While Walking My Dogs

Day 17 {Make Madness} – Crocheted Hexagons

Posted on March 17, 2015 by gracieed

Day 17 of Make Madness – Crocheted Hexagons

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I’m a bit enamored with hexagons at the moment. And crocheting. And using my scraps.

My mom taught me to crochet when I was 7 and I’ve picked it up now and then over the years. I recently got back into it when I decided I wanted to make a Ripple blanket for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. And I’m hooked again (pun, intended).

Lucy from Attic24, is “responsible” for all the wonderful blanket patterns that I’m following and she also has a terrific tutorial to make hexagons.

After my experience using my fabric scraps to make English Paper Pieced hexagons, I thought I’d use up some of my yarn leftovers to work on some crocheted hexagons.

Until this evening,

If you’re just joining the madness with {Make Madness} here are links to the previous projects.

You told us we were celebrating St. Paw-trick’s day. Who’s Patrick?

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Crochet, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest, Yarn | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, crochet, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest, yarn | Leave a comment

Day 16 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – Weaving

Posted on March 16, 2015 by gracieed

Day 16 – Weaving

Well as much as I wanted to be able to show you a finished project today, it’s not going to happen. I’ll definitely finish and upload the photos, but not today.

I started early this morning by making my weaving loom. I used an old wood cutting board that was slated for the recycle bin and some small finish nails. I drew two lines on either end of the board and made hash marks every 1/2″ along both lines. On each hash mark I hammered in a nail. There were 24 in all.

After the loom was complete, I wrapped string around the nails to create the warp. This tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess was excellent and within a 1/2 hour I was ready to weave.

Then I washed all three of my dogs, did the dishes, the laundry, showered, had coffee and a chat with my mom, paid some bills and finally started weaving. I’m feeling the need to justify the fact that I didn’t finish this today, but it really did take longer than I thought it would.

I started by tying 15″ pieces of white yarn onto the bottom pegs for tassels. I then used scrap yarn in white and a variety of green shades (I think I have St. Patrick’s Day on the brain) and started at the left side. I cut a piece of white yarn about 4′ long, thread it onto one of the big plastic darning needles and wove (weaved?) away. When I got to the end of the white I cut a piece of one of the green yarns (4′ long), and picked up where the white left off. I continued this until I had used all the greens, then I started over with the white. The other tutorial I consulted showed how to make shapes within the weaving, but I was just happy to be actually weaving that I decided to just do a piece with alternating colors. Maybe next time I’ll try shapes.

Weaving is a lot of fun, but it sure is physical. I didn’t expect that. After each color change I took a brief break just to work out the kinks in my neck. You’re moving your arms all the time which pulls on your shoulders and subsequently your neck. Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to ‘suffer’ for my craft, I was just surprised at the physical toll.

Many years ago, my mom and I visited Hampton Court Palace in England – the home of Henry VIII. On our tour, we viewed the floor to ceiling tapestries that draped the walls and were told that each tapestry was made using up to 30 weavers over 8-16 months depending on the intricacy. Let’s hope mine doesn’t take that long. 😉

Here’s my work in progress:

Until tomorrow,

Never mind about the woven collar. I don’t want you to spend that much time doing something that could take you away from walks, belly rubs, playing ball, feeding me. You get the idea.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest, Repurposing, Yarn | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest, repurposing, yarn | Leave a comment

Day 16 {Make Madness} – Weaving

Posted on March 16, 2015 by gracieed

Day 16 of Make Madness – Weaving

When I was in 5th grade there were two teachers who made a huge macrame piece of art for the entrance to our school. I still remember that piece to this day. I was intrigued by it’s size, but also its beauty. One of those two teachers was a friend of my husband’s family, but I wasn’t to know that until Mike and I were engaged 8 years later. Talk about a small world.

I know that the word ‘macrame’ screams 1970’s, but the art of macrame and weaving is making a come back in the artist community. I’ve always been interested in a variety of fiber arts and weaving is no exception. I found this tutorial for beginners and decided to give it a try.

