Quiet Quilter: December 2011

Friday, December 16, 2011

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!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

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!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

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!