How I Keep Track of Things

Because every post needs a dose of color . . . 

I simply could NOT resist these two fabrics

when I stopped by my LQS yesterday.

The selvage shows JuneBee by Ink and Arrow Fabrics.

These are funky, quirky, retro, and decidedly eccentric

but also complete and totally cool.

Now to the point of this post.

Someone asked how I keep track of my quilts,

their names, dates, sizes, etc.

Initially I started out by keeping all of the papers, 

notes, pattern info, quilting receipts, etc.

in annually-named three ring binders.

I also had a plethora of additional binders

for a wide variety of information sources.

But then things changed dramatically.

Scanning and online storage became a truly viable method.

It took a while, but each of those annual journals

was taken apart and scanned into PDF format.

The pile of papers above was just a portion of what 

moved to digital format.

As time has passed

digital patterns, scans of paper patterns, 

scans of magazine articles, PDFs saved from the Internet,

and more have joined my digital storage system.

(sorted in folders on my hard drive

and backed up off site)

I also started using QuiltAlbum software

to systematically document my finished quilts.

I never made it back to the very beginning with QA,

but have kept it up faithfully from that starting point

a number of years ago.

Each quilt's documentation page is saved 

as an external PDF and stored

in the annual folder on my computer

as well as staying inside the QA software itself.

To prevent my head from exploding with ideas,

I purchased this rolling file organizer last year

so I can set up an old-fashioned paper file folder

for each project that I am working on 

and for those I'm contemplating.

As things evolve, I can easily update these files -

tossing notes and papers that no longer matter

and using new labels to cover the old ones

so the folders can be used again and again.

When each top is finished, quilted, bound,

and has been shared on the blog,

entered in QA and on the spreadsheet,

I sort through the mish-mash in that file

and scan only the most important items

for my digital annual journal.

So far, this system is working better than any of the fancy

pre-printed organizer sheets I've seen around blog-land

or the widely-available made-for-quilting journals.

And then there is my down-and-dirty Excel spreadsheet.

I can't tell you how many times I've pulled

this skinny little notebook out

to double check dates, sizes, etc.

The entries are cryptic compared to QA's documentation

but they serve as a quick reference guide

and this list does go back to the beginning

of my quilting adventures.

This list also features a column

where I make notes about a quilt's destination

when it is a gift or a donation.

(and yes, a copy of this spreadsheet 

is also kept with our estate planning papers)

Recently added to my documentation process

 are the new photo books

mentioned a few blog posts back.

Between these visual photo books, 

the essential-info spreadsheet,

the detailed QA entries, 

my digital annual journals

with process notes, etc.,

and the 30,000-plus photos

sorted into albums by quilt name,

I can figure out most any detail needed.

And, if not, I can certainly come close.

(. . . just please don't ask me if all of these are

concurrently up to date at any given moment . . . )

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"Flow is simply the result of shifting from left brain to right brain work."
Steve Hovland

Following Up - Part One

Several of you asked questions about the photo books

from Shutterfly that I mentioned in the last post.

This is the cover of the 8" x 8" book for 2017.

(put together and ordered a week or so ago

when they had a one-day free book sale - 

I paid tax and shipping only)

This particular book design is called "Modern Gray"

but I also use the "Modern White" 

for some of my projects.

Each style contains multiple page backgrounds

that can be alternated as desired

along with embellishments that can be added

(I tend to skip the embellishments)

plus font styles that are easily changed

in size and format like italic/bold/condensed/etc.

This is one two-page look -- 

I tend to work with one quilt per page

or one group of related quilts per page.

I tend to use externally made collages 

for groups of comfort quilts,

i.e., Jack's Basket or A Doll Like Me.

And whenever possible, I try to show front and back views,

simply because I put a lot of effort into my scrappy backs

and I like to showcase the results.

Here is another two-page look.

Different backgrounds on each page

help keep things from being boring

while being related through the overall theme

chosen before starting the book's layout.

And this is the back cover of the 2017 book.

There are fewer layout options for the back

but enough to make it possible to personalize the look

and include a bit of text.

