chimesblog

I’m really excited because this Saturday (June 18) I’ll be teaching a class at Reiman Gardens in Ames.

I’ll be bringing some adorable mugs I’m collecting for this and we’ll be painting flowers, butterflies and other things that Reiman Gardens might have to offer.

You should probably sign up for the class. I would LOVE to see you.  And it’s all skill levels — I don’t draw — I doodle. I’ll teach you how to doodle up your old ceramics. Also, it’s not super early in the AM.  10 is pretty decent.

Here are the deets:
Garden Ceramic Painting: Making Old Ceramics New
Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Instructor: Calee Himes
Join artist Calee Himes, owner of chimesdesign, as she shows you how to create whimsical illustrations of plants and butterflies on old ceramic mugs. You can use this technique to create permanent illustrations on your own, dated ceramic dishes. This unique approach to re-using and recycling will bring a smile to your face each time you have a cup of coffee! All materials are included and all skill levels are welcome.

Cost: CoHorts’ members: $24. General public: $30. ISU students: $20.40. Pre-registration and pre-payment by Wednesday, June 15, 2011 before the class required. Register online.

Share on Facebook

Don’t worry — she’s 2. She’s not going to read my blog. If she does, then I’m more than proud of her.

I had cut up my prom dress from my senior year of high school a couple months back for my birthday party, but had failed pretty miserably. So I had a TON of tulle lying around. And what could I do with tulle? Make my niece into a little fairy princess for Christmas.

This was my original dress, BTW. I don’t have a photo of the monstrosity that it turned into, unfortunately (well fortunately for me).

I found a great tutorial on instructables and went to work. Here’s what I came up with. I think I need to put together a few more things and give her the whole fairy princess package.

Share on Facebook

I blogged earlier today about the 2nd hardcore quilt top that I made.

Well, I took the plunge ladies and gentlemen.  I officially quilted a full-size quilt.

I took photos of the process. One thing I learned — I desperately need a walking foot. I couldn’t find one for my machine (they were sold out in two places, so I gave up since this was just a practice quilt anyway). Also, quilting on t-shirts is difficult when you come across larger patches of screenprinting, especially when it’s a newer shirt.

Here’s what I did: I got some backing and batting and made a quilt sandwich. I basted it with large safety pins. I took tape (artists tape would work the best but I only had athletic tape at home, so that worked) and created uniform lines to follow with my stitching….and I was off.  I only had to reload the bobbin once, which was awesome because I hate doing that (I’m lazy. if I had a self-loading bobbin or never-ending bobbin that would rule. also — self threading needle).  I trimmed it and sewed the binding on (backwards I believe) and since I’m really lazy, I zig-zag stitched the binding to finish it.

Anyway, here’s photogs of the process.

basting and taping before quilting …

the whole safety-pinned, taped-up mess before I started (note — I taped in one direction at a time because I didn’t want to sew through the tape)

here’s where the bobbin ran out of thread. I took a much-needed walking break and came back an hour later refreshed and ready to conquer the rest of this thing.

ta-da! finished quilt. took me from 1 PM to 9 PM to finish top to bottom (minus 2 hours for supper, walking and errands)

okay… so the back picked up a ton of fuzz from the batting and a bunch of threads that were randomly strewn about my floor. I’m washing this thing tomorrow. Hopefully fix that problem.

And … DONE!

Share on Facebook

This is heinous, but I had to start somewhere. I’m going to probably tie quilt this beast and give it away or use it for a camping blanket ( in case I ever get to go camping again!) or a picnic blanket. 

Care Bears, LGBT, Spiderman and Bob Ross CLEARLY belong together.

Share on Facebook

Too lazy to repost everything here, so here are the links to my recent craft projects.

Beard Cake

Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

B-day Gift from Danielle

Recycled Wall “Art”

Share on Facebook