll have to do some creative fixing. 

 [The small ones are hiding - I can't deal with them right now, still kinda bummed about that one.]

 

[All of the cut-out squares]

Next step: iron interfacing to the back of all of these - at least that step will keep me warm and humidified during the cold, dry Chicago winter!

Last(ish) WIP:

My Dexter boyfriend cowl (because I've exclusively been knitting this while at my boyfriend's (yay for following resolutions so far!) or while watching Dexter, or both):

I've been using entirely stash yarn for this, leftovers from some sock monkeys I made for my mom, I think. I recently started adding in some light gray leftovers, too, since I didn't think it would be long enough with just the beige and brown. I really like the random stripes so far - it's very freeing to not have to follow a pattern so strictly, or worry about counting stitches or rows, as with my sidelined knitting project.

The goal is to have one of these before winter is over:

[Image from Unneva]

I swear this thing might be the death of me. It's a super simple stitch, and is very thick and cozy, but it is impossible to correct dropped stitches. Usually what happens is: I'm watching Dexter, knitting along, and I realize that I've dropped a stitch 3 or 4 rows earlier. It's always very obvious, but I have no idea why I don't notice sooner (other than the TV, I guess). I then have to rip out those 3-4 rows, and usually 5-6 rows BEFORE that to correct the mistake. So I've probably knit enough rows to almost complete this thing by now, but have ripped out half of it. Sigh. 

Looking at the other pics, I also maybe should have gone with bigger needles, but...no way I'm ripping that sucker out now! It'll be really nice to have this done and retire my semi-hideous scarf/hood thing.

In my next post, I'll detail all (some) of my UFOs, which I am now determined to finish sooner rather than later!