Scrappy Nines quilt is now a flimsy.

Scrappy Nines quilt is now a flimsy. I am so lucky I have a TALL husband!!!
All fabric was from my stash. Very deep stash. So deep that the modern fabrics were way short when I was making strip sets. So short that I had to add fabric in order not to waste the neutrals.

What a wonderful journey. A wonderful sewing journey. I love everything about making tops except the joining of rows. But using the Leaders and Enders makes this task much more rewarding.

My favorite size of 9-patches. 3 1/2"!!! I made way too many but I wanted a good selection of scrappy nines.

Love this pattern. In fact I love it so much I want to make another one!

XOXOXOXO Subee

Loving on my neutrals

What is a better task on a cold winter's day than steam pressing beautiful fabrics?And with my Reliable Digital Velocity iron it is a steam bath in the cutting room. This is not a task for a summer's day. The sweat (sparkle) is rolling down my face. Hey! People actually pay to get a steam facial!!!

I dug deep into my stash. The earliest date on a selvedge was 1997. I ripped 1/2 yard pieces from 27 fabrics. Another 15 were almost a yard only so I just pressed the entire chunk. I have been collecting this paperbag shade of neutrals for eons.

And I am thinking it was a statement by Alex Anderson I remember very early in my fabric collecting to always buy extra neutrals. Even with no plan in mind, buy neutrals. I have never regretted doing this.

And immersing myself into Bonnie Hunter's version of neutrals is so easy to do. I use the backs of many prints for subtle shadings. Hey I bought both sides!!!

I also unfolded and pressed a 40 piece collection from Moda Little Primitives. Dated 2004? maybe?
The book there is by Pat Wyss  Spotlight on Neutrals.
A book after my own heart. I want to make all of the quilts in this book.

Here is a long view of my cutting room. Yes I have a lot of fabric. And yes I use it all all the time!!!!!!
Again a great way to spend a sunny cold winter day.

XOXOXO Subee
p.s. my bread came out perfect yesterday!!!

More than 1,552 2 1/2" neutral squares cut now!

Yes, you read the title correctly. I have cut more than 1,500 squares in the last two nights. I did this because I "thought" I had exhausted my supply of neutral 2 1/2" squares. I found the remainder AFTER I had these two massive cutting sessions. They were hiding safely in the brown container. That was the last time I used them to make the Shaded 9-patch Leaders & Enders per Our Bonnie Hunter.

This is the result. I am so OCD. But there are really plus sides to being a control freak. All the squares are with their sisters. And as I use them I move them to another container so I get a good random selection. So there is truly a method to my madness.

And as I was harvesting my neutrals I cut 33 1/2 yard cuts of neutral to gift to my quilting friend Vicki. She is building her stash up slowly. I have been giving her boxes and bags of my scraps. She gets to keep the container too. I am making elbow room by doing this. Plus it makes me feel good. She will call and say what she gleaned from these gifties. They do not remain idle at her home!!!

I really like these type of containers. They stack well and the lids are very secure. And I also love the lime green handles!

I made these stars as "return from the hostess gifts" when I do the sleeve swap on the Yahoo group Quiltvilleswap. Most swappers include gifts to me and I love returning the favor.

See the method to my madness? Lots of control. But I have a very determined kitten who loves to play with my stacks of units. ARRRRGGGG!!!!
I have been training her to be a "good girl" which is her laying down and asking for the play
and then rewarding her with laser play. She does it over and over until she tires of the game and starts to really torment me at the sewing machine. Then I have to stop sewing.

My small sleeve cuttings for Ohio Stars. I am waiting for the swap to be over so I can add more variety before I sew too many.

Here is the little monster in a seldom seen position. Sound asleep and being an angel kitty. She is also tormenting James back in the family room. She KNOWS that climbing the screen door is a no no. So she runs and bounces off it before James can grab the water bottle. She is so defiant!! But that is the joy of Siamese cats. They have such strong personalities.

To give me more sewing time I bought this laser toy. It has a timer and many speeds. She has it figured out though. She will just lay down and grab at the light as it turns by. Smart kitty!
XOOXOOX Subee

My definition of a neutral.

It seems as if I get a sleepless night once a week. I used to hate them. Now they are great! I can play in my stash. I mean really deep digging and sorting.

I am currently making lots of Bonnie Hunter's spool blocks. Then I was getting bored with the neutrals I was sewing with. Enter one sleepless night and I have 30 new neutrals to sew with.

I went through and tore 20" from each fabric. I will get them washed as I plan on making a new swap on the Quiltvilleswap Yahoo group. We have already swapped spool fabrics but not the backgrounds. So I asked and got  favorable replies from nearly all the swappers. They are up for an extra swap this summer.

