Jumping on the hexagon bandwagon

I keep seeing all of the beautiful hexagon quilts on crafty blogs and pinterest and automatically fell in love and felt so overwhelmed by the thought of ever making one. I mean, come on, it is all hand stitched! So, I read and read, looked at all the pretty pictures a bunch of times before I said "what the heck do I have to lose?"
I knew that I wanted to have the center hexagon be an embroidered piece so I searched through my patterns for designs under 4 inches... I had way more than I thought! Here is the start of my embroidered work:


embroidery for hexagon centers

 I just ironed them on a solid piece of white muslin, very randomly with no theme or thought of color scheme. Then I made a hexagon template. At first I used a 4" template but realized it was too big for my 5" charm squares that I am hoping to use up, so I just cut 1/4" off each side and had the perfect size. I cut out a bunch from freezer paper, ironed them on to some squares, whip stitched them together and this is what I have:


my first completed hexagon!

Is it perfect? Absolutely not!! Do I love it? Oh my gosh, YES! I love this project. It is perfect for nights when we want to see what is growing in the dvr. I get into a rythm with the hand stitching and it actually becomes addictive. If you too felt intimidated by hexagons, try it, it is so much fun. 

Pot Pourri for 50 Alex...



Golf green carrot cake

Life is just plowing along. My Bumble turned 50 last week and I was completely consumed with his surprise 50th birthday party. This was no easy feat considering I had almost no money and I was having the party in our house...BIG STRESS!

It was a success, a good time was had by all. Good friends, family, food and drinks...what more do you need?



secret recipe sangria



party food



kamakaze's, wine, beer, sangria, YUM.

And because I strive on stress and deadlines, I allowed myself to be nominated costume director for Seussical at Julia's school...a play that I know zilch about! Here are part of my bird girl costumes:

We have Horton, Cat in the Hat, circus animals, jungle animals, kangaroos,monkeys, oh my. I will manage somehow. Right? I have also taken a job caring for my eldery neighbors, Rose and Mary...I thought raising kids was tough, ha ha ha ha. Did I mention that I have jury duty next month? Enough whining already. Take a look at the coolest snowman ever:

He completely freaked me out every time I drove by and I drive by times a day.Bravo to the creators, it was fantastic!

serial stitching

I just can't stop! Between Beyonce Bowl (which was amazing) and Blizzard Nemo (not so much), I have had lots of time embroidering. I am determined to stitch something from every pattern packet that I have, hopefully I will live a nice long arthritis free life.

Here is one of my favorite vintage Vogart designs, "Bee" Smart #293. Look at the packet...19 cents!

next is Baby Birds #3247. I bought this from Pattern Bee but just noticed that Aunt Martha's has brought it back. Good call Aunt Martha.

I love this guy. The pattern is #268 Day of The Week Apron Bib patterns with cute little animals for babies. I made the animal print towel from a piece of home dec weight cotton that I found in the remnant bin. I love buying up cute prints like that and make towels and/or potholders for gifts.

This is one of my all time favorites from Aunt Martha; #3929 Happy Gadgets. I am such a sucker for animated kitchen things.

this last towel is a combination of my favorite fabric and patterns. So cute! Sometimes I like to add a patch to a towel I love rather than stitch on a plain towel.My towel, my rules.

lastly, here is a picture of my driveway yesterday

not nearly as sweet as vintage embroidery.









Pregaming for Beyonce Bowl

I am excited for the big game tomorrow... as in the commercials, Beyonce, and having hours of couch time!
It is tradition in our family that on Superbowl Sunday that I make some party food and Dave takes it to his friend's party and I stay home and help the girls with their Science Fair projects for the fair on Wednesday. I am so happy that this is my the very last science fair for us! WOOHOO! I figure that we will be done dealing with compost, worms and food scraps by game time, then I am pouring wine and hunkering down for a night of

organizing my tangled bins of embroidery supplies! I am actually looking forward to this. Sad, huh?

stitching along

Not a whole lot going on these days. I started a minimum wage job this week that I don't love, but I am happy to be able to earn some money until I find a big girl job. Enough of that talk...embroidery makes things all better. I finished a few towels this week:

This was a freebie from Patternbee.com, it came with my order. Love it!

A cute little squirrel to go along with my squirrel obsession these days.

And apparently I like Monday! I added some crochet trim to these guys.

A stitchy kitty

and lastly, a lemon patch added to my gingham towel.