My Quilting Bible

Do you have a quilting notebook? Or as my friends call it, my Quilting Bible. I took mine with me recently to a stitching get together and several people commented on it. So I thought I would share what I keep in mine.

First and foremost is a listing of all the local quilt shops that are usually included in the shop hops. There are some that are out of my range and others I get to frequently. I keep this info with addresses, phone numbers and business hours so I am always prepared to stop in if I am in the neighborhood.

My best use of this notebook is for tips and techniques that I find in magazines, like binding with no lumps ( I used to make a lot of lumpy bindings! GRR!) or

No waste Flying Geese.

LuAnn from Loose Threads sent me this info on sizing Dresden plates. She found it while cleaning up her sewing room and sent it to me. It was a lifesaver, so in the book it goes.

I also have info on calculating the amount of fabric to buy to make bias binding. That can be a stumper.

I save patterns or photos of quilts that I really like that I might make someday.

I also print out free patterns from the internet like this one from Bonnie Hunter's website.

I also have stitched out all the stitches on my sewing machine in purple thread on white muslin so I can see how they look in the pre-programmed size and then in altered width and length. This is great for embellishment so you have an idea of which stitches will work with the quilt or clothing design you are working on.

I keep measurements of things like the size of the mattresses in our house, window measurements, fabric ordering info for drapes or matching items. I also have info on the color wheel and some other little tips.

Finally I keep lots of blank paper - lined and graph paper so I can write out instructions or graph quilt patterns when I see something I want to make someday.

Have I missed anything? Maybe a cute cover instead of just green plastic??

PS Only 2 more days until I go to Madison for Nancy Zieman's Quilt Expo. Yea!