Mini Hexie Update

Testing out the Blogger App on my phone with this snapshot blogpost.

Today is a rainy stormy day...that means it's mini hexie project time.

I have rounded the corner of the halfway mark....

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

Glorious Autumn Block Party

 

Maybe you noticed the new logo on the side bar of the blog. 

Yep this one.

Click it and enjoy and all fun going on at the Quilting Gallery website!

• The Party runs from today, September 4, 2012 to December 13, 2012
• 45 designers creating 12” quilt blocks and tutorials... yes.. 45 quilt blocks!
• Designer GIVEAWAYS! (mine is further down... yeah!)
• Designer profiles at Quilting Gallery
• And a Super Deal for the day at the Quilting Gallery each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the hop!

 

I’ll be posting my block in mid November.

Hope you will join in. 

Here is a teaser of Pat Sloan’s block.

Eddie’s Wildflowers

 

I teach a workshop titled Charm Pack Wildflowers.

It is based on my pattern Wildflowers.  I have always been a bit reluctant to teach a “pattern” workshop as I really want students to take my patterns and make them their own. I am all about that. I often worried that students would not want to do this in a workshop setting.

But as I become more and more comfortable with showing my “traditional quilt” side I am also realizing that my students do take these traditional quilt patterns and run with them.

This makes my heart sing.

I taught this workshop for the Arkansas Quilters Guild/ Little Rock, AR in February. 

I met Eddie & Melissa.

Eddie and Melissa are a great “husband and wife” team of quilters and couldn’t be more different in their styles.  They entered the classroom and quickly set up shop.  They were old pros and Eddie I hear makes many many quilts from Melissa.   I like this guy. 

Melissa pulled out her fabric….great bright prints full of stripes and polka dots.

Eddie laid his fabric out. A very unusual color way of Civil War pack of prints and said “I’m going to use these Mickey…what do you think?”

“What do I think?”  “I can’t wait to see it happen” I tell him.  It will be wonderful!

This pattern can be made in all different styles of fabric.  In fact if you have the pattern, open it up and you will find two more samples inside or you can see them on my website on the workshop page. (scroll down to the 6hr workshops…second one)

A few weeks after the workshop I received an email from Eddie with this pic.  Yes it’s been awhile since I received it.   But I have been very busy with the book and stuff.  I immediately asked Eddie for permission to share it with all of you and he said YES!

So here is Eddie’s rendition of Wildflowers.

I absolutely love it. 

And I also love his own personal flair with the flowers.

Thanks Eddie for sharing.

Finding Treasures

Yesterday was Kane County Flea Market Day in this neck of the woods.  Happens the first Sunday of every month, rain or shine, minus January and February which are obviously “no go’s” in the frozen tundra of the northern midwest for most outdoor venues.  We still sled.  We always sled.

Anyway….

Paul and I tromped out to St. Charles, IL and arrived at the gates of the Kane Country Fair Grounds just a bit after 7 am.

The outdoor vendors were a bit sparse.  The threat of Isaac arriving kept many away.  But still a very good time was had and treasures where found.

 

 

We added to our  “Miles Metal Art Collection” with piece number 3 from this Husband and Wife duo. 

They are the artists that made the giant dragonfly in our dining room, and the birds “Holly and Noah” in our gardens. 

 

 

Meet Jasper.   He is very special. 

His body is an old Kenmore (yes Bonnie you were right!) Sewing Machine. 

We have decided to keep Jasper in the house. 

Molly is not sure what to make of him.

 

Other small treasures were found.  It wasn’t an over the top day of finds.  UNTIL….

I spied this on a table. 

Now I love biographies.  And thus love scrapbooks as they give an insight into a person.

This blew me away.

 

It started life as a School Officers Record Book in 1904.

By dates I find inside it started it’s second life as a scrapbook in the early 1930s.

1920-1940s  Those are the decades that really sing to me on all levels. 

The pages are filled with poems and short stories clipped from various sources and paired up with imagery also from various sources.

One source is the Rural Progress Magazine.

 

It seems this was a very small magazine by a quick internet search. 

I will have to investigate further. 

 

But for now I will spend sometime just leafing thru.

     

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

  

 

 

 

                      Of course this image really caught my eye!

 

 

 

 

An ad for Raisin Maid.  Love it!

 

 

                            looks like a Rockwell to me.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    This is my style.

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is extra special.  And I have plans for this.

 

Yes I have big plans for this scrapbook. 

