Quilting Patterns

My specialty is art and landscape quilts.  And although I have a "reasonable" stash, I often find that I need just that right colour or pattern to achieve the desired result. 

 So I use those pocket photo albums for swatches of the fabrics for what ever project I'm working on.  I used to staple swatches to a want list, and inevitably it got lost.

  With the albums, my samples stay clean, organized and easily accessible to compare to all those great fabrics, whether I'm in a second hand store or my favourite fabric shop.  When the project is finished, I place a photo with the fabric swatches, along with any ideas I have for improving the effect for future projects, a great permanent record of my artistic efforts.

here's an idea for all the left over quilt blocks you don't know what to do with. everyone has finished quilt blocks left over. buy or make a canvas tote bag then put the quilt block on the front of the bag . you can also take a piece of cordinating fabric and line the bag. and vola" instant designer quilted bag to carry your stuff to work, church or school. i have madr several and my friends are always asking where i bought them. so i tell them and get to share my love of quilting, they also make quick and easy qifts. happy quilting brenda the goofy quilter

I am a beginner when it comes to quilting and have subscribed to a couple of quilting magazines.  These magazines have some wonderful tips, patterns, and instructions in them.  They can be a wealth of information.  I have every quilt magazine and book saved on a bookshelf in my craft room.  To help in finding that one wanted article, pattern or instruction without going through a years worth of magazines and books to find it, I photocopy each magazines and books table of contents and put them into a three-ring binder.  When I am looking for something, I go to my binder and look through my photocopies until I find the wanted information.  I then can see what book or magazine it is from and what page(s) to find it on.  I go directly to my bookshelf and can easily pull the one book or magazine and go directly to the wanted page(s).

I have aquired a number of patterns from the internet, shop hop, block of the month, etc.  I have put them in plastic sheet covers and secured them in a binder so I can quickly see what I have when I need a pattern.  It keeps them neat and organized instead of all over my house!

In an attempt to organize my magazines, I use Post-it Tape Flags to indicate all of the patterns and articles that might be of interest at a later date.  I write the name of the pattern on the flag and attach it to the page.  I color code them, yellow for patterns, green for interesting articles and blue for quilting designs.  The tape flags can be removed or left in place if you need to photocopy the pattern.  Now it's a lot easier to find a pattern.

When I buy or receive a quilting magazine, I immediately put a piece or two of masking on a blank part of the front cover. Then, as I am reading it , I rate the projects I like from 1-4 stars and record these stars and names of the patterns on the masking tape. This makes it easy for me to find my favorite inspiration patterns from my magazines when I am ready to do them (without having to flip through all of my magazines looking for that certain pattern that "I know I saw somewhere").

keep a folder with clear plastic inserts next to the computer when you are looking at quilting sites and print out patterns, tips etc when you find them. A great standby for times when you need a pattern in a hurry or when you find a freebie that you want to make "1 day"

A couple of years ago I bought a book by a well known quilter and haveing used her books before I did not forsee and problems but that was just what I had at least four blocks had to be redone the sizing not right.  Finally frustrated with the project I put it aside.  Later when complaining to a fellow quilter she mentioned there were corrections on the authors website which could be printed and added to my book.  I suggest you check out all books carefully for errors and the web is a good resource for accomplishing this.

I purchase clear vinyl that comes on a roll. I cut out a square or rectangle a few inches larger than the area I am designing for. I place the vinyl over the area that I want to quilt. Using a dry marker, I then proceed to draw my ideas out. Erasing it and starting over as many times as I want. Sometimes I will use two or three vinyl pieces, so if I have more than one idea, I can switch back and forth until I decide which one I like the best.

You can ensure you get the most mileage out of your patterns by taking certain steps to protect the patterns. Before you use your pattern, cover both sides with clear Contact paper, then cut the pattern out. The Contact paper will protect the patterns from being torn, ripped, or damaged. Make sure you label all pieces of the pattern before covering it with the Contact paper so you can keep all pieces together and quickly identify the pattern.