* * *

For those who asked about archiving the blog itself,

I tried Blog2Print once but decided that approach wasn't for me.

BlookUp is new to me  and so is BlogBooker.

If any of you have tried any of these,

please share your thoughts below

for the benefit of other readers.

* * *

I'll be back tomorrow 

with a follow up post

for the questions about my stash.

Quiltdivajulie

Design Studio and Stash Notes

There's been a LOT going on in our bonus room

that involves all of the furniture being moved,

several new bookshelves being assembled,

books and other items being relocated,

and assembling a large load of items

(including an aging couch)

for the Salvation Army truck.

(Once things are settled, I'll try to remember to share photos -

but I can tell you Little Man's crib is no longer

under the light switches or next to the door

since he's old enough to fiddle with all of them)

This particular bookshelf 

used to be in the bonus room.

DH surprised me and moved it down the hall

and into my design studio when I wasn't home.

He knew I would love having more shelf space -

and he was right.

More shelves allow me to have

more and shorter stacks of fabric,

which makes it easier to access what I need

and still keep the stacks neat.

I moved these fabrics from my existing shelves . . .

. . . which meant I could rearrange the existing shelves

and make my resource boxes easier to use.

(no longer stacked two deep 

except for the red/blue purples 

and the pink and red boxes)

It also meant I could shift the crumb boxes

back to a higher shelf 

where they are easier to access.

SO much better!

The new shelf unit is not as deep as my other two units,

but that works out fine for the folded yardage.

The resource boxes fit perfectly right where they are.

And speaking of my folded yardage . . . 

It has been ages since I shared how I handle mine.

I start by squaring the ends - the one above is a one-yard cut.

I lay my 6" x 24" ruler crosswise on the WOF folded yardage.

Then I roll the yardage around the ruler,

making sure that the end falls somewhere in the middle

of the 6" width so the finished "roll" stays neat.

I slide the ruler out and gently fold the rolled yardage in half.

It doesn't take long to get a stack of yardage

prepared and ready to put on the shelves.

I've had my yardage stored this way for several years now

and it has worked beautifully for me.

It is easy to see what I have

which encourages me to shop the stash.

But the best part is walking into the room

and seeing that wall of color.

Makes me smile every time!

* * *

I've also spent the last three days

creating Shutterfly photo books

for my quilting adventure.

They had 40% off plus 

unlimited additional pages at no extra charge 

AND free shipping for orders over $39.00.

THAT combination was too good to pass up.

I put together a book for 2004-2005,

one for 2006-2007,

one for 2008-2009-2010,

one for 2011-2012,

and individual books for

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

I've thought about doing this for a long time,

but the price kept things only at the idea stage.

It took longer to gather the photos 

for each book

than it did to layout the images 

and add captions,

but the savings for these nine books 

was far greater than the actual cost 

which makes me pretty happy.

I'll share a photo or two

once the books arrive by month end.

And now that these books are caught up 

for the past fourteen years,

I can watch for  a special to create 

additional books one year at a time.

So happy to cross this off my someday-I'll-do-it list.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"Be silly.  Be honest.  Be kind."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday Already?

It can't be Monday already . . . 

But it is.

* * * 

Here's a link to the photo album

for the quilts that went to the trunk show with me

(from my photo archive).

Enjoy!

Quiltdivajulie

Lots of things...

I was planning to share photos of the flooded Mississippi River in downtown Memphis - but I went off with camera in hand leaving the memory card in the computer at home (duh!!!). So, here are a variety of other photos to share:
Here is the final "hint" - my clever and extremely wonderful DH did some online researching and came up with these light towers, including special daylight bulbs, for taking photos of my quilts and his wood art (that story will come about later).

Here is one of my "rescue quilts" demonstrating the new design wall in our guest room. The styrofoam sheets are covered with white flannel but this shot shows the black drape in place that will be used when taking formal portraits of quilts. (This particular pinwheel quilt was one that my grandmother pieced and my sister and I used in our cribs when we were little. I added the borders and had Chris quilt it a year or so ago... and I love it even more now than I did before!)