Now I just need another 16 hours in each day.

Where in the world am I?

Sometimes that is the first thought in the morning when I am on the road.   And by the looks of next years schedule (and 2014 too) that is gonna be a mantra in my life.

But it’s a good thing…and truly I love it.  I have often said my motto is “have passport- will travel”.

So where am I now?

I am in Conway Arkansas.

Yep, I am visiting Emily.  Pauli is off to Atlanta doing some visiting of his own. 

I did get to see him for a few hours when I arrived on Tuesday. 

What am I doing.

Absolutely nothing.  Well at least for a few more days. 

I am basically in a “holding pattern”. 

 

 

And then this will hit the book shelves in a few weeks.  (see my website for preordering)

 

 

 

And right after it Electric Quilt will be releasing this.  

If you use EQ this is a boutique download program that will give you all the “Pieced Hexie” images to use in designing your own Pieced Hexie Quilts/Projects. 

Watch the My EQ Boutique website for it’s release soon.

 

 

 

 

 

And pretty much in the midst of all that the next issue of  Quilter’s Newsletter will come out with my “workshop” in it. 

I have a feeling I will be doing a lot more in the very near future. 

So for now I am going to enjoy my time with “nothing to do”.

….and I have found my knitting needles again.  

Life is good.

567 mini hexies later…..

 

I have basted 567 mini (1/2 inch size) hexies since May 3rd.  I have also done a whole lot of other stuff since May 3rd.  But these little mini hexies kept calling my name.  So I would sneak a few in here and there everyday. And before I knew it I was well over halfway, then three quarters and late last night I tripped into “doneland”. 

Well done basting that is.  

 

 

Now the fun begins of seeing my pattern that I made on EQ7 come to life. 

Been spending lots of time on EQ7 these days but that will be a blog later this week, for now we are mini-hexing.  Well at least til 10am when I am heading back to the studio to finish the background for my next Pieced Hexies quilt.

See now that the book is done, the quilt is done, the EQ7 project is done, and the step outs for the Quilters Newsletter workshop is done, and a bunch more is DONE. Well I have some free time and I have blog material! 

Because now I can talk about all of it. YAY!

And there is a lot of it to talk about.   It’s been a whirlwind.

But for now I am mini-hexing.  

I broke the pattern down into sections. Yes I will share the pattern…in another blog.  I want you to see the progression of this without seeing the pattern first.   Here is where I am at now.  Looks like a blob of pink/red/orange and cream.   Hang in there this is only 17 hexies.  550 to go. The quilt doesn’t have a name yet so if anything comes to mind please share as I am open to suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also downloaded Mary Kay Andrews newest book to my Nook.  I am going to read.  again.  I snuck in two books since February. 

I am on reading withdrawal. 

I need to read.  

Enjoy the day.

There is life after manuscript!

Pieced Hexies is in the hands of my editor/team at Kansas City Star and they are literally “going to town”.  With so much completed they have pushed the release date up….waaaayyy up!   At this time the scheduled release date is September 1, 2012!   I am so very very excited! 

I will hopefully have a snapshot of the cover to share with all of you shortly.  At that time I will begin to take preorders.  I do know that price which will be $27.95.   There is a lot of photography in this book!  I sent them 130+ samples! and all will appear!  WOW!

But now it seems there are a few extra hours in the day.  And it is quite nice.  Been on the book treadmill since February.   And yes I am starting the next book actually in just a few days, the pace will be much much slower…at least on my end.  I figure start now so when that next deadline looms I am ahead of the game.  At least that is the plan.  We will see how this works.

 

 

I did get some quilting in this last weekend.  It has been decided that Whist Jubilance will make an appearance in Pieced Hexies – this is not your Grandmother’s Flower Garden, but there will be no pattern…but truly it’s easy peasy and I am sure most will figure it out.  

 

So while there are a few other things on the “to do” list I am giving myself a week of puttering around the studio to decompress.  I will tackle a few things as I know myself too well and I hate having things “hang over me” but I will play a bit…I promise.

 

 

I might play with some orphan blocks that have made their way to me.

 

 

 

 

I have several batches of orphan blocks that are truly enough for entire quilts they just need some sashing and  borders.

Then there is always this quilt top that is a recent find at the Kane County Flea Market for $40!

 

 

 

There’s the background to complete for the next Pieced Hexie quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and then there is this obsession that has creeped back out of my travel bag and is begging for attention….what to do ….what to do.