Organizing Custom Quilting Ideas and Stuff….

 

Last week Imy tip was about making templates.  This week I would like to share my system of organizing these templates.

I never discard the templates I make, or quilting plans that I draw out.  You never know when I might need them again!  At first Imjust tossed them in a drawer. Mom course they got dog eared and tattered…..they I visited Vicki Ibson in her studio in Kalispell Montana! Vicki lives in the same area as Judy Niemeyer and quilts a lot of her quilts.  Her is a picture the day several of us certified instructors visited Vicki at her studio…. 

That day amoung many things she showed us, Vicki showed us her idea binder.  It was a binder where she put all the ideas she gatherd and/or sketched for quilting Judy’s quilts.  Since I migrate to binders anyways, the idea inspired me.

Here is my binder…. 

 

It is filled with page protectors, dividers and all sorts of goodies…. 

 

The 1st section is kinda boring, I keep good one side, blank card stock and clear template plastic here, ready to put to use making templates. 

 

Next is a section called quilt plans.  I often draw out my quilt plans.  I keep them in this section incase I quilt the same quilt again, or in case I want to use an idea in a different quilt.  The one you see here is drawn on a photocopy.  Rest assured I did not break copywrite law, this was for my own quilt, it was my own pattern, and the copy was made for my own personal use.  I am very copywrite aware….. 

 

  

The next one is called Ghost Shapes!  I have had the section for sometime, but just named it after taking a class with the same name from Krista Withers.  These are a collection of shapes I have used in a variety of quilts….

  

These are templates I have made inspired by a class I took from Angela Walters.  

 

This section is my Judy Niemeyer section.  I quilt a lot of these quilts so,it is the biggest section. There are line drawings for planning purposes on their web site. I print one of these for every one of her quilts I do.  On these I sketch my ideas.  I keep these even if I do not use the idea.  This section also has my templates.

  

  

  

   

   

So that is my system.  Not real earth shattering, but a lot better than shoved in a drawer!  Now I can find what I am looking for and it is intact enough to use again, cause time is money…..