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.

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washed fabric quiltvilleswap Hostess

Use it up and wear it out!

Use it up? fabric strings...way down the food ladder but still very doable.
I sent in 20 right/left sets to swap. WHOHOO! Other quilters' strings!

Wear it out? My Organ titanium 80/12 sewing needle. It sewed/pieced 4 butterfly quilts. Then quilted the same quilts and still is sharp! So paper piecing will dull it up soon. But then who knows? I buy them for this very reason. They seem to last forever!

It sure makes a mess but it is controlled chaos. I keep my strings in baggies by color families. Those baggies go into the plastic containers..big ones!

Happily I have 400 spool blocks made now! nice full container.

Our guild does a Secret Sister during our calendar year. My Super Secret Sister gave me a container full of half square triangles. What a great gift. She worked a long time to fill this for me. I played a bit with them. And I love the container too!

I found a few balls of crochet cotton and made 6 doilies. I gifted them to a sweet quilter who made me a special pin cushion at a quilt retreat. They were starched and then dried in the sun.

Hubby found this toy race track. Being a curious man he set it up on the table to see if it worked. It did. It also became Maggie Mae's favorite toy for 2 days until he sold it...poor Maggie Mae!

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Butterfly quilts and kitties

Maggie Mae has a favorite perch in this house. She wants this wooden stool put in front of the screen door so she can watch her squirrel and bird friends.
She will stretch and even lay down on this small stool.
But...the air is on now and her stool has been returned to the kitchen where it belongs. Poor Maggie Mae!!!

With four cats in the house it is not rare for one of the cats to be "helping" me quilt. And they LOVE the Minkee backings. This smaller butterfly quilt went to daughter #2 for her 40th birthday. WOW! Time sure flies!

I work in controlled chaos as I sew. Making these 4 butterfly quilts was a labor of love. And as they were assembled I made 35 spool blocks as Leader and Enders per Our Bonnie Hunter of www.quiltville.com fame.
Then as I prepared to move to quilting mode I cleaned/straightened up a few things. Then somehow I lost my 35 spool blocks! ARGGGG!!!! I should have left the mess alone!
I sold my Janome 3160 QDC to a very good friend who needed a thread cutting machine for piecing the Bonnie Hunter Virginia Star quilt. I only sewed on it a few times...a waste to have it and not sew on it.
So, I got my my 1932 scroll face Featherweight and set her up for piecing in the back bedroom where I do all my cutting. What a fine sound she makes as she sews. I love that sound. And I made 30 more spool blocks. That back room is closest to the air conditioner and gets very cold. I love that fact! And as I was cutting more backgrounds for the spool blocks I found the missing 35 blocks. I am very near 300 blocks so far. WHOOT WHOOT!!! I have promised myself that I will try to not straighten things up too much in the future.
I have another butterfly quilt all pinned up and ready for quilting. And did 6 loads of laundry today! I am bushed!

This is butterfly quilt #2 and is destined for daughter #1's birthday in July.

This is butterfly quilt #3 and is going to my great son-in-law Kevin for his June birthday. He is such a fine man and a great father to all of Lisa's children.
My goal is to have two quilts that can be displayed in her family room which is decorated with butterflies everywhere!

Okay, DH is hungry and I need to make him something to eat.
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I won a mug & magazine & my 64 patch Butterfly quilt!

I was flabbergasted when I received the e-mail that I had won the volume 7 of the Quiltmaker magazine and one of the precious mugs!!!
Hubby has been laughing at me for the excitement I felt when the mug arrived. I currently have it right next to me at the sewing machine. Nothing is in it yet but a pair of scissors. But I can see it all day long!

I have been sewing up a storm. I know I should be working on my applique' project. But the sewing machine has really been my companion for the last 4 days.
DD#1 collects butterflies. And I bought this fabric many many years ago. I did not like the border on it at all. So I cut it all off...much better. Then began to cut the blocks down to a usable size.
DD#1's birthday is in July so I am getting a head start on getting this sewn. I still need to add a border. I will use the brown fabric that is the 64-patch.
I LOVED making these 64 patch blocks. I used 1 1/2" squares. I did not sew them in strips but made them each individually. DH is still laughing about the mug and how this was too much work for an 8 1/2" block.

And the neutral I used just seems to glow. I am determined to use the neutral all up. It has the painted texture that is hard to sew through. I did not know that when I bought it online a million years ago. I sure do love shopping my stash!!

