chimesblog

Okay so it’s not actually a finished object. It’s getting there. But I am moving (AGAIN) soon, so I’m not going to get to finish it. However — I’ll have a whole room for crafting when we move! SO excited.

There was kind of a bit of shrinkage. I was going for 50″x50″ but the width is quite a bit less. I figured it would be but didn’t realize it was going to be THAT much less. I’m planning to add white fabric to either side and do a light gray back and the binding with one of the vintage fabrics. I have enough of one of them to do the binding.

This is before — when I pinned all the white to either side of the strips. I sewed the white on then sewed three strips together at a time, then sewed those together.

This is the (mostly) finished product.  You can’t see the shrinkage as much in this photo as I would have liked to show. It’s about 2/3 the original size.

Closeup of some of the lovely fabrics … I love the blue with white swirls and the red with polka dot circles.

I’ll probably be doing a plethora of finished quilt posts come winter.  I have a bag full of about 6 tops with backs and binding ready to go. Just need somebody to quilt them! I would, but I would rather not kill my machine.

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For those of you who don’t know, I’m kind of obsessed with vintage pyrex. Specifically the spring blossom (or crazy daisy) pattern.

I’ve been collecting random pieces and have all the cinderella mixing bowls (almost 2 full sets actually), the butter dish, some mugs, a couple of casseroles, etc. BUT I want the dish set! In its entirety. My friend Shelly has the corelle set AND matching silverware that she inherited from her parents.

Anyway — I *just* had a fabulous idea thanks to the PYREX LOVE group on flickr.

I follow the Pyrex Love pool in google reader, and I saw this photo:

And it occurred to me … all pyrex is cool. So why not have a purposely mismatching patterned set? All the pieces would be the same shape, but the patterns would be different. How easy and cheap would it be to randomly pick up pieces at Goodwill and Salvation Army? I’d replace my current dish set with these pieces one by one (I’ve already done so with the spring blossom mugs anyway).

I’m really excited about this! I love when I have an “aha” moment.

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Yay! I’m excited that I finally got around to making my lovely cake stands from vintage plates and milk glass bud vases. They turned out beautiful and eclectic.

I’m  not sure where I’m going to sell them other than at local craft shows — I don’t trust the USPS to get these shipped in one piece. They’re also really heavy, so shipping would be super expensive.

What do you guys think? I have 2 more that I didn’t photograph, but I would love to make more!

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Happy Monday! In honor of yesterday’s holiday, I didn’t have to work today. However, I have a whole bunch of crafting to do, so I used today to catch up.

I’ve had some lovely vintage ceramics sitting around the house and I finally had a chance to play with them today.  I had a lot of fun with the salt and pepper shakers and the vintage pitcher.

salt and pepper shakers

Floral Party pitcher

Birdies and Coffee Sugar Dish

Birdies and Coffee Creamer

Birdies and Coffee Mug

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Hello! I’m a little Green Teacup.

I picked up this little dude during a girlie trip to the Ames Antique Store a few months ago and have finally spruced him up.

Let me just say, this is some gorgeous dinnerware. It’s Franciscan El Patio and I would LOVE to have a full set of these dishes. In any color. Preferably multiple colors, actually. The texture and detail of the teacup is just beautiful.

Judging by the color and the shape, I’m guessing this came out of the early to mid-seventies. Either way, they only had one piece at the antique store, so I snatched it up.

I thought it could use a really regal-looking tea bag. Maybe some Earl Grey, hot — ala Jean-Luc Picard.

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My grandpa had given me a bunch of things that my granny (great grandmother) had left behind when she passed in 2002.  I’ve been using some of her materials (embroidery thread, fabric, pins, etc.) to create some of the things I’ve been making.  I’ve had 10 quilt blocks that I’ve been hoarding that she had made a long time ago.  The fabrics were impossible to match with modern-day or even reproduction fabrics.  The block pattern was too complex for me.  So, I’ve been sitting on them.

Last weekend my mom and I went to Valley Junction and found some really amazing vintage blocks that matched pretty well.  So, I finally got out the blocks and made a quilt top.

Here it is!

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Everything is fair game this month.

Both my stores, chimes design and toDIYfor, are having a 20% off special this month.  To participate, convo me on etsy with the item you’d like to apply the sale to and I’ll adjust the price and reserve it for you.

An extra 5% off if you blog or tweet about my sale and include the link to your blog post/tweet in your convo.

Easy peasy.

As per usual, I’m offering free shipping to Des Moines and Ames as long as we can arrange a drop off/pick up.

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