These are the fabrics that I pulled and folded to take with me when we go to the Folk School in early May.

And this is an update on the progress being made for Vortex Interrupted (the Radiant Suns quilt that I've been working on forever). Back when I cut it out I altered the ratio of green/purple/red blocks so I knew mine would come out differently than the one on the pattern cover. I can't tell you how many times I've put the blocks up and taken them back down to rearrange. This time, I'm really liking the arrangement and have figured out the rest of the layout so that it comes out correctly with the colors I have available (no mean feat). And, last but certainly not least...

My hardworking assistant, Angel, sleeping in the box I was going to use to pack for the Folk School :-)


--------------

"Flowers grow out of dark moments." (Corita Kent)

Photographing Quilts, Azaleas & More

As many of you have probably surmised, photographing my quilts is a vital part of the process for me. While some quilts are meant to be hung on a wall, I need to capture living shots of mine as they are draped over stone walls, hung on fences, or tossed over the wicker rocking chair on our front porch.

For me, each of my quilts becomes far more than fabric, thread, and batting ~ our shared journey allows each of them to become their own entities with a story to tell. Some are playful, others are more subdued and formal; some are softly romantic while many are bright and dynamic. Each of these elements are part of who I am ~ alternately together or scattered, certain or unsure, giddy or depressed, in a word ~ complex.

I make my quilts intuitively, emotionally, passionately. The combination of color and design must please the deeper parts of me or I cannot go forward. And photographing the finished quilts is much the same. Flat, static portraits cannot capture the satisfaction of a plan that came together, the idea that was allowed to evolve, or the pure joy that comes with completion.

This morning, on my way to work, I stopped at one of our local parks to get photos of a quilt (FIESTA!) that is about to be gifted to our youngest nephew for his high school graduation. It is the third in what I named The Brotherhood of Quilts (3 brothers, 3 quilts). I’ll share photos of the other two in the next few days (although those were taken nearly 2 years ago when I was just starting to use digital and the quilts were gifted in 2006).

While I much prefer candid shots of my quilts, sometimes there is a need for a formal portrait. More on this tomorrow, but here’s a hint of things to come:




----------
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality."
(Aristotle)

Last 3 Journal Quilts

Interwoven (October 2007)

This month marked an abrupt and unexpected end to our younger son’s graduate program. There was enormous stress and confusion and distress ~ hence, the unevenly interwoven strands of fuzzy, variegated yarn with raw selvedge edges trimmed from the back of a quilt-in-progress... it was NOT an easy month for any of us.

The handwritten quote on the back reads as follows:

“I believe art---even at its most beautiful---is at the core, motivated by pain. That is because art is made by human beings and as human beings, pain is what motivated everything we do. We are either causing it or running from it or facing it, but pain is always there, bracketing what we do. To get more mystical, we are born of pain, we live in pain, and we die in pain. There is, in my opinion, no way to make authentic art... without feeling and showing pain---sometimes ours and sometimes that of our subjects.” [Earlene Fowler, Broken Dishes (Photographer Isaac’s words)]


Frayed Edges (November 2007)

November was another very challenging month as we continued to work our way through the process of change and allowed the attorneys to begin their work.

The colorful pieces attached to this quilt are some of my “leaders” and “enders” -- frayed and randomly stitched.

The Albert Einstein quotation written on the back reads this way:

“Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others... for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of others, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”


Turn, Turn, Turn (December 2007)

“...to every thing, there is a season...” This month, the healing process began to take root. It was a slow process, one that continues even today. As Helen Keller put it, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

The brown insertion trim came from the stash in my mother’s sewing chest. The appliquéd tree was my own design. I was going to add a quotation on the back, but I liked the stark outlines so much, that I used the alphabet beads on the front instead.

-----------

Making these journal quilts over the course of 2007 was alternately a joy and a source of stress, which I guess pretty much sums up the way life is.

In closing, I’ll share this quote by ecologist and writer Rachel Carson: "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life."