Organizing Backings and Quilts To Be Quilted

I actually did this organization 21-23 January, but am just getting around to blogging about it.  I dug out all my ready to be quilted tops and made sure I had fabric to back and bind them all and put one on the frame to quilt.  All the rest are waiting their turn under my quilt frame in a nice pile on the right.  I have quite a few queen size quilt batts I purchased for half price under the frame on the left.  I save my batting scraps in the baskets and any that might be big enough to be used without piecing have labels with dimensions on them.  The colourful interlocking tiles on the floor make it comfortable underfoot when standing and quilting.

Any fabric I have purchased in large quantities for backings because it was a good sale is neatly folded in the bottom left hand shelf and is labeled with the yardage.

LARGE QUILTS TO BE QUILTED

1.  Double Hour Glass Quilt 70" x 70".  On the Frame.  The backing fabric was already pieced so it seemed meant to be.

Here you can see the border piano key quilting and the start of some geometric quilting in the background fabric that I have been doing.

I made scrappy binding and have the label already made.














2.  My sister's "pink" quilt.  I was able to buy more of the fabric I had only used for the flower centres to add to what I had to make the backing.  The binding is made and two corner triangles are made which will also serve as labels.

 

3.  On Ringo Lake 86" x 100".  Binding strips are cut.  Backing will be pieced together from the three peachy/pinky fabrics shown.

4.  Basket Quilt 81" x 90".

This will be a picnic quilt.  I have two colours of the same floral which I will piece for the backing.  In order to get enough of the floral fabric with the black background, I had to cut the binding single fold instead of my normal double fold.



5.  Fat Quarter Shop Quilt Along Red and Green Quilt 60" x 66".

The green floral binding is cut and the multi coloured dot fabric is for the backing.  I really like the backing fabric.











BABY QUILTS TO BE QUILTED

1.  Ballerina Baby Quilt 44" x 44"

The fabric for this quilt was given to me by my MIL one Christmas.  Ainsley was too old for it at the time but I made a quilt and have been waiting for a reason to finish it.  I have had the flannel backing fabric and binding made and waiting as well.  If someone I know has a baby girl, all I have to do is quilt it.  Here is a picture of the whole quilt I designed from the fat quarter bundle of fabric.

2.  Zigzag Baby Quilt 41" x 57"

This was made out of some left over fabric more or less just to see how to make a zigzag quilt.  I have some blue fleece which could be used to back and self-bind it and it would make a great comfort quilt.

3.  Double Wedding Ring Sampler Quilt 39" x 39".  Before I made my daughter's Double Wedding Ring Quilt, I made four blocks to "test" it.  I think the dotted fabric coordinates quite well.











Here is a picture of the whole quilt.

ODDS AND ENDS TO BE QUILTED

 1.  Christmas Wall Hanging 42" x 36"
I made this a few years ago and would like to finish it.

2.  Christmas Table Runner 54" x 14"
I made this out of really old fabric more as a test than something to keep.  Will have to decide if it is really even worth quilting.

I can use the light fabric with the deer heads as backing for both and the wreath stripe as binding for both.  Here's a picture of both the wall hanging and the table runner.

You can see some of my Dear Jane blocks peeking out from behind them.

3.  Sewing Notion Table Runner 16" x 40"
This was made a long time ago.  I do plan to quilt it.  The binding is the same sewing notion fabric as the border and I have a navy blue piece of broadcloth for the backing.  I think it would look nice on top of the treadle sewing machine when the cabinet is closed. 

4.  Shamrock and Watermelon double-sided Table Topper 21" square.  I haven't finished these because they are so hideous.  The Shamrock was made out of scrappy greens and is ok.  The Watermelon pinwheel is rather a fail.  I have thought it might be worth embroidering or appliqueing some watermelon seeds on it to see if that would make it look better.  This is another item that I will have to decide if it is even worth finishing.  If it's finished, would anyone want to even use it.....  I do have binding made from one of the green fabrics.

So this is the end of my list.  In summary, I have 5 large quilts to be quilted.  One of which is in progress and as soon as it's done I will get the next one on the frame immediately.  I have 3 baby quilts to be quilted and no babies for them so they are low priority although I could finish the zigzag one to donate as a comfort quilt.  I have 4 Odds and Ends and 2 of them are questionable if they should even be finished.  So I am very pleased that I really only have 4 large quilts, 1 baby quilt and 2 small items to be quilted.  I'm not as far behind as I thought!