Come back tonight to see how I did.

Until this evening,

If you’re just joining the madness with {Make Madness} here are links to the previous projects.

Mom if this ‘weaving’ thing works out, maybe you could weave me a fancy collar?

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest, Yarn | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest, yarn | Leave a comment

Day 15 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – English Paper Piecing

Posted on March 15, 2015 by gracieed

Day 15 – English Paper Piecing

Well, I definitely think I’ve developed a “hexie habit”. This was a blast and terribly easy. And as an added bonus, I dragged out my fabric scrap basket and was able to use scrap pieces to make these hexagons. I really hate waste and feel incredibly gratified that I could use the bits and pieces of fabric I’ve been saving for ages.

I used three different tutorials because not all gave me the information I needed. The first tutorial was from Wild Olive. Mollie did a beautiful job of describing how to cut the hexagon paper pieces (she even provided a downloadable template), cut the fabric, and paper piece the hexagons. I’m so new to this that I needed to know what kind of paper to use. Apparently there are many options as I found out from the second tutorial from Craftsy. Of all the options I chose freezer paper. The third tutorial from Bee In My Bonnet did a beautiful job of showing me how to sew the individual pieces together.

I started by printing the template from Wild Olive. I traced the hexagons onto the non-shiny side of the freezer paper and cut them out. I then ironed them onto my fabric, shiny shine down with the wrong side of the fabric facing me. After ironing the hexagon templates, I cut around the paper with a 1/4″ seam allowance to give me a stack of fabric hexagons.

From there I started folding the seams over and stitched them down based on the instructions from the tutorials. It was a bit slow going at first because it’s been a while since I hand sewed anything, but by the last hexie I was flying. I kept the paper inside the sewn hexie until the entire flower was complete. Some of the tutorials recommended using a straight pin to keep the paper from shifting under the fabric, but by using freezer paper and ironing with the shiny side down, the fabric adheres enough to keep it from shifting. Other tutorials suggested using a paper clip to fold down 1/4″ seam and I did try that except I kept snagging the paper clip on the fabric as I tried to move it from section to section. I ended up using hair clips that I actually purchased for sewing projects. These worked beautifully.

After I sewed down the seams on all the hexies, I started to sew each individual hexie together using a whip stitch. The third tutorial from Bee In My Bonnet had incredibly pictures to show each step of this process. I sewed the six flower “petals” together and then finished the flower with the middle, yellow hexie.

I ironed the whole piece and then removed the paper from each hexie. I’ll save these pieces for the future.

I’m so glad I tackled this project. English Paper Piecing is one of those techniques that I’ve always been a little intimidated by, but much like my irrational fear of bow-making, I’m really pleased I decided to just give it a go.

Until tomorrow,

That’s awesome mom. Could you put those hexies together to form a paw? I’ll bet you could.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest, Quilts, sewing | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest, Quilts, sewing | 2 Comments

Day 15 {Make Madness} – English Paper Piecing

Posted on March 15, 2015 by gracieed

Day 15 of Make Madness – English Paper Piecing

Or as Mollie from Wild Olive calls it, “starting a a hexagon habit”.

I’ve always wanted to give English Paper Piecing a try. I love the look of appliqued quilts and many of them are made with this technique.

Much like the tiny crocheted flowers, I think I’m going to really like making these little guys.

Come back tonight to see how I did.

Until this evening,

If you’re just joining the madness with {Make Madness} here are links to the previous projects.

Mom, you could also start a “give us treats all the time” habit. We’d be okay with that.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest, sewing | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest, sewing | Leave a comment

Paws || Walk On – 3.8 – 3.21

Posted on March 15, 2015 by gracieed

Every now and then when I’m walking dogs, I will just stop, ask them to sit for about 30 seconds and then I will say “walk on”. That is there cue to start walking again. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1. They’re super focused when they’re on the walk and I like to know I can get their attention any time I need it. 2. It’s good to continue to incorporate training into their daily routines. Just as we need to continue to refine our skills, so must dogs.

