A Quilt Purchase

It's not often I buy a quilt - but on my trip to Chattanooga in September, I did just that. I was mesmerized by the exhibit of quilts from the Philippines. They were all colorful, unique, and amazing! The story behind them was equally colorful.

A Japanese man and his wife moved to a Philippines island. The wife taught the locals to quilt to supplement the islanders' income. Now the quilts the islanders make bring in 1/3 of all the income there. What a wonderful gift!

These quilts depict the life on the island. I knew I wanted to buy one with fish, so this one came home with me.

Today I made the last of the reservations for the International Quilt Festival in Houston. All booked! Hotel, shuttles, festival tickets, airline tickets…done!

I also started the appliqué of many hexies onto a background - this piece is too big for my lap so I'm working on it at the dining room table. I got a good start today. Happy work!

From One Thing to Another

I did some tie sorting today - someone in our guild is getting rid of a huge bin of these. One person has already gone through them - now it's my turn.  Then I'll pass it on to the next person. I did find some nice ones to use for a future project.

And look! I even found one with hexagons on it - yes, I snatched it!

Late this afternoon, hubby and I went for a hike. We went to an ecological nature preserve here in town. We'd never been before, but we'll definitely go back again.

Beautiful scenery… Then we came home and grilled out.

Here's a tiny sneaky peaky of something special. I've been a busy bee! Now I'm exhausted, so it's off to bed to read for a bit. Tomorrow will be another day full of hexie fun!

My New Craftoptics Glasses Came in!

Before we get to the subject at hand…here are the hexies I'm working on today. They are not quite as bright in real life as they show in the picture. I have been hexing since I woke up today! An entire day of hexing! Does it get any better?! I think not!

The WONDERFUL people at Craftoptics sent me new glasses (to replace the ones Cooper chewed up). So happy to have these! I can baste hexies without their help, but when stitching hexies together…boy, do these things make my life easier!!!! Excuse the no makeup look - most days at home I don't bother with it.

And look at the note sweet Kate from Craftoptics sent along with the replacement glasses! Made me smile…a LOT! Thanks so much, Kate! I do hope that Cooper will be as chilled as your dog soon!

Auburn has an away game this weekend, so that means I'll be sitting home with hubby watching all the games on the TV (while I hexie!)

Another Happy Hexie Flower

Here's the latest in my pile - I fussy cut the center. This quilt is coming along nicely, but you'll have to wait until January 1 to see it and get the pattern in Hexie Love.

Ah, yes, the magazine. How do you start a magazine? One tiny step at a time…

If you follow Hexie Love on Facebook, you've read some of the drama.  I bought some software to help me run things. However, I was not happy with the customer service they provided: missed on-line meetings, unanswered e-mails, etc. So I cancelled it - chalk that one up to a lesson learned.

Yesterday I bought new software. In less than two days I've learned so much! This company has excellent customer service. They answer my questions on-line within seconds.

The way the subscriptions work on this software is as follows:
No one can sign up for a subscription until the first issue is published, i.e., January 1, 2015. So hang in there. The day you subscribe, you'll get the first issue! Now that I think about it, it does make sense - that way you don't give up any money until you can immediately have the product. Nice, huh?

You will be able to buy a one year subscription or to buy individual issues. There will be a progressive quilt pattern for the year with one part of the quilt patterned in each issue. If you're interested in this, it will be much more affordable to subscribe for the year instead of buying individual issues.

I will keep you posted here and at HexieLove.com. If you wish you can sign up for my e-mail list (at hexielove.com)  to get occasional updates, such as when a new issue is out.

So after much toil and trouble, I seem to finally be on the right track. Today I even started putting the first issue together - so much fun! This is the part I've been looking forward to!

There is still some boring stuff left: get a business license for my state and city, open a business bank account, and a bit more yuckity yuck. But all in all, I'm feeling very encouraged today.

Haircut and Studio Rearrange!

I got a much needed new haircut Friday - always makes me feel like a new woman! I'm loving my new style.

And here are the promised photos of my rearranged studio. It's not a huge change, but I'm enjoying it so much. The dark low shelving unit you see on the left used to be on the right side against the back wall. The ironing table used to be where that shelving unit is now - I moved it to the right side - you can only see a corner of it in this picture. And my new Ikea rug came in on Friday - love the pop of color! (You know I love ORANGE!)

I turned around to take more pictures and realized I have something big on my design wall that I can't show! (It will be in the first issue of Hexie Love!) So I'll just share this little corner - more pops of orange here and there.

I also hung this little storage bucket set (again, from Ikea) under my television. It's great for my scissors, rotary cutter, and other important stuff! That's my Accuquilt Studio on the table under the television - I use it constantly! I have most of my dies stored there on the little shelf unit under my hexagon magnetic board.

I have one more small addition to hang today - it's a fun little touch which I'll share soon.

Now that our big football weekend is over (in which I didn't have much time to hexie), I'm hitting the ground running today! I'm hoping to accomplish LOTS of magazine goodness today! And of course I'll get my hexie on!

Ombre Fun!

Here's what I'm working on today - loving these happy blues.

For some reason, I've been very tired today. So I've listened to my body and rested and hexied. Dinner tonight? Eggs, bacon, bagels - quick and simple.

You can tell there is a big game here this weekend (Auburn vs. LSU) because I've heard planes and small jets flying in all day. This will continue Friday and even Saturday morning. You can feel the excitement in the air. We have lots of friends and family coming for the weekend - all beds at our house and at our daughter and SIL's house will be full, with some people sleeping on sofas and floors. I may or may not go to the game. My mother is coming so I may sit home with her while the rest go to the game…we'll see.

More hexies for me tonight!

2014 Hexie BOM October: Candy Corn!

We do love our Candy Corn this time of the year! It's one of hubby's favorite fall treats.  Here's the pattern:

And here's my version. You will notice that I did mine in the brown, orange, and yellow version - you've seen those haven't you? Feel free to do yours in orange, yellow, white if you wish! Happy Halloween!