Keeping track of quilt projects
Do you find yourself surrounded by unfinished quilts projects? Are you always delivering quilt gifts weeks, months (or years…) after the occasion? Having been on the giving and receiving end of this predicament, I can empathize. Not only did I receive my “21st birthday” quilt when I was 27, but I have gotten the call that a friend’s baby was born, only to realize the stack of fabric for that baby quilt still sits uncut (or hasn’t even been ordered yet…!). Well, Plan to Quilt, the newest of the quilt planner offerings provides just what you (and I) might need to keep track of our quilt projects.
Several quilt planner offerings
As a Project Manager in my day job and as a member of the team that designed and produced the first edition of the Quilter’s Planner, I have some experience with thinking about we manage our projects and ourselves to accomplish our goals. I don’t think there is a solution that works for everyone, so I encourage you to consider the following:
Do I want to keep track of my quilt projects separately from my other daily tasks?
Would I like to have an ongoing record of what quilts I have made and to whom I sent them?
Do I feel energized by colorful, inspirational planners? Or do I enjoy the zen of simple, neutral planners?
Quilter’s Planner
If you answered NO + YES/NO + and COLORFUL, then the Quilter’s Planner could be a good fit for you. Check out my original blog post discussing the Quilter’s Planner.
Get to Work Book
If you answered NO + YES/NO + and NEUTRAL, then maybe check out the Get to Work Planners. Although not quilt-specific, I used this planner for several years and quite enjoyed it. In this category, I have also enjoyed the simplicity of Moleskine planners.
Plan to Quilt
If you answered, YES + YES + and COLORFUL, then I think Plan to Quilt could be a good option for you.
Plan to Quilt: the ultimate calendar-free project-based organizer
Plan to Quilt is not a day planner but instead a way to keep a record of your ongoing and finished quilt projects. With the catch-phrase “the ultimate calendar-free project-based organizer”, Plan to Quilt lets you keep your regular schedule and daily tasks separate from your quilt-related tasks and in this way is a project-planner that you can used year after year. Plan to Quilt has generously sent me a copy of their quilt planner, so read on to hear my thoughts on how Plan to Quilt could help you to keep track of your quilt projects.
Thoughtful step-by-step lists to organize quilt projects
Project Checklist
Right at the beginning of Plan to Quilt, there is a Project Checklist page, where you can list in-progress and upcoming quilts to visually keep track of project completion. I love visual tools for project tracking, so this page is my jam. (There is a similar page in the Quilter’s Planner). Even since I took this picture, I have finished quilting and binding my Caprock Quilt, and my to-do list loving self want to go in and finish that line. The option to write a due date for your quilt project is valuable, in my opinion, because it reminds you of when the quilt needs to be ready for gifting or finished for pattern testing. Leaving it blank if it is a passion project helps to emphasize the quilts that really do need to be finished by a certain date.
On the previous page, there is space to keep track of quilt patterns on your wish list. That’s probably a good idea or else I would fill the Project Checklist page with all the quilts I want to do, rather than the quilts I’m actually sewing.
Color-coded Quilt Projects
As you can see, each quilt project that you log in Plan to Quilt has a color dedicated to it that carries through the entire planner from Project Checklist to Shopping List to later quilt-planning pages that have the color on the edge of each page. This makes the Project Checklist page function as a very useful table of contents so that you can quickly look up an ongoing or previously finished project.
Shopping List
On the page opposite your Project Checklist is a spread dedicated to your Shopping List. The Shopping List page helps you to keep track of notions or fabric you need to complete your quilting projects. I like this page, as it reminds me to go buy backing. Many a quilt has languished in my work-in-progress pile because I haven’t taken the time to pick out and purchase a backing fabric.
Note: There are duplicates of all of these pages so that you can keep track of up to 42 quilts in this single planner.
Fabric Wishlist
At the beginning of the planner, next to the Pattern Wish List, is a place to keep a record of fabric lines that you’re crushing on. As a fabric designer myself, I love being able to jot down fabric lines that are inspiring me. This is a good place to reference when I am picking fabric for a new quilt or am finally buying a backing for a quilt.
Quilt-Planning and Recording Pages
The rest of Plan to Quilt is dedicated to 5-page sections to plan and record each quilt project. As mentioned before, they are color-coded on the page edges for easy look-up. The first page provides space to record pattern, pattern designer, difficulty, finished size, recipient, occasion for quilt making/gifting, start date, piecing method, fabrics chosen, color palette, thread used, stitch used, and quilting method chosen. Some of these are extraneous to me. For example, I will probably always be checking the box for “pieced”, but that’s okay. I appreciate that the pages are designed to cover a wide variety of quilting styles and projects.
I took the opportunity to staple swatches of my fabric, and I love that Plan to Quilt encourages you to staple, tape, and adhere pictures and swatches. This makes Plan to Quilt unique in that it does not become obsolete after a single calendar year but instead becomes a record of your quilting projects that you can reference for years to come.
Store Your Quilt Patterns: The second page of the quilt recording section offers a spot to glue an envelope to hold your pattern. You can buy these envelopes on the Plan to Quilt website or use your own.
Finished Quilt Photo: Page 2 can also be used to attach a picture of the finished quilt. This is how I would use it because it creates such a wonderful record of the quilts you have made, especially if you are giving the quilt away.
Quilt Sketching and Binding Calculations: Pages 3 and 4 have grid paper for sketching your block design/layout and quilt ideas. It also offers an easy calculator to determine how much binding you will need and how much fabric you need to make that amount of binding. It even allows you to choose the width of your binding.
Quilt Story and Notes: The final page provides lined paper for notes with a prompt to record your quilt story. “Record a little bit about the inspiration or story behind the quilt here. Why did you choose those colors or fabrics for this project. Who is it for? Why did you make it for them?” As I said before, I think this is what makes Plan to Quilt stand apart from other planners. This quilt planner not only helps you to keep track of quilt projects as you work on them, but also keep a record of the quilt project for posterity.
Plan to Quilt is unique in that it creates a record of your quilts
a beautiful and valuable record for a maker
Plan to Quilt: guided record-keeping for the quilter
In summary, I think that Plan to Quilt is a functional project organizer to help you keep track of your quilt projects. That said, there are many planners and quilt planners available that can help you stay on task and keep projects organized. What makes Plan to Quilt unique is that, as it guides you through project planning, it also invites you to create a record of your quilt projects. This record of the quilts you have made, the choices that went into them, and the people that received them is a beautiful and valuable record for a maker to have and sets Plan to Quilt apart.
If you’re interested in purchasing Plan to Quilt, click the button below and use code LOVELYANDENOUGH to get 10% of your order.