Here is the first one I made...only 40" square. But still quite pretty.
Hubby does not like the green butterfly fabric I used. He says it is baby shit green.
MEN!!! I need to love it as I have 10 yards of it!!! It will be used!!!

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Cats, squirrels and spool block progress

Our Macy is so special. She fetches toys like a dog and we know she understands what we say. When her food bowl gets near empty she brings the bowl toys.
So funny. Her newest favorite toy is a piece of string from a grass weed whacker.

DD#1 braided my hair yesterday. I so need to get a trim to straighten up my self mutilation. It lasted all day and overnight.

This is some of the fabric that I bought at Quilts and Friends in Roanoke Indiana. We were hired to play during a sale day for the above shop. Of course after staring for two hours as we played and sang I could not NOT buy fabric.

The quilt is still in it's design mode...more to follow.

As I work on the butterfly quilt I am cutting into the swap strips and making spool blocks. Some of the fabric were too light for the spool body but I was able to use them as the backgrounds.

The paper shows 190 made but with yesterday's sewing session I now have 200 even sewn. 1/4 of the way to the 800 needed...

Here is a closeup of our newest squirrel family. The mommy squirrels all bring the babies from their birthing nest to our trees. I am sure it is the food supply. We have two families right now in the front trees. There are occasionally some territory squabbles. But we can stop them by adding more peanuts to the argument. They then get so busy eating that they forget to fight with each other!!!

But this little baby has a very gray cast to her fur. It will make her easily recognized when taming. She is already quite comfortable with me being close to her. I make them peanut butter sandwiches and slices of apples with peanut butter. And tons of raw peanuts and sunflower seeds.

I have all of the quilts quilted that I made from Craig Robison's shirts. He would have been the grandfather to the new arrival (due in June) SO I thought it was appropriate to use the shirt fabrics as baby quilts. I managed to squeeze 4 quilts and all have Minkee backing!!!

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Sunbeam hot iron case

WHOOOHOOOO!
My hot iron case came today.
Our hero Bonnie Hunter blogged about this item and I must have been quick enough because I got the last one off Amazon!!!!
Hubby is doubtful about this item because it is made of plastic. I explained about the silicone interior...men!
I am heading for a retreat this weekend but I am only bringing hand work. Yet I am sure this case will still come in quite handy. I can also see me storing an iron in it here at home. Lots of possibilities.

I have my Great Grandson's quilt all sewn. I have the backing pinned into the quilting frame but have not pinned this up for quilting yet. I thought I had a good chunk of Minkee for the back but it is way too small. So I am going to use some turquoise polka dot fleece.
And as usual I have made way too many blocks. I can make another quilt exactly as the one below...what to do......
This quilt is 54" square.

Maggie Mae got her summer haircut yesterday. She never napped at all after returning home. She can lick places previously unreachable. She is such a happier kitty now. She is also trying to squeeze into places she should not be...we have created a monster!!!

How could I not take a photo of Pearl when she poses so sweetly. Our precious Pearl Piwacket. (from the movie Bell, Book and Candle)

This is one of the hand projects I am taking to retreat. I want this to be done so I can begin another Hexie project. I am loving this process...

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Still Hexing away!!!

Here is my progress on the Fussy Cut Hexie quilt.
As I am working on it, it seems I make such little progress. Then I slap it up on the wall, take a picture and am so pleased that it makes all the work worthwhile!

It has taken me a week of some serious TV watching and hand sewing to get to this point. I was watching Downton Abby and then all the seasons for Game of Thrones. Love having cable when they do "Watchathons". But I also made two baby afghans (crocheting). What I work on depends on where I am sitting. HA!!!!

I received my newest issue of Quiltmaker magazine and another of Bonnie Hunter's famous friends (who I met at a quilting retreat) is also featured in this issue!!!
I have Mickey Depre's set of Hexie Templates and her new book. They are both fabulous!

There are not many times that I can get two of my four cats in a photo. On the left is MaggieMae who weighs in at a scant 9 lbs. And on the right is Macy Gray who weighs in at 12 lbs. They are both tortie points. Love the straight white lines on their little faces!!!! Maggie is a Himalayan and Macy is a Siamese Color point. Maggie has a hair appointment next week to get her Spring shave. She and I cannot wait. She gets her tongue stuck in her chest fur. It is funny and so sad.