This always reminds me how important it is for me to pause and reflect on the past week and then think about the next one as I “walk on”.

Paws | Week of 3.8-3.14

• helped a friend’s daughter how to make a pattern and a project from the pattern. She did so awesome.
• did half of a mini Spring Cleaning of my house. Wanted to do more, but plans changed with Mike being sick. That’s life.
•didn’t speak to my grandpa this week. He’s doing great; I just had a busy week with a sick husband.
• took the car in to have a nail removed from the tire. Love America’s Tire.
• took Mindy for a heartworm test after being treated for heartworm. She’s all healed and clear!!!!! Blog post to come about this little saga in our lives.
• continued tidying my craft room. Organized all scrap paper by color into bins. Woohoo!!
• continued reading Platform by Michael Hyatt.
• celebrated Woody’s 13th birthday with a nice long walk and some tasty treats.
• took Mike the the doctor after a week of a nasty cold. She confirmed that it’s just a nasty cold and not bronchitis.
• walked the dogs almost everyday. Decided to keep track of our walks on a calendar. So far for 2015: 67 out of 73.
• got my hair cut.
• ran the inventory at an auction fundraiser. Fun time with friends.
• continued with the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• still working on Margaret’s scarf.
• worked on and posted projects for MakeMadness.

Walk On | Week of 3.15-3.21

• call my Grandpa in England.
• knit and drink coffee with friends.
• keep up with the Photo-a-day challenge for March.
• continue to work on Margaret’s scarf.
• need to make and post cards from January Card Series || Cards for 2015 in my Etsy shop. Still working on this. Keep getting distracted by life.
• do the rest of the mini Spring clean of my house.
• pay bills.
• work with a friend making Easter baskets for our church’s Easter Fair.
• continue to make the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• continue to organize my craft room. You’re probably wondering when I’ll be done with this. Me too.
• Skype and knit with a friend.
• continue reading Platform by Michael Hyatt.
• work on Quest46.
• work on and post projects for MakeMadness.

My favorite quote from the week: “No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.” Christopher Morley.

Have a wonderful week,

I could pick your voice out of a crowd, mom.

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Books, Challenges and Contests, Cleaning, Crochet, DeCluttering, Dogs, Goals, Homemade, Knitting, Make Madness, Organization, Quest46, Yarn | Tagged accountability, books, Challenges and Contests, Cleaning, crochet, Dogs, goals, homemade, knitting, make madness, Organization, paper crafting, Pinterest, Quest46, yarn | Leave a comment

Day 14 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

Posted on March 14, 2015 by gracieed

Day 14 – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

So here’s my ugly mouse pad. I’ve used it for years and it works beautifully, it’s just not attractive.

Using instructions from this tutorial, I found a piece of fabric in my stash, used Beacon 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue and went to work.

I ironed my fabric to remove all the creases, generously applied the glue to the top of the mouse pad and lay it on top of the wrong side of the fabric. This glue dried fast so I quickly flipped the fabric over and smoothed out the glue to make sure there weren’t any bubbles or wrinkles.

After waiting a few minutes, I flipped the mouse pad back over, trimmed the fabric to about 1″ from the edge of the pad and glued the excess underneath the mouse pad.

I wasn’t sure how my mouse would work on fabric, but it works great. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

Until tomorrow,

Keeping in mind I know nothing about crafts, I was wondering if you could cover my bowl with fabric. It’s looking a bit scruffy.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest | 2 Comments

Day 14 {Make Madness} – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

Posted on March 14, 2015 by gracieed

Day 14 of Make Madness – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

First of all – Happy Pi Day everyone.

Even though I use a laptop that has a touch pad for scrolling, I still prefer my mouse. I have a mouse pad, but quite frankly, it’s ugly and when I saw this tutorial for covering it using fabric, I just had to give it a try.

Come back to see how I did.

