Eileen, #18, is the lucky winner of the remaining hexes! My son the certified numbers guy, chose the random number. I have no idea how he picked the number 18 but he did and I trust that he knows random – because he's a numbers guy. 

And – I've heard from Barbara, the new owner of my quilt in the Celebrity Quilt Auction. I am so happy that this quilt is going to a person who is going to love it! I haven't added it up, but it looks like this auction of 12 quilts raised more than $13,000! I am lucky to have been a part of this endeavor and I look forward to seeing the quilts next year.

And because I like to have some color in every post… Fall in Sherman, TX, is not exactly spectacular but I took this photo of two trees in my front yard last week. For the first time I have a tree that has some reddish leaves! Mostly I get yellow and/or brown leaves from my trees. And that deep blue sky behind the leaves is pretty spectacular.  

We're going to have our first hard freeze of the season tonight and that means that many of the plants in the yard will turn brown and die back. But last week, the hibiscus was blooming:

The bud on the right makes me think of the plant in the Little Shop of Horrors.

I don't know about you, but I find myself making a lot more electronic invitations and flyers these days. Often they need a pretty image. It is nice to have this sort of image, that you've taken yourself, in your computer to use when you need it.

Keeping track of where these images are in your Pictures folder can be an issue. I have a lot of folders and subfolders in my primary Pictures folder. I sort flowers by color. This will go in the Color and Contrast folder, in the Pink subfolder. I name files the way I would if they were in a file cabinet – with names that make sense to me.

On a mac, making folders and subfolders is simple and searching is also simple. Personally, I find that it's worth the time it takes to name and file images so that when I want them, I can find them.

If your digital photos are a mess, sorting and filing them in your computer is a project that you might sort of enjoy. It is at least better than shuffling old photos from one shoe box to another – which is a project I still have to tackle.

Now, back to work!

In yesterday's post I meant to add the link to the AAQI Celebrity Quilt Auction and I forgot. Click here to go to the bidding page. Tomorrow is the last day so if you intend to bid, now is the time!

That would be the Hex N More ruler by Julie Herman at Jaybird Quilts. I don't buy specialty rulers often/ever but I couldn't resist this one. I used it to make the quilt below for a great-neice for Christmas. This little girl is 6 (or 7?) and I think it's perfect! Nice for her now but graphic enough to grow up with her.

(NOTE: be sure to read all the way to the end of this post…)

I used the Bubbly Circles fabric with the solids. It goes with everything and the texture is nice. 

This is a variation of a pattern from Jaybird Quilts called Science Fair. I cut my strips wider (2 3/4") and I added simple applique in the center of most of the big hexes. I may need to make this more than once – the pattern is fast, graphic, and full of different design possibilities. 

I've ordered the two patterns below to go with the Hex N More Ruler that is already on the Piece O' Cake site. The patterns should be here in a couple of weeks.

I think both of these quilt patterns are interesting on their own – but either would be good with some applique! Maybe a little, maybe a lot of applique…

I only used most of the 'darker' hexes in the quilt I made and I have no plan in mind for the remaining light hexes so I'm raffling them off. If you would like them, leave a comment on this post. I'll do a randomized drawing Monday morning. Here's what might be yours:

Good luck!

PS – Don't forget to bid on your favorite Celebrity quilt on the AAQI bidding page. Click here.

First, don't forget to place a bid on your favorite quilt in the AAQI Celebrity Quilt Auction! There are only a couple of days left. Click here.

The following photo is from the Kokka/Echino fabric booth. This is the company that made the clock fabric that I used in the backgrounds for Tick Tock. I need to find a shop that stocks these fabrics!

There was a fabric screen and one part of it had 3-D butterflies made from… I'm not sure what. I assumed that these were made from fabric but now I can't tell. If there is a print with these butterflies, I want that fabric. No, I need that fabric!

This next photo was taken outside of Market, at the Grove Restaurant. I might have taken this same photo last year. I love the lines… I can see quilting patterns. 

I posted this photo from a morning walk on Twitter and Facebook but some of you may have missed it. I thought you might like it.

I've been sewing on a Christmas present for a great neice quilt for a couple of days. I hope to be able to share tha with you tomorrow!

Last Thursday I heard an interview on Morning Edition with the author of the new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Deb Perelman. She writes a blog by the same name. How have I not heard of her before! She has millions of blog readers and I am now one of them. (FYI – I've added a link to her blog in the list of my favorite blogs.)

The interview was so good that I visited her blog right away and found the best candy recipe ever. I made it up yesterday and the results were perfect. This is not a hard recipe to make. I ordered the cookbook and am really looking forward to more great recipes.

TIP: I got cocky and turned my back on the apple cider near the end of its boiling time. I turned back to it just as it was boiling over. I hadn't realized that when most of the water had boiled off it might do that. I took this as a sign that I had cooked enough of the liquid off. Here's what my caramel looked like in the pan, cooling.

I chilled it in the fridge for an hour or so, turned it out onto a cutting board and, as per Deb's clear instructions, I oiled my knife and cut the candy into 64, 1" squares.

The only thing I would do differently is cut the waxed paper 4" x 5". TIP: use your rotary cutter for this. 

This is my new favorite sweet treat. It may be that the only way to improve would be to dip half of each one in dark chocolate and I think I'll do that for Christmas.

Everyone who has tried these – adults and kids alike – love them. As my friend Laurie said, it's like the essence of apple pie, with caramel. I wish I could give one to each of you. But only one :-).

The Modern Quilt Guild sponsored an exhibit that I really enjoyed. Please do click here to see their post about the exhibit. Their photos are not as close-up as these I want to highlight.

Convergence by Latifah Saafir is the quilt that I remember most from the show. I wish I was the one who made this. It is striking from far away and up close. I dearly love the way your eye is drawn to those two aqua strips. All I can think of is onions and I like onions a lot!

I don't know why, but I woke up this morning thinking about the construction of the next quilt, Opposing Triangles. This quilt was made by Katie Pedersen and quilted by Krista Withers.

The quilting is very nice indeed! The patterns vary, but work together so well.

These are quilters who are not afraid of open, negative space. These quilts breathe… they make me happy.

And then there was this quilt hanging in the group category in the show. It won a first place ribbon in its category and it's another one I wish I had made. Ms. MacDonald Had a Farm was made by Lynn Czaban and  members of the Hanging By A Thread group of Vancouver, Washington. It was hanging in a place that was hard to photograph. You can (and should) click here to see better pictures of all the winners.

This is a very talented group! Look at some of these blocks closer:

I could almost love farm animals up close and personal :-). In fabric.

More later…