#1 Ziplock bags – do all the cutting in one session
Oh gosh, I love this organizing system! I first learned this from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. She is one organised quilter! A very productive one too. You check out her amazing patterns here>>. I personally love the latest one! Check that one out HERE>
I made the Aviatrix Medallion previously blogged HERE> and went ahead starting the quilt by cutting every single pieces required for the quilt! It was kind of scary to do so, but I did it anyway.
As per pattern instruction, I kept all the pieces organised in zip lock bags!!! Which was super great cause I can simply store them easily and only took out the one required ones when I need to sew them.
You can check out this set of ziplock bags with various sizes – perfect for organizing all shapes and sized patchwork pieces.
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So its done. The cutting at least. #aviatrixmedallion #carolynfriendlander #botanicsfabric
It was a big deal for me to have kept all those in one nice organised place. Since the middle part of the quilt was quite intimidating, I didn’t start sewing until a year later, but since they were all so organised it was easy to pick it back up and just continue to the sewing stage.
#2 Organise WIP in project boxes
Here is one way you can keep all of your project in one place and stack them up nicely. Label them for easy to find what you want to work on too.
I like this size box, perfect to keep 9-12″ blocks flat and some other pieces flat enough to be working back on it.
I also keep my scraps in these boxes. You can read more about the way I organise my fabric scraps HERE>
Get 6 boxes on Amazon. They usually have great deals on these. Sometimes close to half priced off!
#3 Use Alphabities
Label your cut pieces!
I love the Alphabities. Especially when following a pattern. They kept me sane for having to know which one measure what without having to remeasure all the time.
#4 Portable Design board
This has saved me so much time and has gotten me so organised with all the pieces. It is easy to be moving the pieces all at once form the cutting table to the sewing machine.
You can also test out the layout of your pieces on the design board. It is then just a matter of putting it next to your sewing machine while you sew the pieces together.
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You can make your own portable design board following the video below or buy ready-made ones HERE>
#5 Chain piecing
O yes to chain piecing. Chain piecing can keep all your pieces organised in one strand. It would be so much easier to piece similar shape in batches.
Quilting projects becomes easier with batch working and chain piecing is definitely one of the way to do so.
#6 Organise on a Design wall & take photo
Place your blocks on design wall and take photo of the layout so that you can refer to when you piece it together.
You can simply wrap a mounting board with batting or you can get this instant design wall.
I made mine using this corrugated board, wrapping it with batting and placing it on the wall using these strips. Works perfectly! And I can make lots of them around the sewing space.
#7 Block Keeper book
I made a block keeper a while ago (blogged HERE) and I love that I can keep blocks in there flat and easy to find.
You can also keep little pieces together as you would want to piece them later safely in the keeper.
#8 Use Coloring page
A lot of the patterns these days have coloring pages included and you can easily color it first to see how it would look like when pieced together. You can do this with color pencils or felt tip pens (I am currently loving this set).
Another option to that is to digitally color it. If you want to learn how to create your own coloring pages, learn basic digital art drawing if you are interested to do so. I always opt for classes in Skillshare for such new skills.
If you don’t know what Skillshare is – it’s a platform to learn all sorts of thing. You can try it for FREE here>>
#9 Project tracker
Project tracker is great to make sure you are in the know of where are you at
You can get a project tracker in the TLMC FREE Resources Library. Sign up here if you haven’t got the access.
#10 Schedule your sewing time!
Be more organised with your time and block sewing time so you can get your project moving.
I personally love my EC Planner and use it every week to block time for sewing for that week. It is easy to be caught in day to day chores. So if you find that sewing is a relaxing therapy and something that you would love to do more of, make sure you block off some time doing so.
Well that is it for 10 ways to get more organise when quilting! You will be more calm and more productive when you are organised!
Enjoy quilting!
Have other tips to share? Drop a comment below!
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