Amid the abundance of potential craft projects I have at my fingertips lives a box of fabric hexagons. These vintage hexies were lovingly cut by my great aunt Alice (I like to imagine she did this while watching her stories, enjoying an early afternoon cocktail), meant to be pieced together one day and made into a quilt. After my Auntie Al died, they were passed down to my mother and my mother passed them on to me, where they’ve been sitting unused for far too long.

Over the years I’ve tried sewing them, envisioning all kinds of projects, from appliqued flowers to pretty pin cushions. Every time I got them out I was reminded I lack both the patience and the skill for the tiny stitches they require. So, back in their box they’d go. Until yesterday.

Something in my Pinterest feed inspired me to Mod Podge these to a small canvas and create a little background art for an empty space on my shelf.

The project won’t win any ribbons at the State Fair and it’s definitely a trial run that I’ll repeat with more/better precision, but it pleases me to finally find a use for these beauties. This project falls into the same category as my promise to myself that I’ll “use the pretty soaps” – in other words, stop saving things for “someday.” Instead of worrying about using these as they were intended (which kept me from using them at all), I’m going to enjoy having literal pieces of my family on display.