Project Planning: Inspiration and Organization

How do you plan and organize your quilt/patchwork projects?  Do you make a plan or do you just follow where inspiration leads?  I admit to suffering from “magpie syndrome” a little bit and wanting to make all the pretty projects that I see in magazines or on-line.  Those aspirations get whittled down somewhat because I try to work with my stash fabrics and certain fabrics just seem to go well with certain designs.  In addition, I primarily quilt using traditional piecing methods and appliqué.  I haven’t explored much foundation paper piecing or English paper piecing yet.  I’ll get around to it one day!  So that limits my choices as well.

However, learning new techniques, or improving what I’ve already learned, is also one of the things that motivates me to choose certain patterns.  For example, I signed up for the Solstice Sampler (hosted by Alderwood Studio) specifically to get out of my comfort zone a bit and get more practice with different techniques.  Having the Sew-Along on Instagram helped keep me on-track, at least at the beginning!  I always have multiple projects going on and priorities change, so I don’t stress about it. ;)

The changing seasons also influence me.  I really wanted to quilt a pumpkin project this year, and had even selected a pattern, but I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule!  Instead, I went from Halloween sewing straight into Christmas sewing.  Do you have seasonal sewing habits as well?

In terms of more practical planning tools, what do you do?  Lists?  Pinterest?  I do both.  I use Pinterest both for inspiration and for initial planning.  I create mood boards on Pinterest to develop color palettes and select fabrics for potential patterns. You can check out our Pinterest boards. 

And speaking of seasonal influences, I create seasonal mood boards and color palettes on Pinterest to help me work out what story I want to tell with my quilts.  Am I going for something cozy and warm-feeling because fall is around the bend, or do I want some flashy color for the summer blooms? 

As I am more of an analog (rather than digital) planner, I recently designed a project planning page for myself, which I’m sharing with you!  You can click the button below to download it for free. May it help you organize your projects in the coming year!

I’m curious to hear about everybody’s methods and inspiration for project planning.  Do you have some tips?  Let us know in the comments below! :)