Flowers to the max!

(I am really really sorry about that title. Not sorry enough to change it, but...sorry.) For once I've got a seasonally appropriate garment to share, woohoo!

Although I've had a bit of a love-hate relationship with this pattern lately, my "tried and true" Simplicity 4070 bodice came through on this one! All in all, this dress only took me a couple of hours, and was the perfect palate cleanser after a recent sewing fail.

I picked up this fabric last year after I fell off the wagon with my 2014 stash bust, and before I signed up for this year's try. It's a pretty sheer cotton with swiss dots and, of course, flowers! I think it was only $1.50 a yard at the Vogue Fabrics warehouse sale (minus an extra 15% off coupon!), and I'm glad it hasn't lingered in my stash like some of the other goodies I've picked up there over the years. (The spring sale was this past weekend, and I'm immensely proud of myself that I only picked up 2 new pieces (okay, okay, aside from some Simpson's quilting cotton for my mom (FINE, it's mostly for me))). 

As usual, I had to do my cross-back straps - these things really are a lifesaver that prevent me constantly needing to pull them up. The skirt is basically a big pleated tube, but after wearing it for a day, I realized it was kind of hard to walk quickly or take long strides in it, so I added a slit (which I did completely wrong, honestly, but hey, live and learn).

The top's completely underlined in mystery white fabric from the stash, but the bottom's only underlined to the knee (which didn't show up in any of my pictures, oops). 

 

I love maxi dresses, I really do, but I kept catching glimpses of myself while we were out shopping and was worried I looked frumpy. I think the pictures look fine, but...I don't know. Does anyone else ever get that feeling?

(Also, though I have not managed to take a single picture of it (outside of new posts), Me-Made May is going well! I've got a couple more pieces to throw into rotation before the end of the month, but I'm confident it won't be a problem.)

Spring has sprung!

At least on my dress...If I can't have flowers in real life yet, at least I can have them on my clothes. Floral prints seem to be the only things I want to work with these days, and I know I'm not the only one. Glad to see that trend continuing this year!

This dress actually has a bit of a back story. Last...May, maybe? I cut out B5748 with about a yard of this pretty quilting cotton that I picked up at a *major* estate sale. (I'm honestly still upset at myself that I didn't get more while I was there/have a better look around. This lady was the ultimate fabric hoarded.) I didn't have enough floral fabric to cut the bodice on the fold, and the skirt had to be pretty tiny with what was left over, but I got it all sewn together pretty quickly (using more quilting cotton to line the bodice). I was so excited about it that I even cut out a second right away. I wore this to work one day, and then had my mom take some pics for me to post over a long weekend. It was only when reviewing and editing those pictures that I realized just how SHORT the dress was! 

I definitely didn't feel comfortable wearing it out anymore, but with all of the craziness going on last summer, this got thrown into the UFO bin for me to deal with later. Well, later ended up being a bit longer than I thought, but I finally pulled this out last weekend, when I was in the mood to sew but didn't quite feel like starting anything new. I found some matching red quilting cotton and added about 4-5" to the length. I was worried it wouldn't look right, but I think it looks pretty meant to be here, right?

Obviously quilting cotton gets pretty wrinkly, but all in all, I'm happy with this dress. I even got a compliment from a random lady on the street yesterday!

Here's my awkward back view. I like that it's cut a little lower - although I'm really not sure I'd wear it without a cardigan...

Has spring sprung where you are yet? If not, what "cheats" are you using to deal with it?

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

Finally, pretty curtains!

Remember that Black Friday shopping I told you about last time? Well, during that ridiculous spree, I also bought some sort of icky-feeling (but pretty!) polyester bedsheets to convert into curtains!

(Seriously, they're like 100% polyester and I would not recommend using them as bedsheets, unless you like imagining all of the terrible things that could happen to you in the event of a fire in the middle of the night.) They're not draping very nicely in these pictures, and the ones in the middle are just a bit too short (I want to say I'll go back and fix them, but...we all know that's not happening anytime soon, right?), but I still really like them! They're definitely an improvement over my last curtains:

The old ones weren't hideous or anything, they just kind of clashed with my decor and weren't very "me." Oh, and when winter rolled around, I did a really *ace* job of pinning up the ones in the middle, as you can tell.

These feel much lighter and airier, and even though they're a little crooked, ha, I love them! I have a ridiculous amount of windows and just wasn't finding anything I liked (that also liked my budget), until I saw these advertised and had my light bulb moment. Each set of twin sheets was $5.99, and I used two sets for these 4 panels (one set of the damask and one set of cream lining). They're not exactly blackout curtains (that would be nice!) but they go well with my decor. 

I've only done 4 panels and have at least 2 or 3 more to go, unfortunately. They are a pain in the ASS (seriously, I do not recommend ironing bedsheets, have you tried it?), but I think they're worth it in the end? What's your opinion on big projects like this - would you rather pay for the convenience of having it done for you? 

P.S. The Stashbusting Sewalong group was the perfect motivator to finally get going on these. Thanks for the encouragement, ladies! If you're feeling overwhelmed by your stash, I highly recommend checking them out. These curtains used up about 10 yards total (the 2 packages I mentioned above). I still have 4 more packages, but might get to take a couple of them back since I think I over-bought.