Quilting moms!

[twinmomma]

I learned a genius trick for keeping projects organized so you can work on them in manageable small pieces, which is obviously helpful for working moms who are also trying to make quilts. One of my instructors this weekend uses this method and I love it!

Buy a big stack of paper plates and ziploc bags. Prep your fabrics and do all your cutting and sub cutting. Then take a paper plate, lay out your block, and make a stack of all the same kind of block on that plate. Write the instructions or any notes for that block directly on the plate. Bag it up in a ziploc. Make plates for all the different squares and small chunks of a project. Then when you have just a small window of time to sew, you can grab a plate, work on that, and keep yourself organized. 

I'm in love with this idea and will be organizing all my WIPs this way over the next week or two. I always struggle with working on a project because I don't have a lot of time or space to dedicate to keeping it all organized. Then I feel like I can't work on anything unless I have hours and hours to dedicate to it. This will make it easier to fit in little 20 minute sessions to decompress and have fun, without getting frustrated. Figured I'd share since we discovered a bunch of us all sew on the old board. 

[akafred]

Pics please? I don't really understand.

[twinmomma]

akafred, I'll take some tonight when I get home. I have a few done up from class.

[sudokufan]

I use clear totes meant for scrap booking; I think this one www.amazon.com/IRIS-Portable-Project-Case-Paper/dp/B004T3177O/ref=pd_nav_hcs_bia_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=57RNRAF0C8JZ3D90ZGTZ

is the perfect size. It fits sideways in my cube organizer, and I can stack 2 in one cubby. They also fit nicely in the canvas tote bag I take to work. For bigger projects, I might use 2 or 3 to separate lights/darks/backgrounds, but I mostly make small quilts and bags, so one generally is enough.

I might try the paper plate method for a class I'm going to take, I have to cut all the pieces before hand and I could do one bag for each of the 9 squares to speed things up. hmmmm

[twinmomma]

sudokufan, Getting plastic boxes like that is definitely on my wish list for the sewing room. It'll be much nicer than ziploc bags. lol

[sudokufan]

Speaking of, this is what I fit in my tote today:


I'm planning a wall quilt and was playing around with my choices today at lunch (god bless empty conference rooms and their nice big tables). I think the dress print is going to be the outer border. But I need a few more pinks, yellows, and set of orange.

[twinmomma]

akafred, This is what I was talking about with the plate. You lay out the block design on the plate like this. Say I need 10 that look like this - I'd put all 10 on here in stacks. Then put a new plate on top of that and lay out the next shape for the pattern. Then when I have time, I can just work on one plate's worth. Make sense?

[twinmomma]

sudokufan, Super cute fabric! I love bright colors like that.

[sudokufan]

twinmomma, I love the brights too, and I've had that dress fabric in my stash forever. I'm taking a quilt class for my birthday next month; it's about using a specialty pineapple ruler to make this quilt: www.pineapplefabrics.com/patterns/clpjaw049-south-beach-pineapple-treats-quilt-pattern-by-cut-loose-press/

But I never follow patterns, it's just not in my nature. I'm thinking of doing 9 squares instead to make a small wall hanging.

[twinmomma]

That pattern is gorgeous! Pineapple blocks scare me - I know I'm not precise enough and it would stress me out to try to make one of those. Let me know if the new rulers are magic! haha That block above is from this Calm Seas quilt. vqf.org/class/calm-seas/ It was one of the classes I took that used some specialty rulers for squaring up. I actually want to buy them, since I'm such a wobbly sewer. My blocks were coming out perfect!

[sudokufan]

Ooooh, I love those quilts twinmomma! I was super against buying a bunch of specialty rulers, but some of them really are ingenious. I'm hoping this pineapple one falls into that category because I love the look, but was intimidated by all the pieces. With the ruler, you're just sewing strips and squares...THAT I can do. I hope. :-)

[freezorburn]

I'm seriously impressed. I want to try quilting someday, but I have a massive backlog of unfinished knitting and sewing projects.