The official title for this quilt will be "The Comfort of Friends" because most of the blocks were made at my request by members of my quilt guild. And because it's tied, technically it's a comforter, not a quilt. But I'm trying to get beyond those technicalities.Why is it, I'd like to know, that I can find more threads that need to be cut and removed after I've photographed the quilt than before? I had to re-take this picture about three times and there's still a thread on one of the blocks!
Before I fell asleep under my newly finished quit last night I got to thinking about the fact that I rarely label my quilts. I sign them, but I don't label them. The thought of trying to put all the pertinent information about the origins of the quilt on a label just makes me shudder. But I think it's important that that information be recorded somewhere.
Sure, it's all in my studio notebooks and project notebooks, but I'm the only one who could decipher those notes and scribbles. Even I can't figure it out sometimes. And then what about the quilts I've not made but have inherited or collected in some other way?
I've written the history of the oldest quilt in my possession but I have several other quilts and tops that my kids might want to know about some day. So now I'm thinking about creating a new book or journal. One in which I can record the story of how each quilt came to be or how it came to be in my possession. I know there are blank quilt journals on the market but I think I'm going to want to create my own. I think it's going to be an actual book too, not merely a spreadsheet in the computer. The question is how to build it. What format, what information, how will I add to it as I make or acquire more quilts?
I welcome any suggestions you may have.
I don't label many quilts either, but I do sign them. When I first started quilting I did keep a little journal with notes about each quilt and a photo, but I stopped doing that when I started keeping on-line records, first on Webshots, and now on Flikr. It's much nicer to have a written record, and I wish I'd kept it up.
ReplyDeleteMy quilt journals are 3 ring binders with the insertable covers. Vol. I, Vol. II, etc.
ReplyDeleteI scribble notes as I go and then, at some point before the end of each calendar year, I go back and type up a summary sheet for each quilt - it's story, where I got the fabric (if it matters), where the inspiration came from, who it was gifted to and/or made for, when it was started and finished, sometimes the dimensions (I'm getting better about this), what the quilt taught me, etc. Sometimes I print a picture or two and slip them inside the page protectors that I use to hold all the printed out bio's.
By using the notebooks, I can rearrange as necessary and I can use a single page protector to hold all my scribbles and scraps until I'm ready to 'write' - thus saving the info all in one place until 'whenever.'
May not work for everyone but it sure works for me!
Try a scrapbook type book. They have pegs that let you add pages and if the book gets thick they even have extenders. They'll have the scrapbooks at Michael's. You can take a picture of the quilt and place it on the page along with why you made it and all the info. This way you can change or add to it over time.
ReplyDeleteI just enabled "let email be shown" on my blogger account. I wonder if it will still say no-reply comment or whatever it is that it says.
I guess if I want a good night's sleep I should make a comforter eh? I can't see to thread the needle on my cheapo Walmart machine. I really wish my Bernina hadn't quit on me.
Enjoy your cuddly quilt! I call them all quilts, tied or quilted, so what! You're right, I only put my intials and the year on most of my quilts--not really adequate, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI see you've put little tags on your spiral bound notebooks, good idea... I have taken books to the copy places to have the spine cut off and have them spiral bound (only costs a buck or two - and it makes them lie open flatter) but then I can see the titles when they're on the shelf. I like the idea of the hanging labels! Take care, Sue
ReplyDeleteI record information about the Christmas ornaments I have. It started out when a customer of mine made the comment that I needed to have record of them to pass on to each of the kids. I keep a notebook, one of the bound books out there, for each of the kids for their ornaments, and one in general for the things I make or receive. In it, I have a pic of the ornament, the year I made it, (or it was gifted to them, and if so, from whom), and why that particular ornament was made...usually it represents something that they were particularly fond of that year. Or, this year, in my book will go the story of a very colorful bird, and the sweet person who sent it. Your things will be on the way on Monday...thanks again for brightening my days!
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