Extreme Wedding Dress Makeover

          ...is what I've been working on.  It is my girlfriend's dress from her first marriage.  Her daughter, which just so happens to be my daughters best friend, is getting married and wants to wear her mom's dress.  

It was extremely outdated and I don't mean vintage which is now rather popular.  

This dress had lots of ruffles. 

Like....all around the bottom...more than 5 yards of ruffle.

And...all along the bodice...front and back...more ruffles...and a high, lace neck and long sleeves with lace cuffs.

It is definitely from the 70's.  

So here is a sneak peek of the dress now.  It isn't finished. 

The wedding isn't until May so I can't reveal it all yet.

Gone are the long sleeves, high neck and all the ruffles.  

I saved the lace from the neck and inserted into the bodice [a nice sentimental touch.] 

Stay tuned for more of the extreme makeover!

On the quilting front.  

This weekend my DH and I went for a walk in the woods [looking for sticks...but that's another story.

On driving home, I caught glimpse of a fence that I have driven past quite often. This time it caught my attention as a quilt design.  The fence is located in an area where it is hard to take a picture of it.  I found another one that is similar.  

   

The fence that inspired me didn't have the extras on the top and you could see the cross bar on the bottom [new snow is covering this one.]  

When we got home I got some grid paper and my colored pencils out and drew my idea.   

Here is what it looks like on paper...

I used Kona cotton solids in 7 different colors and charcoal for the background/fence color.  

I really like how this came together...I think I will use the charcoal for the backing too...probably a pieced back with some pieces of each color.  

What do you think?