And the definition of a neutral seems to be a personal preference. I agree with Our Bonnie on what she considers a neutral. It really does make for a more interesting quilt. But I know that is uncomfortable for some quilters.

The photo below is what I/we will be swapping.

Aren't these fabrics great? I included a few of my precious conversation prints.

And there is a method to my madness...I have made 4 Log Cabin quilts using only creams and browns with pale pink centers. I have been feeling the call of making a Log Cabin quilt without being color controlled. These neutrals will fit in perfectly for this future project.

Here is an example of a pale pink fabric being a neutral in one block and the spool in another block. It all depends on the spool color.

I now have 646 spool blocks made. If memory serves me, Bonnie said she wanted 800 spool blocks for the design she is working on. I am almost there!!!

I went through one swappers yellow strips. I cut them down and made these yellow spool blocks. Light to dark. Aren't they precious?

And since I always do a Leader/Ender as I am sewing I am using 1 1/2" squares that were extras cut from whatever.

XOXOXOXOXO Subee

washed fabric quiltvilleswap Hostess

Fabric log roll

I have mentioned this before that I periodically go through my fabric bolts and tear off a one yard chunk. I did that with the log roll below. There are 56 neutrals in this roll. I was doing a neutral swap over at the 1 1/2" Postagestampquilt swap location. We ended up only swapping 25 fabrics instead of 50 but that made no difference to me. 

I swapped two sets then! HA!

I am in LOVE with neutrals. I have always bought them before deeper colored fabrics.

And this is my own invention. I have browns stored this way too.
I have my batiks rolled this way by color. Makes it so easy to just grab a bunch of same color fabrics.

 This roll was one yard chunks at one time. They are all pressed and starched then one strip in many sizes were cut from each one. Not one fabric at a time either. Maybe 6-8 fabrics...that means 12-16 layers. You need strong arms and a sharp blade to do this.

Anyway, after doing the harvesting, I rolled them all up together (keeping the cut ends as even as I could) tied them up with some of those great Moda ribbons, and put them into a plastic container. The last time I harvested fabric from this container was early last Spring 2010.

 Here is the roll before unrolling. It is a beautiful sight and it is also quite heavy. Sigh!
 Did I tell you I love fabric???? Like you couldn't guess.
They are all nice and flat with no wrinkles or puckers.

 I did not need to iron a single one of these as I took a few at a time from the unrolled log, cut them and stacked them to the other end of the table. Once again I did not need to iron them at all!!!! And yes, I do love to iron. Last night I went through all my shirtings prints and pressed and rolled them up after cutting 2" strips from them. They are all sewn now into Clue#3 of the Orca Bay Mystery from Our Bonnie Hunter of http://www.quiltville.com.
Just need to press and de-ear the little puppies.
I also found some treasures in the bottom of a 56 qt. container that held nearly all my black and gray collection. I will share them with you in another post. I was so surprised at what I found...

 Here is the fabric log all re-rolled and trussed up. And I also was very generous when I straightened the ends. I could have "sliver" trimmed and had even edges but I wanted some more neutral strings.

Now I have another nice container of 2" neutral strips and the beginnings of another bag of neutral strings. I do not know why but I have many containers with 2 1/2" strips sorted by color family. And the same amount of 1 1/2" strips stored the same way. But my 2" size only has the one drawer under the cutting table. Do I use them up as I cut them? I must because that bin is always in need of more fabric...you know like sourdough starter...have to feed the dough!

I love neutrals!

 And it shows that I love neutrals. I invaded the dreaded quilting/storage room and harvested neutrals that have been buried and have not made it into any quilts or swaps yet.
I guess I was saving them for my next life!
I cut 1/2 yard hunks off 54 neutrals. Yes...you read that right 54! There was 2-3 yards from each fabric left. Once again these were purchased before I discovered scrap quilting.
And I did find two chocolate browns and added them to the group for cutting.
I think I wore out my iron and I used a whole bottle of spray starch!
Now all I need to do is cut into these lovelies. I will have two sets of 25 neutrals for my Yahoo swap! Yes!

 Love my Baby...she always gets into any container she can. Even if the container is too small.

 Here is one of the three baby squirrels. Their mother is the one that climbs the door. Stubbie allows them to feast here too. I watched the Mother bring each of those babies from somewhere in the addition. She carried them one at a time in her mouth. The youngin's curled around her body. She rested every few feet. And them climbed the spruce tree with each of the babies. I bet she was worn out! Then after a few days the babies ventured down the tree. They are still shy of me and the feeding ritual I have with their Mommie and Stubbie. I am looking forward to watching them grow. Their little tails are sooooo sweet! I think this one is a boy.

Here is Baby and Bess helping me to quilt. They always have to test drive the quilts. This one is destined for Grand daughter Zoey.