Weekly Obsession 9/6: HALLOWEEN!

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to maintain a blog, design fabric, work, and handle life. The last few weeks have been busy with work and celebrating my birthday (and seeing the solar eclipse!) with family and friends. I'm currently waiting to receive samples of new Halloween fabrics, and I'M SO EXCITED. I like the prints, plus Halloween is my favorite holiday (Christmas is a very, very close second). My current weekly obsession (more like, several week obsession) is Halloween. And slightly fall in general. It truly feels like fall weather here, and that makes me sooo happy, as I've been used to it still feeling like summer in September. In addition to ordering fabric from Spoonflower, I've also bought some Halloween fabric for various projects.

The spider web fabric glows in the dark! 😍

I'm planning on making a circle skirt with the spider web fabric, a dress from a vintage pattern with the purple twill to the right of the spider web fabric, and using the rest for a EPP (English paper piecing) project. It will be my first time doing EPP, and I might try my hand at foundation piecing as well. I'm equal parts excited and nervous about the project. I also bought glow-in-the-dark thread for possible quilting, and for topstitching for the circle skirt.

In addition, to buying fabric, I've been buying decoration and craft supplies. I also got some spooky things for my birthday! 😊 The Haunted Mansion is my favorite Disney ride, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies. I watch it year round, and might be currently wearing a The Nightmare Before Christmas shirt. (Guilty).

Unfortunately, the last time I checked, my local Target only had Halloween stuff in their One Spot section. But, other stores have had stuff out! I found the small cauldron and purple and orange LED lights at Menard's, the battery operated purple lights from Dollar Tree, the glitter felt spiders from Target, and the blind box Pusheen from Hot Topic. I had been a good girl, resisting blind boxes for months. And then I saw the Trick or Treat series of Pusheen blind boxes, and well, couldn't resist. I've come to the conclusion that one cannot be upset or angry looking at Pusheen. Pusheen is instant happiness for me.

I found the light up coffin at Michael's and the flat unfinished wood pieces at Joann. I've painted the spider web key already, and the interior of the coffin. I'm planning on using the flat wood pieces for a new Halloween wreath. I just have to get the rest of the supplies for it, which means more trips to the craft stores, and more time to see (and buy) Halloween stuff.

In addition to Halloween, I'm excited that farms with corn mazes are open now! I haven't been to one in a few years, and am planning on going to one with friends soon. And the place has apple cider doughnuts, which of course I'll have to sample.

Are fall activities or preparing for Halloween current obsessions for you? Comment away!

Back to Blogging and Weekly Obsession

I wasn't planning on taking this long of  break from blogging, but am glad to hopefully post regularly again. I also didn't really design much over the past few years unfortunately. I've started designing again, and hope to have new designs available for purchase soon. It's amazing how being in a less stressful environment and having a great support system can make you feel more like yourself. While I was away from designing, I did get into doing cosplay and going to cons! I even won a cosplay contest (as Agnes Oblige from Bravely Default in the freelancer outfit). I really should be working on my current cosplay, but haven't been inspired lately due to several things that have gotten me down. I'm planning to seriously work on it in a few weeks, so that it could possibly be ready for cons later this summer. I might be a bit too optimistic about that, but I think I need more optimism in my life.

A recent design, Iridescent Geometric. Click the image to go to its Spoonflower page.

So to encourage me to blog more regularly, I've decided to do a number of weekly posts. On Wednesdays I plan to post about my weekly obsession of the past week. It could be a television show, movie, book, blog, food item, restaurant, place, game, animal, or really anything. This week's obsession is a tie between Moana and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I have been listening to the Moana soundtrack a lot over the past month, maybe even longer. I finally watched it last weekend and loved it. The animation was beautiful, especially the underwater scenes. The colors! *insert heart-eyed emoji here* One reason why I liked the film so much is because my grandma recently passed away. She was quite a character, much like Moana's grandmother, and also liked to dance. My grandpa, her husband, passed away several months ago. Both of their deaths have greatly affected me as I was close to them. I know they will always be with me, but seeing the scenes with Moana and her grandmother made me feel better. I'm probably going to listen to the soundtrack after writing this post. (Obsessed, you bet!)

My other obsession for this week is Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, a series set in Australia during the 1920s featuring the thoroughly modern Miss Fisher, a lady detective and available currently on Netflix. I've just completed the first season, and really like it. The characters, costumes, sets, and music are all wonderful. Or the bee's knees, to use an era appropriate phrase. While it doesn't have the logic of Poirot and Sherlock, it is delightful and doesn't feel too dark or heavy. I had seen it on Netflix as either a suggestion or it being popular, but finally gave the show a go thanks to some recommendations from friends.

What have been your recent obsessions? Share in the comments!

Spiders, Australia, Paisley, and Fabric

So, about those sewing posts. Uh, I think my sewing machine may be mad at me for neglecting it lately. I added a new craft to try (needle tatting!), and haven't been sewing much, besides an oven mitt (which will get a post eventually). I wanted to finish the accessories for my sewing machine, so I could photograph them. I worked on the last thing to do on Friday, and decided I didn't want to seam rip the bias tape anymore, and set the project aside. The bobbin wasn't working properly, and I didn't feel like trying to mess with it at the time. I may try to figure it out today. Meanwhile, I have a new fabric design to show off!

This week's Fabric of the Week contest theme at Spoonflower is Australia fauna, perfect for Australia Day, which was yesterday. I went my usual route by choosing a lesser known subject for my design. I chose to use the Pink Flower Spider as inspiration and knew I wanted to include flowers and leaves in the design since the spider hides on those objects while waiting for prey. But, I had no idea how the design would look, or what sort of style to do it in. Then I thought of the leaf shapes as paisley, and had my design figured out. Here is my entry, Pink Flower Spider Paisley:

Pink Flower Spider Paisley, fat quarter 21"x18" view shown. Click image to see fabric page.

The paisley is made up of very stylized flower shapes, leaves, dots, and Pink Flower Spiders. At first, I was just going to use a pink, yellow, green, and a background color for the design, but then chose to include a tangerine color. I'm glad I did include it, and love how the design turned out overall. It's bright, fun, pretty, and has spiders. I'm even thinking of doing coordinate prints for this design.

You can vote for your favorite Australia animal themed fabrics here until Wednesday. There are lots of fantastic entries, using both well known and lesser known animals as inspiration.


*Past Contest Results*
- Year of the Snake: Sea of Swirly Snakes 28/130