Until this evening,

If you’re just joining the madness with {Make Madness} here are links to the previous projects.

Did I hear you say ‘mouse’? If we have a mouse, I’ll catch him for you. I’m really good at catching stuff.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Pinterest | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, Decorating, goals, homemade, make madness, Pinterest | 1 Comment

Saturday Snippets | March 14, 2015

Posted on March 14, 2015 by gracieed

Welcome to Saturday Snippets. This is where I share links and odd bits of info from the past week.

1. So many things to be inspired by – the technology, the kid, Ironman, the college student.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEx5lmbCKtY

2. This gal is amazing. What an athlete!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68L8yZmn_p8

3. Cannot wait to start reading Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life by Michele Cushatt. Here’s an interview with the author – what a courageous person.

4. I just learned about Repositioning Cruises. They sound great if you’re interested in a low-cost cruise, but they’re not for everyone. Read about them here.

5. This guy takes the hula hoop to a whole new level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2aqLcFG5XE

Well that’s all the snippets I have for today. Have a wonderful Saturday,

Do they ever let dogs on cruises? They should make a cruise just for people and their dogs. Wouldn’t that be a blast?

Posted in Accountability, Books, Education, Exercise, Goals, Saturday Snippets | Tagged accountability, books, education, exercise, goals, Saturday Snippets | Leave a comment

Day 13 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – DIY Cell Phone Cover

Posted on March 13, 2015 by gracieed

Day 13 – DIY Cell Phone Cover

As I mentioned, I’ve made this craft before using this tutorial. My niece was given an iTouch for Christmas and wanted different case covers so we spent an afternoon cutting out different scrapbook paper designs.

I ordered the clear lucite cell phone case here. They were very reasonably priced and fit my iPhone and her iTouch. I ordered the case for the iPhone 5, and I’m sure you could find them for other versions of iPhone and cell phones.

I made a pattern first by tracing the case on a piece of white cardstock. I cut out the pattern with scissors and used an Exacto knife to cut out the camera opening. I made sure to make the side that the pattern is on because if you reverse it then the camera opening will be covered. I know this because I made that mistake. 😉

I cut out a couple of covers from scrapbook paper. It really doesn’t matter how thick the paper is, however, you don’t want to use anything too thick or else the clear cover won’t fit correctly on your phone.

After cutting out the cardstock covers, I grabbed Groovebook photo book and picked a photo of a flower. I used my pattern template to trace around the flower, cut it out and voila, another cover. I’m definitely going to search through my dog photos, make a collage of my dogs and make that into a cover. This could be a really cool gift for family or friends.

My final cover was a doodle. I had so much fun the other day doodling, I decided to make a cover. I first traced my pattern onto a piece of white drawing paper. Then I started doodling, coloring and finally cut out the piece. I think this was the most fun of them all.

I don’t know about you, but I carry my phone around with me all the time and I love the fact that I can customize the look anytime I want.

Until tomorrow,

Love the idea of the collage of me, Ellie and Woody. Then you could quickly show pictures of your dogs without having to scroll through the thousands of pictures you have on your phone. That could save lots of time.

Posted in Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Make Madness, Paper Crafting, Pinterest, Scrapbooking | Tagged accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, make madness, paper crafting, Pinterest, scrapbooking | Leave a comment

While Walking My Dogs

Day 17 {Make Madness} – Crocheted Hexagons

Day 16 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – Weaving

Day 16 {Make Madness} – Weaving

Day 15 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – English Paper Piecing

Day 15 {Make Madness} – English Paper Piecing

Paws || Walk On – 3.8 – 3.21

Day 14 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

Day 14 {Make Madness} – DIY Fabric Mouse Pad

Saturday Snippets | March 14, 2015

Day 13 {Make Madness} – Part 2 – DIY Cell Phone Cover

Sign up to receive my blog posts via email.

i’m grace edwards

My ETSY Shoppe

Recent Posts

Follow me on Instagram.

Tags

Blogroll

Archives