I have to tell you, I get a LOT of questions about our QOV project and how things get done, and who does what, and how you can help, and oh my --- I LOVE LOVE LOVE questions. So I thought I would do a little series on "A day in a life of a QOV" when it comes to Colorado.
Now - this is not an " I work so hard post" or a plea post - simply Informational - and hopefully fun for you to see how I do things.... and how I do things is not always how things are done for others... simply how I do them.
There are a lot of scenarios of how QOV's arrive on my doorstep, or in my mailbox, or at a guild meeting, or at a quilt show... so today we will start with scenario one.
THE FINISHED QUILT
A finished quilt is handed to me... by Finished I mean, It has been pieced, quilted and bound.
I take it home ( or out of the box) and spread it on the carpet or couch and photograph it. I have a notebook and in it I write all the information I know ( as well as the picture number).
Sometimes the only info I know is the return address on the box. Sometimes there is a label and I write that information down.
If there is NO label - I have QOV labels here, and I fill out all the information I know - The Piecer's name, the Quilter's name and then there is a blank for the recipients name. I apply the label. I have been known to pin the label, and put the quilt in a pile. Then when I have a stack of labels to apply I sit down and do them all at once... usually while watching Castle. Cuz NO ONE is allowed to talk when Castle is on!!
Once the quilt has its label it has two options....Option 1 : if it has been washed it is ready to go into the pillowcase pile. If it has a pillowcase, and a journal.... it is totally ready to go, I bag it up and put it in my to go box.
Option 2: If it has not been washed, then it goes in the to wash pile, and is washed in cold water, with 1 color catcher, and tumble air dried... then it goes in the pillowcase pile. Again if it came with a pillowcase and journal it is Bagged up and put in the to go box.
If a quilt does not have a journal - I have a journal on my computer that is kind of a *stock* journal with how a quilt is made. Then I add the information that I know about this specific quilt... and pin it to the quilt, pillowcase it and it is ready to go.
Pillowcases: Some quilts come with pillowcases, some do not. There is a guild in Pueblo that has been faithful in sending pillowcases this way and those are a LifeSaver. When we run out, the ladies and gentlemen that come to our Greeley Sew days have pitched in....
I keep a notebook with the number of quilts I have ready at one time. So when the Chaplain at Ft Carson, in the Wounded Warriors Battalion, calls and says I have a need for 10 quilts - I can look at my list and know that I have 11 ready... we are good to go.
Hope that gives you a little glimpse into the life of a QOV... THE FINISHED QUILT
Stay tuned for the next installment of "A day in the Life of a QOV: The Complete Set".
Machine Quilting, Tutorials, Quilts of Valor, and A Lot of Quilts!
Ok. 2 questions. Do you make up the labels ahead of time or do you purchase them? And is the pillowcase just a standard size pillowcase that you sew to accompany the quilt? I'm cutting, cutting, cutting. So that soon I can sew, sew, sew! I finally settled on a pattern. Don't know why that is the hardest part for me. Thanks Alycia. Hope you're feeling much better and sending a few more prayers, just in case. :)
ReplyDeleteOk. 2 questions. Do you make up the labels ahead of time or do you purchase them? And is the pillowcase just a standard size pillowcase that you sew to accompany the quilt? I'm cutting, cutting, cutting. So that soon I can sew, sew, sew! I finally settled on a pattern. Don't know why that is the hardest part for me. Thanks Alycia. Hope you're feeling much better and sending a few more prayers, just in case. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to make a QOV later this year, so all this information is extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteI have a question too. What information goes in the journal that goes with the quilt?
Thanks for all the work you do for QOV!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to what form the journal takes, is it a book?
ReplyDeleteFor a while our guild was able to send quilts directly to the hospital in Afghanistan. We were requested to put a pocket on the quilts so that the nurses could put things in it. I decided to make the label bigger than my guild uses and put a blank space where the recipient could have people sign the label. I included a pen.
Thanks for all you do Alycia.
Helen