SSF Post # 4 : WIP Storage by Emily

Hi all, here's the first guest post of the week... But before that there's some news... 

I won an award... The lovely Lisa from I"m a Lisa Work has so kindly nominated me for the Liebster award... Thank you so much Lisa!

So I have to nominate 3 people...

Here they are :

 She is a lady I have grown to like in the past one year... I have joined here every Friday and we have had a blast... She has a very inviting guest room... And she is a bomb with words... Hop on over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to have a great day!!!

She is a lady I have known personally... She is one of my favorite actresses... She has been a kid sister I never had... A girl so confident that she'll make you unsure... Multi talented - she can dance, act, write both prose & poems, look ravishing, cook... okay add to your list Shalmalee!!! Go have a peep at her soul! And no, she's not a quilter (yet... I may not give up on that one just yet...)

And the third one is a lady I got to know through blogland... I love her quilting... It is so much my own style... The only difference I see is in the colors... But I get inspired by them once in a while... Go tarry with Jodi aon her blog!

So those are the 3 nominations... And now all that you 3 have to do is write a post on your blog about the award and pass it on to 3 more lovely people!!!

Back to business,

Today we are having a guest post by Emily from emscrapbag! Let us see how she stores her WIPs!!!

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Hi, I'm Emily from emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.  I'm a stay at home mom of four, three teenage boys and a sweet little girl.  When I'm not busy being their mom I quilt.  Scrap quilts are my favorite and it's probably a good thing because my scrap bin seems to produce scraps while I sleep.  I also like to acquire new fabric.  Bright vivid colored fabric is where my tastes have been at present.  Much to the delight of my youngest son.  Who can't have things bright enough.  His room is chartreuse.  He wanted orange but I told him he wouldn't be able to sleep and should pick a more relaxing color like blue or green.  Chartreuse is what he picked and then told me it's green like you said mom.  What's a mom to do?  I design and sell patterns to local quilt shops and at my website auntemsquilts.com.  This helps pay for all my quilty purchaces. I'm happy to be here today sharing with you my method of madness for organizing my wips.  

I’m a list kind of person.  I make lists for everything; grocery, to do, and works in progress.  I get such a thrill checking things off.  I must admit that sometimes I even add things to my to do list that I have already done just so I can check them off.  I know a little silly but it makes me happy.  My works in progress list really helps me keep track of my WIPs and at a glance I can see what needs to be done on each project.  I divide it into columns, remember we established the fact that I like to check things off, and this lets me do this more often.  I have a column for when a quilt is cut out, the blocks are made, it is made into a flimsy, for being quilted and finally when it is bond and finished.  Here’s a pic of my current WIP list.

I make a new one every year and keep it taped to the wall next to my sewing machine.  Don’t want it to get lost.  And I can look at it and decide what I want to do based on my mood.

Not only do I keep the list where I can see it, I keep my projects where they are visible.  I have a clothesline in my sewing room and I use pant hangers and large Ziploc bags to store projects that are cut out and/or at the block stage.  If  I run out of pant hangers that means I need to move a few more along before I start more.  Otherwise I might stick it in some dark corner of my sewing room where being out of sight it might be forgotten.

When a quilt gets to the flimsy stage I hand it over a regular hanger.  If the borders have yet to be attached they are thrown over the hanger with the rest of the flimsy.

Quilts that are quilted and need binding are just hung over the clothes line, waiting patiently for me to finish that last little step.

Well, there you have my little method for keeping my WIPs in order and progressing.  Take from it what works for you and above all enjoy the process.

~~~ Emily ~~~