Hexagon Magnet Madness

Finally, finished and shipped!  My RATZ Swap magnets that is.  I think I greatly overestimated my handsewing speed, haha!  But I really wanted to give tiny hexagons a try after seeing this sample by Susan (chickenfoot) that just amazed me.  I mean 3/8 inch hexagons are pretty teenie tiny and they look so cute there in her hand.  (Note to self:  teenie tiny cuteness equals double the work of simple cuteness.)

So as I was stalking my partner, I happened to see that not only does she love hexagons, almost to the point of obsession, but she also had this adorable sample of more teenie tiny cuteness marked in her favorites---and so did I!  It was meant to be.  Plus after stalking researching my partner, I discovered that she is a really amazing woman with a huge heart of gold, so I figured I'd make her something special (I know, I know.  I end up doing this on all my swaps, why?  Simply because I keep getting the most amazing, inspiring swap partners!  Really.  I think my swap mamas give me their best ones.  Ones with backstories that just floor me and make me want to go to the ninth in creating something.)

Well, the description said 1/4 inch hexagons, so I printed some up and started in on cutting.  Hmm, these were looking kind of tiny, but I needed tiny, I was making magnets.  So, I pulled out my less-than-an-inch-size bag of scraps and started pulling colors for flowers and butterflies.  Then I went about basting and sewing hexagons as usual to make the shapes.  Really, not too bad.  A bit hand cramping and blinding to sew such little buggers, but the first flower done really got me going.  Here's a tip:  have really good lighting, especially when stitching black to black with black thread, lol!

Aren't they adorable?!  Am I totally crazy now--because I want to use up the rest of super tiny scraps this way!

I backed each with a color matching piece of eco felt (I didn't know if she was allergic to wool, so I didn't use wool felt--but you could) cut in the overall shape (note to self:  in the future cut the felt just a teensy bit larger than the piece so that it's easier to stitch) and blanket stitched it with two strands from a six-strand cotton floss (I like DMC, but use what you can find.)  I also stuffed the butterfly just a bit to make it a little more interesting.  I used E6000 to glue button sized magnets to the back of the felt prior to stitching the felt to the fronts so that the backing piece could lay flat while drying. 

What do you think?  Kind of some teeny tiny cuteness going on there, isn't it?!

Edited 7/3/12:  Okay, now that my partner has received these, I can tell you who she is.  My partner this round was Caryn (Caryn211) from Nebraska.  She loved them and left me a very nice compliment on my Flickr posting of this picture, totally made my day.  If you want to know how really special this woman is, just read this article that I found when I was snooping around to get ideas.  Like I said, I just keep getting the most amazing and inspiring women as partners for swaps.