My Third Year Blog-Iversary and More Quilt Room Organisation

Three years ago I wrote my first blog post on the first Monday after I retired.  I am still smiling about the retirement part and still enjoying blogging, although I don't blog as often as I anticipated I would in the beginning.  Blogging is more time consuming than I expected it would be, maybe I proof read too many times.....

Here are some more organisation pictures of my sewing room.  This shows my full design wall and my ironing, or should I say, pressing station.

All the Dear Jane blocks I've made so far are on the design wall.  The grey wooden bench helps me reach the top of the design wall.  I have a shelf above the ironing board and it holds some tools, glue, starch, water and the iron when it's cooled down.  The picture frame under the shelf has a picture of Marilyn and I and another quilter when we worked together and made yearly raffle quilts for United Way.  I use white board markers on the glass and list my priorities on it.

In front of my sewing table is a four drawer cabinet.



The bottom two drawers hold my neutral stash.

One drawer has off white to beige to light brown solids and tone on tones which I use mainly as background fabrics in my quilts.  I prefer using off white to bright white for backgrounds.

The other drawer has whites to grays to blacks.  Some are solids and tone on tones but there are also quite a few black and white prints.

The top two drawers hold coloured fabrics that are at least a fat quarter or more in size.

The top drawer has cool colours, greens, blues and purples.  It also has some "rainbow" or multi-coloured fabrics with either black or white backgrounds.

The next drawer has warm colours, yellows, oranges and reds as well as a few pinks.

Most of these fabrics were bought with a specific project in mind and are left overs, but a few were bought because they were on sale and I liked them and knew I would use them in a future unspecified project.





The top two drawers were nice and tidy already, but I had to do some folding to get the bottom two drawers photo ready.  A few pieces of fabric that were smaller than a fat quarter got added to my rainbow scrap buckets.

Some Boring Quilt Room & Project Bin Organization

I didn't take any "before" pictures because I didn't want to inflict that on anyone!  I barely wanted to enter the room myself.  After doing the Christmas sewing there were no surfaces that weren't stacked at least 3 layers deep, although I did have enough space to continue to cut and sew.  So here are my completely cleared off sewing table and cutting table.  You can see that I have two sewing areas set up on the table so if you ever want to come over and sew with me, just give me a few days notice so I can clear up the rest of the room not shown in the picture and come on over!

My sewing table comes out at an angle from the corner of the room so that I can use the wall on the left as a design wall and to also be able to use both sides of the table.  The centre block for a medallion quilt is currently on the design wall.  The cupboard holds sewing tools with a few decorative items on top which I see could do with better arrangement...  I have a bulletin board above my row of colourful buckets which hold scraps too large to get rid of in colour order, which makes me happy.  The rolling cart below has just been reorganised to hold my three top priority projects which are currently the quilt label and hanging sleeve for my daughter and s-i-l's wedding quilt, the wedding quilt for my son and d-i-l to be and my current epic quilt which is Dear Jane.  On top of my cutting table, which can be used from both sides, are some galvanised containers which hold all my cutting rulers, rotary cutters and scissors.  Underneath the cutting table are containers of fabric which I may share in another post.  At the end of the cutting table are a blue bin for paper recycling, a white bucket for fabric scrap recycling and a garbage can.  Underneath the white bucket are two bins for projects that are ready to be quilted.  I just have to decide what fabric I am going to use to make the bindings and labels for these quilts.  Then the remaining fabric can be sorted back into my stash.

If you turn around 180 degrees you would see two bookcases freshly reorganised with all my current projects.  There are two bottom shelves in each bookcase that have yet to be tidied up, but their contents will remain the same.  The left bookcase has some binders and magazines as well as my stash of backing fabrics.  The right bookcase holds rolls of fusibles and interfacings etc. as well as my Christmas fabric.  If you recall the first paragraph of this blog post, you will remember that Christmas sewing was what got me into this mess, so needless to say, that shelf is currently NOT neat and tidy.  Why do we say "neat and tidy" anyway, do they both not mean the same thing?  I digress.  Here are my two bookcases which hold all of my projects except the three priority projects in my rolling cart.

