The Quilt Notebook-The Unfinished Project Page (or Pages)

58 responses to “The Quilt Notebook-The Unfinished Project Page (or Pages)”

1. Today’s post was right on target for me. Already on my to-do list for today was to pull out all of the unquilted tops and determine how many backs I needed to make and then decide whether to quilt or have someone else quilt.

   1. It’s January–Time for all those resolutions and plans!

      1. I counted 18 tops to be quilted and a page and a half of projects in process. I did go to the quilt shop yesterday and bought fabric for four backs. I put two of those backs together last night. Baby steps.

      2. I would consider that more than baby steps! What’s next?

2. Hi Lori. I have been scouring Walmart and various stores for the perfect book for my Quilt Notebook. Well, I just thought , this is ridiculous! So, I’m buying a three ring binder, graph paper and lined paper to make mine. With all my unfinished projects I figure I could use more paper! Thanks for using me along!

   1. Karen, I am going to use a three ring binder as well. I think it is the most flexible. I have always used bound notebooks, but I want more flexibility, too. Did you find a pretty one? I did not? I got a white one and I think I will put a photo or a doodle in the plastic cover…

3. Not going to happen! 37 years of quilting, 2800 sq foot house equals generations of UFOs or PHD (Projects half finished), publicly referred to as the “archeological digs’!.

   1. Shirley, you made me laugh out loud! Love the PHF acronym.. I know what you mean about archeologic digs, but maybe it’s better that we do the digging than our ancestors? I bet you’ll find some diamonds in the rough like I did!

   2. I have multiple “PhD”s (projects half done) in quilting as well. 3 of my own, and 5 of my mother’s. She left 10 pieced tops when she passed away in 2005, and I’ve quilted 5 of them so far. Also was given 3 tips that my neighbor’s grandmother pieced, so that makes 11 total. A notebook makes perfect sense to me.

4. I know one long term UFO is sitting there for a good reason: It’s painful to work on. The blocks are made partly with fabric from one of my grandmother’s favorite dresses. She passed in 2001.

   And one time I accidentally fried a pice of the fabric with the iron and there’s limited amount of it. :-/

   Once the quilt is done it won’t be painful to use, but while working on it? Ugh. 🙁

   On UFO’s I did recently count the quilts in progress, but not the ones partially pieced. I have 15 or 19 quilts that have the tops completed and are in various stages from there.

   Pretty sure I have fewer than that waiting to get to finished top stage. At least I hope.

   1. What a lovely project! Must bring back lots of memories when you work on it? Wouldn’t it be nice to finish it and wrap yourself up in it?

   2. Maybe you could have a friend finish gram’s quilt…then it would have a double special meaning for you!!

5. I just finished a quilt whose top had been hanging on my studio wall for two years. It feels great to get it off the wall and finished. Now on to the next one!

6. This is certainly a motivation to get started. Since I print labels from the computer for the quilt I’ve started saving a copy to show how I labeled the quilt and a record.

7. My guild has a challenge, we made a list of 12 UFO’s & turn it in to them; each month a number will be drawn & whichever UFO is listed with that number is to be completed that month. We show & tell, then are entered in a drawing for a small prize. Of course the first number drawn was one I had hoped would be further along in the list, but it is finally finished! Woo Hoo!

   1. What a great idea! Really put you on the spot to get that UFO done. One down 11 to go?

8. Love your blog! I’m trying to get through ALL of my UFOs right now. The only new projects I’ve started is a quilt for a monthly sewing class I take and a table runner for a wedding present. Otherwise it’s UFO all the time! Feels pretty good. Thanks for the great tips.

   1. You are a model of virtue, Marcia. It will take me three years to finish all of my UFOs, but I would love that feeling!

9. I’m doing this notebook, so I’ll get started on the UFO list, it’s not going to be pretty! Also part of your post says “Start a Website Page with The Inbox Jaunt on top (of course” what are we supposed to do there? I’m confused?

   1. Debbie, You’re right. That is confusing. I will change it…I meant to say: start a page in your Quilt Notebook labeled “Websites to follow” add The Inbox Jaunt to the top of that list and add any sites that you might reference in the future e.g. scrap quilt links from the comment section on Friday. Does that make more sense?

      1. Yes it does, thanks!! Love to follow your blog!!

      2. Glad you’re following!

10. Since I am such a newbie quilter, I don’t have many UFO’s. Most of my quilts were gifts or commissioned projects w/ deadlines. But I think I am going to go back & create notebook pages for the ones I have done. If I can’t find my doodle pages, I will tell the story of why & for whom I made the quilt. I also need to brush up on my labeling. I cut my deadlines so close, I usually forget about the label.
    I have already begun cutting my scraps up to make a leaders/enders quilt(s). I am very excited about that. Unfortunately, my full time job only allows me about 2 hrs a day, M-F to work on stuff. I get a few extra hours on the weekends to enjoy working on quilting.

