Dulcinea

A Schnibble called Dulcinea from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Peace On Earth fabrics by Moda

Backing, Binding and Label ready to go! 

Patriotic Quilts

My Dad's Quilt

Label-The Pledge of Allegiance

What Comes Around Goes Around

Label

Recently my father was very ill. I made the first quilt for him to use. The second quilt was made to celebrate his patriotism.

Tommy Rayford Palmertree

United States Army 1956-1984

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! 

Bow Ties and Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea

Big stitch quilting.

Label!

Tea Cup quilting...

Bow Ties

More big stitch quilting.

The back...

Another label!

Now that we've caught up on the Tootie Babie's events for October I'll tell you what I've been up to.


I went to the International Quilt Festival in Houston! Oh my, I supported the economy! I also met so many 'famous' quilters. Alex Anderson, the Country Threads girls, Lori Smith, Eleanor Burns, John Flynn, Ami Simms...those are just a few! Wow! I saw some great quilts. Most were in group exhibits and a lot were art quilts but, there were some traditional hand quilted ones too. Those were my favorite!


In late August I decided I would concentrate on finishing some fall quilts. I finished a pillow~

a Schnibble~

Unfortunately, since I supported the economy so well at Houston, I didn't have any money leftover to make October's Schnibble. At least, I felt too guilty to order anything online (at least for a little while).

Leftover Log Cabin~

The Great Pumpkin~

Thirteen Lucky Cats~

Big Stitch quilting.

And, a label!

By the end of October I was over the fall stuff! I'm ready for some Christmas now.

First , I have to finish a baby quilt for my new great niece, Olivia, who was born on Tuesday of this week!

Remember what a mess I was in during August with my new flooring and paint? Tomorrow I'll show you how it looks all put back together!

It's A Schnibble...and a little bit more!

I'm participating in a group called A Year Of Schnibbles. Each month we make a Schnibble (a small quilt) from a pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. Then on the first of the month we all show our little quilts to each other!

This month our pattern was Winter White. I used Moda's Deb Strain's Pumpkin and Spice fabrics since I needed a fall table square for our Thanksgiving table scape.

Flying South For The Winter

Look! A label~

Remember those leftovers? Well, this is what I did with them! I'm hand quilting it right now...I'll show you a picture when I'm done!

Now I'm off to see all the other Schnibbles...

The Great Pumpkin

I started this last fall and just finished the hand quilting and binding. This is a pattern from Country Threads. I used big stitch quilting and it went FAST!

The Great Pumpkin even has a label!

My son is back on US soil! He is at Camp Lejune, NC outprocessing. He should be home with us in a week or so! Semper Fi!

You Are My Shining Star

Another little quilt from the series of Lori Smith's Fit To Frame patterns. I have had this one competed for a while, I just forgot to show you. It's machine pieced and machine quilted. And it has a label!

Detail of quilting.

I hope you had a quilty day. I'm almost through big stitching The Great Pumpkin. I ran out of thread so I'll have to go to the store tomorrow!

An Experiment

There were some excellent ideas in the comments for the Labels, Labels, Labels post! Sew Create It Jane mentioned she has a hard time coming up with names for her quilts. I have a trick I'd like to share with you!

First, pick up a magazine (not quilt related), get a pencil and some paper. Next, flip through the pages of the magazine jotting down any ideas for names you see. That could be titles of articles, words from advertisements, names of places or even recipe titles. Don't stop to think about this step...just write!

I'm using a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. This is my list:

Trail Blazer (this is from an ad for a car!)
Celebration (the name of a town in Florida)
Choosing Sides (the title of an article about side dishes)
Making Memories (an article about making holiday cards)
Lullaby Baby (name of a flower)
Black Eyed Stella (also a flower)
Starstruck (a flower too!)
Cookies and Cocoa (what else?)

Now, think about quilts that could go with the names.

Trailblazer could be a quilt with Drunkard's Path or Snail's Trail blocks.

Celebration might fit with a Christmas quilt or for a birthday gift. Also use this name for patriotic red, white and blue quilts.

Choosing Sides would be a good name for a Night and Noon or a Log Cabin quilt. Or maybe a black and white quilt.

Making Memories sounds like it goes with a photo quilt or an album block with signitures.

Of course, Lullaby Baby is for a baby quilt.

Black Eyed Stella would be great with bright fabrics and a black background or maybe a quilt with Sunflower blocks.

How about Starstruck for a Sawtooth Star quilt? Or, a quilt with star themed fabrics.

Cookies and Cocoa would be a good name for a predominently brown and beige quilt made with homespun plaids.

I'm sure you can see where I am going with this little experiment. It's really not hard to name your quilts. Book titles, chapters, names of plants or flowers, songs, recipes or favorite sayings can give you great ideas!

Now I keep a little notebook to write down inspiring names whenever I see them. I also collect special quotes that might relate to quilting. Try it and have fun!

Labels, Labels, Labels!!!

I've been quilting for almost 20 years! I've finished almost 100 quilts! None of them are labeled! Oh, that last one wasn't something to celebrate. I'm doing something about it though...here you will see my latest batch of labels. I'm going to put a label on every quilt I can!

The labels are simple. Just the number, name, my name and the date. Sometimes I'll add where I made the quilt. If there is something else that's important, I'll add that too.

Are you good about labeling your quilts? I'd like to know what you put on your labels. Are they fancy or plain like mine?

Sandy Spends A Lot - Fabric Collector

A Lori Smith pattern, Fit To Frame: Set One.


A detail of the quilting.

And, another.

I even put a label on it! Have a great quilty day!

Mosaic

Mosaic, another quilt from Lori Smith. The pattern is called Fat Quarter Quilting:Cherries, Chocolate and Cream. I machine pieced and quilted it (using a red variegated thread). It's a little wonky...this was the first little quilt in the series, so I hadn't had any practice working with all those tiny blocks.


I added a blue button to the four patch squares. There are nine quilts in this pattern. I have made seven, quilted four and working on one right now. I'm hanging these over the shelves in my quilt room. When I get them all up there I'll take a picture. Maybe there will be a sneak peek soon!


What's this? Grandaddy and Emily are putting something together!

Oh! It's our new table and chairs. Well, actually benches. We love it and have already had a tea party!

The Tootie Babies having fun. Nana's house looks like Toyland!

Another surprise! A label! Will wonders never cease? I am trying to label as many quilts as I can. You can see that this is #91. I can't believe I've finished that many quilts! There is a pile to be quilted that probably has half that number in it. I guess after 19 years of quilting anyone would amass that amount.

I hope you have a great day. Try to squeeze in a little quilting, you'll be glad you did!