Quilt archiving and a give away in honor of guest posting on Stash Manicure...

Hi friends!  It's that time again...another opportunity to have a peek at my obsessive-compulsive grasp on life in my quilt cave.  Thanks to the gracious Madame Samm of Sew I Quilt, I am guest posting over at Stash Manicure again today (Saturday, Feb 19). 

Yes...here it is again...the 'wall of stash.'  Apparently this has made many, many husbands feel better about their own wives' fabric buying habits, and for that, YOU ARE WELCOME!  Who knew that I would be responsible for totally uninterested husbands reading an entry on a quilt blog?!  It's all in good fun, I suppose...

Every time I guest post over there, I ponder what, if anything, I can possibly share about my quilting habits that someone would be interested in reading.  Mostly, I've talked about organization...of stash, scraps, patterns...all the debris that collects around what we do.  I don't handle chaos very well, at least not long term.  Creativity is just messy, darn it, but I seem to need a system for dealing with it all between projects.

Well, I have a system of lightly documenting my quilt projects.  I wish I could say I've done it as long as I have been quilting, but I was young and stupid when I started (22).  And maybe it's a good thing some of those early efforts weren't archived.  :o)

I've really been trying to get pictures of my quilts since the late 1980s and keep a scrapbook.  Thank God for digital photography, which seems to be an equalizer, of sorts, for those of us who are 'Ansel Adams challenged.'  I used to have a crappy Kodak 126 Instamatic 35mm camera...oh, and a disc camera...remember THOSE??  We've come a long way baby!

Anyway, here are some pictures that aren't on Stash Manicure for Saturday, February 19.  If you would like to be eligible for a give away here and there, check things out there as well.

This is the kind of album I use.

I used to sell Creative Memories Scrapbooking stuff (in a previous creative life).  I love these kinds of albums because the pages are heavy (can't see through them), and you can glue and write right on the pages.  There are many kinds of scrapbooks, even some lovely published quilt diaries where you just adhere a picture and make simple notes.  Also, you can upload pictures to a commercial picture site (like Shutterfly, Snapfish, Photoworks, etc) and make a digital, bound book (nice enough for the coffee table).  I like the scrapbooks because I like to glue in swatches of fabric. 

At one time, I considered having a little swatch book where I just glued in pieces of favorite fabrics.  I REALLY love fabric...

Anyway, I insist on archiving six main things about my projects:
1)  QUILT NAME
2)  QUILT RECIPIENT and/or OCCASION
3)  SIZE
4)  DATE STARTED
5)  DATE FINISHED (this can be REALLY interesting...)
6)  DESCRIPTION (hand quilted? pattern name? who machine quilted it? details of design, motivation, etc.)

I don't get all weird about the quality of my writing...I just write.  But, I am weird about appearing in the picture with my quilts, and that has to change...this one is 20 years old (before I got old and fat...er).   If I don't start appearing in pictures, some day it will be like I never even existed...

This simple quilt was made with my (now) husband 20 years ago.  It was his first...and last quilt (sigh).  But I admire him wanting to make one with his girlfriend to see what was involved (see why I married him?).  Now he knows what I mean (sort of) when I talk about my projects, and he is at least understanding and supportive of my habit...especially since I don't move all the furniture anymore to baste or pin a quilt on the floor!  We still use this quilt as an extra in winter...even with his huge hand quilting stitches in it...which, incidentally, we can't locate anymore (for all of you afraid to try hand quilting because you think you will ruin the quilt...).

It is good to archive stitchery, cross-stitch and knitting projects, too.

The entry above shows why I save fabric swatches...the color in my pictures is awful most of the time...not true to the fabric at all.  I need to work harder to take my pictures in good light.  The photos makes the quilt look down right UGLY.

This entry reminds me of making this quilt shop BOM sample with my best friend, Ola.  It is an American Jane pattern called "Play Time."  Ola did most of the machine applique (because I'm not good at it...hopefully you can't see these close enough to pick mine out!  LOL!) and I pieced.  We ended up donating it to the Mott's Children's Hospital quilt auction when we were through with it at the shop.  It was fun working on this with my partner in crime.  The large, blank pages allowed me to insert lots of close-ups of the blocks.  I want to make this one again...with hand applique...sometime.

Your description can be really brief or long and detailed...remember to show close-ups of features you want to remember, that define your personality as a quilter.

I used my husband's Grandmother's antique buttons on this Advent calendar wall hanging.  By archiving the quilt, I've archived the heirloom buttons. 

Taking a picture with both the quilt and the recipient is a great idea (unless I am the recipient...ha-ha).  When I designed my daughter's Harry Potter quilt, she was a snaggle-toothed little kid...so fun to see her in all her glorious goofiness with her favorite quilt at that age.

It's OK to make mistakes...your quilting diary/scrapbook doesn't have to be perfect.  I forgot to save room for the fabric swatches on the same page with the quilt, so I just put them on another page...no big deal. 

I think the quilt on the top of this page is hilarious.  I spent all this time drafting a quilt block that looked like a 5-1/4 inch floppy computer disc to make a wall hanging for my husband.  No one even recognizes this shape anymore!  It's all documented in my quilt scrapbook. 

Your project scrapbook will also chronicle the availability of retail quilting fabrics and kits.  Remember these commercial kits that offered wholecloth quilt tops stamped with a cross-stitch or embroidery pattern?  I once was hired to quilt one of these and managed to get a picture or two.

And the quilting fabric available in the early eighties was just plain sad.  Boring little calicoes and some polka dots.  I used a few cotton/poly blends in the beginning.  I remember the day I saw the first Jinny Beyer fabric line that offered something special for quilters.  I wish I had saved more of those early fabric swatches.

By archiving our quilts, we can't help but archive not only our lives, but the lives of the people we've made the quilts for.  I've done anniversary quilts for both my in-laws (50th) and my Dad and Step-mother (25th).  I drafted original blocks in both quilts that told their stories.  By archiving these quilts, I have also documented my journey through trying to introduce original design into my quilting.  I have learned to draft my own blocks for things I could not find commercial patterns for.  That has been a great learning tool and it is fun to look back through my efforts from time to time as I try to branch out and learn new things.

It's a little scary, but very freeing when you first discover that you can draft your own designs! Who cares what other people think of your original efforts? Sometimes I think we are afraid of 'putting ourselves out there,' taking a leap, doing our own thing, because we are afraid of the criticism of our peers.

Just wad up some of those tiny scraps you've been saving, cram them into both ears, and take the creative plunge!  I, too, am just learning that the water is fine!!

Ready to start your own album?  I am giving away this large 12 x 12 scrapbook that contains 15 pages plus a pack of 15 additional pages.  This should last you a while! 

Leave a comment by midnight, Sunday, February 20 to be eligible, then go over to Stash Manicure and enter there for a chance to win an album of another size (medium or small).  Two chances to win!

I will be out of email range for a week...I am going to Alabama to check in on my Mom who fell, broke her hip and had surgery, in addition to seeing the rest of my relatives.  I will be monitoring my give aways and announce winners, but won't be able to respond to your questions and comments until I get back to Michigan.  Maybe by then, spring will be springing!  There's just something about making it through February that gives me hope.  It's in the 40s here today, but I heard we are getting more snow after I leave for Alabama...hee-hee-hee.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)