    1. Crank that Juki Diane!!!

11. Shirley’s “digs” cracked me up…oh man… that’s a good one!! I can’t wait to get home and go on some digs and hunts myself!! Taking an empty suitcase home too so I can haul some projects along down here. 🙂 That’s if hubby can get me to leave again…I might just barracade myself in and pray for a snowstorm!!! Glad you cleared up the website thingy…my head went right to making a real website page…I had no clue where to start…LOL! I’m going with a binder also…with the protective page pockets….I found a planning pad…graph paper on one side and lines on the back side of each sheet I really like but perferated sheets so they came loose eventually. And left it lay by hubby’s side of the couch…he was scolded for writing in it…oops my fault….sorry honey. 🙂 A public apology should win me some points back but his comment that he thought it was just a book of scribbles did smart a little bit. (heehee! JK…I love to scribble…and now with Lori’s help they are better quilting doodles so there! )

12. I bought a beautiful composition book this weekend to start my notebook – can’t wait!

    1. Love a beautiful notebook! Go find those UFOs

13. Shirley you made me laugh out loud also.
    I am so looking forward to getting all my Ufos in a notebook. All the Christmas stuff got put away today so I am ready to start. finding the UFOs will help me clean my studio. Then I can find all my scraps and plan a new project with all the ideas from the scrap conversation. 🙂

14. Getting on board with this and although I love a bound notebook gonna have to go three ring binder. I know UFOs will emerge as I move my long arm machine to allow working on bigger quilts and it is demotivating to not have them all together, in the book. Which is silly – but that’s the way I roll.

    Also if each one gets a page it allows them to be moved from the UFO section to the finished section.

    And now I am thinking about a standard section on each page with pattern name, when started fabric used…..etc

    Maybe better just get them located and identified first. LOL

    1. I think I am going with a spiral too! I like to move things around a bit. Bound notebooks are unforgiving…

       1. I meant I’m going with a three ring binder…

15. Just went back and read the original post and see you have all the support needed for info in the quilt. Well done!

16. Perfect timing. New year and new quilting challenges…and last year’s Challenge to finish UFOs…lol. Searched my home and found a journal given to me at a woman’s retreat. Nothing in it except one line…
    “The process of making something beautiful is beautiful”. Now that’s motivating.
    So, thank you for your suggestion, 8 projects listed so far and more to come.

    1. Quilts are so time consuming that you must enjoy the process…I love that the “process is beautiful” too!

17. Dear Lori, I’ve finally managed to read your blog and starting a Quilting Notebook! Well when I first started quilting I intended to start a scrapbook which I did start but soon thereafter I left it far behind. I intended to document all my quilting projects as I did them in chronological order with samples of fabrics and photo’s of the project in progress to completion. I started with some photo’s of my first two projects and that’s how far I got. I’m going to give it another go. I will use a sheet of coloured paper to start listing my unfinished projects. Can’t wait to where your blog takes me. Thanks Lori. Julie Beard Adelaide South Australia. http://www.julie714@adam.com.au

    1. Julie, Your documentation history reminds me of mine! Stops and starts…I think we’ll all be glad to have better documentation of our quilts and our progress as quilters. Thank you for joining us from Australia!

18. Hi Lori, saw your article on the AQS website. Reading through what you’ve talked about so far, I’ve being doing this since I started quilting. But rather than using a notebook, I do it on my laptop. I made a “format” document in Word with all the same inital documentation fields you mentioned. When I start a new project, I start (“save as”) a new document. I usually start a file at the point I start collecting fabric (whether from stash or shopping) for a project since that’s the point of “project committment” for me. However, in the file I will also discuss (as best as I can remember) what motivated me to want to make it.

    I add to the document (the quilt process) as I make the quilt and when it’s done, add photos to the document and print it out. It’s at that point I put the finished (printed) file (and fabric swatches if available and not too numerous) into a 3-ring binder. I even make binder covers as scrap and orphan block projects (and yes those get documented too)!

    I’m looking forward to reading the rest of your posts since I’m interested in the idea of analyzing the UFO/WIP files to understand project choice habits and priorities which I hope will help me limit the number of UFOs I wind up with in the first place!

    1. Hi Vivian, Thanks for joining us and for sharing your ideas…You must love going through your notebook to see you accomplishments and your progress. Sure wish I had started ONE formal notebook sooner. Please add your ideas as we go forward each week!

