It's official!

THE HOUSE IS SOLD!!!!!!!  I should be thrilled and I sort of am but now I have to plan the move......ugh!  It's really a good thing that most of the small stuff is already gone or I would be a mess!  Okay - so now I can move on! 

So what did I do to celebrate?!?!? 

Well, I organized The Farmer's Wife of course!  I had planned to do this a year ago when I started the project but as usual, other things took precedence and it didn't get done.

I would like to point out that I do not do this with ALL quilts, only "long term" projects.....and this is really a long term project (I mean it's already a year - lol).  Also, I want it to be as portable as possible.....

First I went to Staples and had them cut the spine off of the book - $3.00 + tax, then I asked them to make a copy of the spine on card stock for my binder......in colour of course (I'm anal that way!) - $0.49 + tax!

Here's the binder......

I purchased the kind of binder that has clear pockets in the front, back and spine and put the cover on the front, the spine from the book on the side and the back cover on the back...... I think it's a 3" binder.  This way I can find it in a bookcase or if it's lying on it's side (since I tend to misplace things!  Like books full of blocks!?!?).

 I also purchased page protectors - 100/$6.49 + tax.  They are the Staples brand and they are acid-free, archival quality.  In the first one I put the pages with the letters from the farmer's wives which is what the book was written about.....

 The next section are my spreadsheets which list the blocks and template numbers......the yellow ones are the blocks that are done!  There are "only" ten!

The next section is the template section, of which there are 106.  I have split them into 10 per page protector in order to keep them more manageable and easier to find.....I also purchased a package of yellow circle labels to mark the numbers on.....$4.96 + tax. 

 This page holds a copy of the block placements in the quilt - the back of the page is block 1......

 And finally the blocks, also marked with the yellow circles.....the finished blocks slip into the page protectors as they are done.  Keeps them clean and pressed and at hand.....

All I have to do now is organize the rest of my life like this and I'll be laughing!  I have to say it will be hard to misplace this binder(I'll  probably still manage to do it though!).  It cost around $25.00 including the binder but for a project like this I really feel it is well worth the extra cost to keep it organized.  I imagine it will be another year before this quilt is done and all of the blocks will be protected and in pristine condition when I'm ready to do the sashings and corner blocks.  Well worth the time and effort!

So now I can start planning my "big move" and paint colours and decorating and all that good stuff that comes with moving!  Okay, seeing the bright side again!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann