Hexagons

A couple weeks ago I was browsing Pinterest and found this amazing quilt. 

Source: jbe200quilts.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I know, right? SO gorgeous!

I became obsessed. I decided I had to make one of my own, despite never having sewn a hex or done any hand piecing. I finally settled on a large scale floral print composed of red, pink, coral, blue, teal, aqua, black, white and a little yellow and green. I carefully cut each 2 3/8" square so that I had matching sets of six. This took forever to line up the print. It's not perfect, but it's very close.



I bought enough fabric for all the center hexes and the multicolor ring of 6 hexes. I cut enough squares to make 132 "flowers", not including the outer (almost) solid ring. This is enough for a king sized quilt.  I'll have to buy the outer fabric as I go, I can't afford it all at once, or probably even find enough variation all at once, in Pierre, SD. I did the math and not including the border I will need 2,508 hand-sewn hexies. I estimate another 500 in the border. As of this posting, I have sewn 54. I have 585 squares cut and ready to go.



The first three, amazingly, these are all from the same fabric!


The fourth one.




One with a finished ring. I'm not thrilled with the black and white, but am trying to imagine it in a giant quilt. I think it will be terrific there. Isn't it amazing how the outer ring changes the look of the inner flower? (Seen in the picture of the first three?)

I am determined to make this for myself. I am not in a hurry and I realize that it is likely to take years. I'm going to find some kind of progress widget to add to my sidebar.  I'm going to take pictures every so often and add them to flickr. You can subscribe to the feed here, if you want. It will be slow, but when it is done, it will be amazing.

(And I will be paying someone to quilt it for me!)



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Random Friday: it's been a week.

• That shirt speaks the truth.
• My mom is here! She's doing my laundry, cleaning my house and watching my kids. I don't know about her vacation, but mine is GREAT! You'd think this would mean I'd have oodles of time to blog.
• I haven't run again since I posted about it. First we were out of town and then it rained. And rained. And rained. Then I've been busy.
• I've been sewing so many things lately. A ton of baby stuff. This banner for the Etsy shop.  This one was a custom request, but I think I'm going to add them as a standard item. it was so cool. For comparison sake, the one that says "Noah" is my standard sized banner.
  
  
• The Princess stands up now. All the time. She'll stand from sitting in the middle of the room with nothing to pull up or balance on. It's crazy. Good thing she can stand, as she hates grass.
  
  
• Has anyone else's Google Reader stopped showing the older items? The already read ones? Have I changed a setting?
• I tried to take a picture of them on Father's Day. This is the best one.
  

What I've Been Reading:

• Life's Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets by Lisa Quinn. This is a super fast read.  Lots of great housekeeping and entertaining shortcuts. Don't buy it though, maybe flip through it at your library.
• Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy. Very entertaining and written with a great sense of humor. So far it's all about why we're so scared to let our kids out of our sight. Stranger Danger!!! I'm waiting for her to explain how to protect other people from the kids before I can let the Bug loose though.
• Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger. Still very science-y. If the entire book continues as the first 60 pages I might not finish. It's interesting enough, but before the book even closes I've lost whatever I read. Chapter after chapter on the science of food. Eh.

So what's new with you? What are you reading? What fun thing are you doing this weekend?

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Ready, Set, RUN!

For at least the last 10 years I've said that I want to start running. I think running is so meditative, with the rhythm of the run and the solitude, but I've never actually forced myself off the couch and out the door.  But now, finally, with my new iPrecious iPhone, I have followed through on my intent to start running, just in time for the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge. I've only been twice (life got in the way of my third date with the pavement) but I can tell you that it's going to stick (at least until winter.)

How do I know this? I spent money on it. I bought running shorts (a skort! but mine is navy), a sports bra, an arm band for the phone (that doesn't fit me, but does fit Mike). I bought the Couch to 5K app AND the additional GPS app. I started collecting workout music (more on this momentarily). I'm planning to try and run on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and take Friday and Saturday off to rest, but it largely depends on Mike's schedule. I'm so looking forward to that 45 minutes alone three times a week (yes, this may be part of my new found motivation!) I would love it if I could talk one of you into doing the C2K program with me. If you start now I'm only two days ahead of you and it would be easy to catch up.

