Merry Christmas!

Nana and The Tootie Girls send you the warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas!

I've been hand quilting this little quilt.

I've got a way to go.

Mommy planned another Tootie Girl project.

Here's Emily with her painting smock on!

And, Sarah doing her best work.

Here are the jolly fellows!

Quilt Organization

I have added 12 labels to my quilts in the last few days! I thought you might like a little behind the scenes peek. I have a very simple way of keeping track of my quilts.

I have two notebooks...a small purple one, which is actually one of those old Plan Bee systems. I've taken most of the parts out and just use it for my Works In Progress List and my Finished Quilts list.

The Works In Progress system is very basic. I write down the name of the quilt and have columns on the right side labeled Start/Finish, Piecing, Borders, Backing, Quilt, Binding and Label. As I finish each step I check it off and add a date. When I finish a quilt I use the yellow highlighter to mark all the steps. I got this idea from an old friend a very long time ago. I am so glad I kept up with it all these years. A few times in the past I thought I would transfer it to a document on the computer but I really like my plain old graph paper and pencil!

The second part of the purple binder is the Finished Quilts List. Here, I note the number and name of the quilt as it is finished. I started this list a long time ago too. I remember trying so hard to remember the quilts I'd done and in what order. Back then, I'd only done about 20 quilts and I still had to think real hard! Now, my list is up to 120! I also note whether I have taken a picture of the quilt and if I have already made a label.

I  have a large three ring binder with pictures and a write up about each quilt. This is still a work in progress. I include all kinds of things...size, materials, pattern, inspiration, who the quilt was made for and remembrances of the time I was working on the quilt.

I always tell new quilters about this system in hopes that they will keep up with their work too. Of course, I have instructed my daughter and son where to find all this information if something should happen to me! I've spent over 20 years of my life making all these quilts and I want to at least look like I had some sense of organization!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I keep track of my quilts. I also hope it will inspire you to start keeping some kind of quilt journal. You don't have to start at the beginning...just open up a notebook and start writing!

More labels!

Five new labels! I decided it was about time to get some labels on my quilts! 

What's this?

Emily has to wear a patch over her eye for three hours a day. She wasn't too eager to wear the scratchy black patch. So, we looked on the internet and found a tutorial on making a flower (eye) patch!

Well, Sarah had to have one too! So, Nana made her a patch to go over her sunglasses!

Bow Ties and Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea

Big stitch quilting.

Label!

Tea Cup quilting...

Bow Ties

More big stitch quilting.

The back...

Another label!

Magic Tricks

Now you see them...

Now you don't!

It's the Disappearing Nine Patch. I've always wanted to try this. The Pandora's Box I started last Saturday had some extra 2 1/2" squares so I thought I would try it.

Well, this is not a disappearing act...just two Tootie Girls hiding from a fly that got in the house. They are terrified of them!

A Projek

Mommy found a cool project for us to do!

Some crayons, a canvas, glue and a hair dryer!

The Tootie Girls sorted the crayons into color groups.

 And handed the crayons to Mommy so she could glue them on the canvas.

All done with that part...

Blowing the crayons witht the hair dryer...look what's happening!

Wow! That was fun! 

On The Table Today

On Saturday two of my quilting friends came over to sew.

I had a hard time thinking of a project I wanted to work on. Like I don't have 1000 UFOs in progress!

So I picked up one of my favorite books. Found a jelly roll (Rural Jardin, Moda's French General) and started cutting.

I'll admit this is not one of my favorite color schemes. Although I love the darker blue, tans and the reds. It's that spa blues and greens. We'll see how it progresses.

Yesterday Mommy and the Tootie Girls did a project!

Yesterday I had a chance to sew for a little while. I finished making this pillow from an applique block I had done earlier. The words are...Blackbird Sings At My Backdoor.

We had some pictures made at a local park. Can you believe the Tootie Girls are almost four?

I made their outfits.

And, finally, my daughter's latest painting.