In case you're not bored yet, this is to let you know that the really boring stuff is now coming, unless you are like most of us and you want to find out the nitty-gritty on how many UFO's other people actually have.  I've broken my projects down into a couple of categories:

QUILTS I WANT TO MAKE in the "FABRIC COLLECTION" STAGE

1. Special Birthday (65) Quilt for my Sister - Pink is her favourite colour.  I have some fabric but need more. Want to finish this year.
2. Red and Taupe Pineapple Quilt - I have a kit including backing fabric.  This would be a quilt for our queen size bed.  The only quilts I have made and kept are only double bed size.
3. Snowflake Hexagon Quilt  - I have 10 metres of 18 different snowflake fabrics in whites, grays, turquoises and blues as well as 2.5 metres of a snowy woodland creatures fabric which could be used as a border.
4. Millefiori La Passacaglia English Paper Pieced Quilt - Have some bright batiks and have made a few "sample" rings.  Will be my next epic quilt after Dear Jane so no rush on fabric acquisition.
5. Bella Bella Italian Mosaics Quilt - I have 14 metres of 12 different Stonehenge fabrics, mostly from whites to blacks, beiges to browns, but also some orange and turquoise.  Another epic quilt
6. Ombre Cathedral Window Quilt - I have a 6" wide jelly roll of colourful ombre fabric for the windows.  I have some white fabric and several shades of grey fabric to make the window frames change from white in the centre through 4 to 5 shades of grey to a black binding.  Need several more shades of grey fabric.  Another epic quilt.

QUILTS IN PROGRESS

1. Wedding Quilt Label and Hanging Sleeve for A&J - Need to finish embroidering the label.
2. Wedding Quilt for B&C - Chic Kisses - 128 fans have been sewn, trimming them to size has started.  I would like to have all the blocks made by mid May, top sewn together by end of May, quilted, labelled and bound by end of June.  Wedding is July 18.
3. Dear Jane - My current "epic" quilt.  I am over half done and would like to make 2.5 blocks a week this year which would mean all the blocks would be done in 2020.
4. Half Square Triangle Quilt - Fabric has been cut into strips.  Some has been cut into hst's.  Will use it as leader/ender project.  70 of 400 hst's currently made.  For our den.
5. Good Fortune Quilt - Quilt top is completed as per instructions.  Want to add an additional border to make it just a little larger.
6. Medallion Quilt - Central floral block almost complete.  Some English paper pieced hexagons are in progress for a row.  Background will be various grey prints.  Main fabrics will be bright colours.
7. Christmas Arrowhead Quilt - 42 arrowhead blocks sewn, need to be trimmed and sewn together.  Need to find 2 metres of coordinating fabric for a 10" border to bring it up to approximately 60" x 70".
8. Country Schools Quilt - 25 school house blocks have been made.  Need to make 24 log cabin alternate blocks which go from off white to brown.  Need a few more fabrics.

QUILTS IN PROGRESS - NO DEADLINE

1. Around the World Quilt - Have made a few blocks. Started it in order to have a project to take to guild "sew days".  Quilt currently has no destination so in no rush.
2. Drunkard's Path Spice Market Quilt - Have sewn quite a few rows, wanted the curved piecing experience.  Quilt currently has no destination so in no rush.
3. Kaleidoscope Quilt - All half hexagon pairs have been sewn.  Quilt currently has no destination so in no rush.  Feature fabric was bought at rock bottom price so not a lot of $'s invested either.
4. Triple Irish Chain Quilt(s) - 50 checker board blocks have been made.  48 alternate blocks have been partially pieced.  Was originally going to be 2 bunk bed quilts for the cottage but bunk beds are no longer in use so could become one quilt.  Quilt(s) currently has (have) no destination so in no rush.
5. Fish Quilt - Making this quilt on the treadle machine which is currently in two pieces in two different places.  The machine itself is here and has been serviced and a new belt has been bought.  The cabinet is in Cape Breton in Marilyn's Play House Sewing Studio.  Will get the treadle machine parts reunited this summer.

Quilts Lacking Progress for Several Years or More - aka UFO's

1. Sampler Quilt - 10 or 11 of the 12 blocks have been made.  Work has been done on the border.  Sashings have been made.  This quilt is likely close to or into the double digits old.
2. Cat Quilt - All blocks are made, some still need eyes embroidered on the cats.  Have backing fabric.  Was destined for Ainsley when she was little, she's now 27....  My oldest UFO, likely 20 years.  Still like it, still intend to finish it, but perhaps for a grandchild if and when.....

In summary:

I have 6 quilts in the fabric collection phase, the first one I will start making as soon as I have the fabric for completion and gifting to my sister this year.  The second I would like to start working on this year.

I have 13 quilts in progress, 4 of which are being actively worked on.  As soon as I finish my first priority I will start on the 5th priority and so on down the line.  The last 5 of these quilts have no destination and no priority and I will work on them when I feel like it.

I have two UFO's and I would like to work on one and maybe even finish it this year.

I still have two more lists I want to make for another post on Organisation.  A list of quilt tops that are finished and need to be quilted.  A list of smaller quilted/sewing items, e.g. bag, apron, table runner, pincushion, etc. projects in progress.