Meanwhile, I'm looking for more running music. Here's what I have so far:

• Shut Up and Drive- Rihanna
• Lose Yourself- Eminem
• I Gotta Feeling- The Black Eyed Peas
• Boom Boom Pow- BEPs
• Rock That Body- BEPs
• Fighter- Christina Aguilera
• See You Again- Miley Cyrus
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Miley Cyrus
• Song 2- Plain White T's

I know it's not a lot. Music isn't something that I've ever really collected. I like pretty much everything but don't have a constant need for music. It took me two months to finally settle on a ringtone to download to my phone!  So I need your help, what music do I need to add to my playlist? I've been diligently downloading the free song on iTunes every week, but none of those have been very workout inspiring, yet. 

So what else do I need? What music? What gear? What motivation? I'm all new to this, I need to stock up while the motivation is so high!


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Hard choices: a library list

I am once again in the position of having too many library books and not enough time to finish them all before they are due! I actually have 73 books checked out right now, but a good number of those are for Mike and the kids.

I've been reading
Dreamfever: The Fever Series for what seems like forever. I really do like it but it's not drawing me back in when I put it down.

Then last time I was there I saw this one, that Ti had recommended and am about 100 pages into it. The story is really lovely, but I find the writing awfully clunky.

The Violets of March: A Novel

Then I'm still hanging onto this one, trying to decide if I even want to finish it:
Liar

I've seen a lot about this one around, and since letting my kids roam out of sight is something I need to work on, I really want to be sure to get it read:
Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)

This one is due back on Wednesday with no renewals. I think I need to accept that I will not get around to it and add myself back to the end of the list:

Chasing Fire

This one is interesting, but so so slow for me. It's very science based about the way the individual ingredients are processed. I can still renew it again, thankfully.

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats

This next one was on a couple blogs and since I really do love a good memoir in another country, I picked it up:
Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth

And this one was also on several blogs as well. I think it's the chicken that does it for me:

Home to Woefield: A Novel

The next one I picked up solely for the beach aspect. This is the time of the year I miss living within a few hours of the ocean:
Beach Trip: A Novel


This one I've seen everywhere, and the cover is spookily compelling. I've never read Melissa Marr, so hopefully I can get around to it:
Graveminder

Then we have this one, which I was not at all interested in, until I realized it was essays and not one continuous book. I can not renew it:

Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird

Then I grabbed this on impulse without really reading the description. It sounds as if the author and I will be on opposing sides of opinion and I don't know if I have it in me to extend the benefit of the doubt:

Welcome to Lizard Motel: Children, Stories, and the Mystery of Making Things Up

This one makes me think of my best friend Shawna. I have never read Hoffman and I have no idea what the book is about, or even if Shawna really likes Hoffman. I just knew it made me think of her so I grabbed it:

The Red Garden

I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson a couple years ago, so of course I had to pick this one up. I just hope I can remember the first one well enough:

The Last Little Blue Envelope

Because everyone seems to love it:

A Discovery of Witches: A Novel

There is a blogger who thinks the guy in this is the ideal YA hero. I can't remember what blog it is, but I had to pick it up to see if I agree. A chapter in and I'm not sure I want to finish, I'm finding the writing to be overly juvenile. yes, I know it's YA, no excuse:

Sloppy Firsts: A Jessica Darling Novel

And last, because it's been on my list for years and I saw it available in large print. I can't even remember why it's only list:
A Little Love Story: A Novel

So what do I read first? Is it worth trying to read Chasing Fire quick? I can return it late with no fines on a Sunday or Wednesday, but there IS someone waiting for it after me. Do I abandon all of them and read this one, as Trish tells me I should?
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel

(that one isn't a library book, for the record!)

What great books do you have checked out right now? What is your library's limit? Mine doesn't have a limit on books! It can get dangerous.


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.