       PS…Love your blog–you’ve accomplished a lot!

19. Off the top of my head I know of at least 15 quilts waiting to be quilted! And I just finished 2 more tops last week. Those stencils would help me get them quilted a lot faster in the sub-zero temps of Shawnee Kansas this week!!

20. Iv got Six! WIPs. I call them work in process… The ufos are the ones that I don’t plan to finish. I also have 15 finished quilts to start my notebook! I have pictures of all but one!

21. Hmmm, my quilts are in different stages from an applique border I keep putting to the side; finished top folded up in the top of the quilting closet; layered, basted, ready to quilt lying on my quilting room sofa; a set of blocks using the companion/easy angles yet to be finished; a memory quilt in the development stages for my son in the Army and 3 BOM quilts. So far the count is 8. And I know I have kits in my quilting chest also. I’m hoping this Notebook will GET me on track this year but I seem to develop a quilting disease called quilters wondering lust for starting new projects. Thanks for all the helpful information. Sharon in Sugar Land, Texas.

22. I have about 10 UFOs. I try to complete quilts but often see a new one that I want to start so the cycle begins. My goal this year is to finish these and then try to do one
    at a time.

23. I am on my second year of working on my UFO’s. I managed to empty my trunk half way last year and hope to complete the others this year! There always seems to be something new and exciting and I’m afraid I’ll forget about it unless I start it. Hence my many UFO’s!! LOL.

24. I have 5 UFO’s. One is a quilt for my son started when he was 13 yrs old. He is now 44!! Another is a wedding quilt for same son. . But he does have a nice Christmas wall hanging.

25. I have at least 6 quilt tops to be finished. I really like the quilt notebook idea!

26. I love reading your blog – its full of such amazing information – thanks for the inspiration – ps love reading your reader comments as well !

27. What a great idea. I have several ringed note books and have one for my computer, and one for templates and now I will have one to keep my notes in that I can refer back to when I have the need. I checked out my UFO’s and with the one I am quilting now I have 3 left. I am kind of stubborn in that I have to finish something before I can start another. The UFO’s are all mystery quilts.

    1. We could all learn a lot from you! 3 UFOs is really good! What type of templates do you use?

28. I am new to your site. I do have a little notebook that I write notes in while my quilts are in progress so I can remember any problems and dates of beginning and finishing. Makes labeling much easier in the end. I maybe should try the binder for more info in general . I live half the year in Phoenix so can not count all my ufos. Here I have 4 sandwiched ready for quilting. I have about 5 more in progress. Who knows how many I have at home.

    1. Welcome to The Inbox Jaunt! I had a few “little notebooks” but really wish I had started one big one to hold it all!

       1. I’m so glad you like Silent Sundays, Kitty. They are fun for me, too!

29. Pingback: What Do Our Quilt UFOs Say About Us? | The Inbox Jaunt

30. I have only one UFO at this time simply because I just started quilting 2 weeks ago and have yet to finish a quilt. I finished the top of my quilt last week and then realized I had not bought the thread I needed to quilt the quilt together. Guess that explains how green I am! Anyway, maybe one day I will have need of a UFO notebook! For now, I have started a notebook of free motion patterns, quilt top designs and anything else that I think I will need in the future as I learn more about quilting. I am simply amazed at the ideas and helpfullness of people like you on the internet. I hope you fully understand how much you are helping others with your site. Thanks for sharing our knowledge!

31. Pingback: The Quilt Notebook: The Skills Inventory | The Inbox Jaunt

32. I live the idea of tracking websites, I’ve already list one from your blog, on where to get gridded paper!! Oh brother!! Now I’m playing catch-up too, from Jan. 2015 back to Jan. 2014!! So I’ll get there just keep the ideas handy for me, or someone email me or send me info here!! Would be most helpful, as I’m having to ho backwards and read posts & original articles…

33. I just found this blog. . .what a great idea! I have pictures of every quilt or quilted related item I have ever made. . . 15 years worth. I wrote info about the quilt, patterns, etc. on the back of the photo and who the quilt ended up going home with. . .I need catch up on reading your articles from Jan 2014 to the present. . . any suggestions?

    1. Ms. Mary how are you doing catching up with the reading for the “notebook”? I just found Ms. Lori’s blog today.

34. I did this several years ago and it was working great until I fractured my knee. I did finish a number of UFO’s. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it. I will do it again. I also looked at where I was and made notes of what to do next. Then II have aa backing to sew today and this will be my project for today. Wish me luck and if you see the quilt fairy, send her my way! By the way, Thank you for all you share for free. You are so appreciated.