Back to Ties

I pulled out my necktie hexies yesterday. These are big, fun, and relaxing. I have several more ready to baste today.

My work continues on computer stuff for Hexie Love. I hope to finish this transition in approximately a week, maybe two. And then I will heave a sigh of RELIEF! I KNOW this will be a HUGE improvement in the system! And well worth the effort.

I had such a nice birthday weekend! I can't wait to show you my gifts, but some of them are not here yet. I got some fun gift certificates for on-line shopping - yes, I've already spent them and they should arrive soon. There will be a lot of color, some inspiration,  and a little bling in my mailbox later this week.

Today's focus will be more computer work! And some hexies here and there! And maybe, if I get a lot done, I'll run up to the studio and work on my orphan block quilt...

Double Nickels

Today is my birthday - YAY! And I got a hexie cake! Hubby ordered this for me - it's my very favorite - carrot cake - yum!!! (And if you didn't know, family and close friends call me 'Judy' - I really like the name 'Julia' better, but it's hard to switch a nickname after many, many years!)

I wish I had some fun hexie goodness to show you, but my focus for the last couple of days has been on the transition of Hexie Love to a new delivery system. I'm working on a very large spreadsheet to help me accomplish this - about 1/5 way through this part of the process. It's slow going BUT will be worth it's wait in gold once done.

I did get some hexie related birthday gifts - I'll share them in a couple of days.

I do hope you have a wonderful 7-11!

My Distraction...

Yesterday I had a great list of hexie work I wanted to accomplish. But...these orphan blocks pulled me upstairs to the studio. I couldn't resist!

So I arranged and rearranged. Then I started sewing. And I rearranged. And I sewed. And so forth and so on. And sew on.

Most of what you see on the design wall is sewn together. There are still many more blocks in a pile that I can add. And I think 3 more people will be bringing me orphan blocks next week. So this quilt will definitely grow! 

But today I will try to resist the urge to work on it - hopefully I'll get yesterday's list completed!

Happy Hexie Friday!

Hexie Show and Tell....And Orphan Blocks!

I got this photo in my inbox this morning. One of the quilters in my workshop Tuesday at the Allatoona Quilt Guild finished her pincushion from the hexies she made in class. She said,

"Hi Julia,
I really enjoyed both your trunk show presentation and the hexie class on Tuesday.
I got my pincushion finished! Not perfect, but I am sure I will do some more hexies, they are addicting!" 

Thanks for sharing, Sue!

And this is the December 2014 Hexie BOM pattern. A friend is making this wallhanging. Yes, Christmas in July!

 And look at my haul of orphan blocks that I was given yesterday at the Birthday Block lunch! And this isn't all of them! I can't wait to get started putting this together.

These are photos from my road trip Tuesday. This one was taken at about 6 am just outside Auburn, the sun just beginning to rise.

And here's a pic from the drive home. Gridlock traffic in Atlanta...

So what's on tap today?

1. I'll be working on the transition of publishing Hexie Love in a new way.
2. I'll be working on a new hexie project.
3. I'll be writing some pattern instructions.

Sounds like a fun day!

Hexies in Acworth, GA!

I was on the road EARLY yesterday to spend the day with the Allatoona Quilt Guild. WOW! This is a wonderful guild, full of energetic, enthusiastic, and prolific quilters! 

 

I was thrilled to meet Melinda in person - we've been blogging buddies for years!

Here is Melinda during Show and Tell sharing her 2014 Hexie BOM quilt. LOVE IT! 

 I gave a lecture/trunk show - I had PILES of hexie quilts to share, even some antique quilts.

And in the afternoon I taught a sold out workshop. We had so much fun! The ladies learned to make hexies from circles first. They got the hang of the technique very quickly!

And then I taught them to make hexies using English Paper Piecing. It's always fun at the end of the class to get a show of hands as to which technique they like the best. For quilters who have never made hexies, the circle technique always wins because it's so quick and easy. But the quilters who had already done EPP like that technique the best. 

I was so impressed with the guild's charitable work - this is the pile of quilts turned in yesterday for charitable donations. AMAZING!

I had a blast with this group!

And today will be fun, too. I've talked about the Birthday Block group I'm in here in Auburn. We each pick out a block pattern each year and each member makes the designated block for us for our birthday. I had trouble deciding on a pattern, so I asked the members to bring me orphan blocks so I can make a 'kitchen sink' quilt. Today is the day! So I get to go to a luncheon celebrating my birthday (and that of another member/friend who has a July birthday) and I'll get my orphan blocks. I'll share pictures tomorrow - should be fun! Can't wait to see the variety of orphan blocks.

I'm spending the morning catching up on computer work. I'm fine tuning the new Hexie Love magazine delivery system - I know it will be a big improvement over Joomag!

A Quilt Label and...A New Way to Get Hexie Love Coming Soon!

Last night I sewed the label on my Eye 1 quilt, TWICE. I put in the wrong corner the first time. Today I'll pack it up and ship it off for the Grand Rapids show.

I've been working hard behind the scenes this weekend to find another way to get my Hexie Love magazine to you. And I'm pretty sure I've found it!!!!! I still have to do a bit more work to set up the system, BUT I know it will be easier for you, the customer!!!! I'm so excited about this!

Today I'm packing up the car - I'm making a road trip to Atlanta tomorrow to lecture and teach a class. What fun we'll have! Hexies will be flying!

What else am I doing today? I'm pulling out my neck tie hexies to do some basting, I'm working on the designs for next year's hexie BOM, and maybe I'll even baste some 3/4" hexies for the August BOM.

Hope you have a happy hexie day!

Happy 4th!

Happy holiday to those of you in the US! We are having a quiet day here in the world of hexies. 

Now, let me tell you about my Boston Butt! I actually cooked it Thursday night. I figured if it wasn't good, I'd still have time to go out Friday and buy some BBQ from a restaurant. The recipe calls for you to cook it overnight.  So yesterday morning we removed it from the oven and hubby used two forks to pull apart the meat.

OH MY GOODNESS! It was melt-in-your mouth tender! And the flavor is out of this world. It's really not hard at all.

After hubby finished, I decided that I wanted to cook more - I want lots of leftovers to share with my daughters! And for us! So I immediately went to the grocery store and bought more meat. And last night we did it again. It should be ready in a few minutes and then we'll have pulled pork coming out our ears!

You can find the recipe HERE!

And now some news concerning Hexie Love. I had a nice chat with Daughter 1 (the software engineer) and she has an idea we think will work so that I won't have to use Joomag any longer AND you'll be able to easily get the PDF of the magazine with no hoops to jump through! So excited about this!

We need to figure out the details and make sure it works. And I'll have to convert all my current subscribers to the new system, but stay tuned! I hope in the near future I'll have a better system up and running! Yay!