More Journaling on the 365 Quilt

Just a quick update on my 365 Quilt! I have been doing good about keeping up with my journaling ideas for each day on paper, and I write a few blocks each day to try and catch up on fabric. I went Scrapbooking with a friend this past Friday, but instead of scrapbooking, I wrote out a bunch of my journal blocks. I go more for the company anyway, so it was good to get close to caught up. I have blocks through April 1st written now. Here are a few more of the journaling I have done, I will add the rest soon!

March 6 – Got our tax refund – Shopping Spree!
March 7 – Visiting my Mom
March 8 – My son buying 3 Nintendo DS games
March 9 – All about our cat Whiskers
March 10 – Doing our calorie diet
March 11 – My son watching Spongebob Squarepants
March 12 – Eating at a new Pizza place in town
March 13 – Watching the new movie, Alice in Wonderland
March 14 – My son’s first sleepover at a friend’s house

I hope these give you some ideas for your own quilt if you plan on making one! It’s fun for me to look back at these even now as I have already forgotten much of it. I am very excited to see this whole quilt come together.

Happy Quilting!
Rachel

This Week's Journaling

I bet you thought I had given up on this project already!! Not a chance. :) As I stated, this project is so easy because I can just jot down a thought or activity from the day on a piece of paper and go and write about it later. I spent some time this morning catching up on my blocks. I still have 3 more to do, but I wanted to come here and give you a list of my journaling so far:

Feb 21 - Buying fabric with Kolby for him to make a quilt
Feb 22 - Our freezer defrosting
Feb 23 - Going to our favorite sub shop
Feb 24 - My son playing his Nintendo DS before bed
Feb 25 - My son going swimming at the Y
Feb 26 - My son's "girlfriend"
Feb 27 - My husband's Civil War reenacting meeting
Feb 28 - Going Bowling
March 1 - Reading a "Spooky I Spy" book with my son
March 2 - Forgetting my lunch & money at home
March 3 - Eating Lean Cuisines
March 4 - Playing War with my son
March 5 - My house is a sick ward

As you can see, I have a good mix of exciting activities and more mundane ones. All together this wide variety of journaling will give a true picture of our life this year.

Happy Quilting!
Rachel

Week Three Journaling

This week just flew by!! Luckily it was easy to write my blocks after the fact this week, and I was able to get all caught up this morning. I know this quilt will be a really special thing for me since when I write this post, even just a week later, I have already forgotten what I wrote about. I can only imagine how special it will be at the end of this year when it's all done or even in 5, 10 or 15 years. This is a really simple project that I would highly encourage for everyone. You don't even have to make the blocks as big as mine if you aren't great with journaling!

Here is my journaling for the week three:

1. Valentine's flowers from hubby
2. Taco night
3. Snow day
4. About our kitty, Ciao
5. My son doing homework
6. Srapbooking & surprise flowers from Kris
7. Annual meeting for our reenacting group

Anyone else all caught up?

Rachel

Journaling for Week Two

I will get a pic of the blocks soon, but I just finished writing up the final blocks for week two! Two down, 50 to go!! :) I really like that I can jot down notes from the days and write the blocks later if I want to, it makes this project so much less pressure!

Here is my journaling for the week two:

1. Superbowl square with names written by each person at the party
2. Schedule of our night
3. My Grandmother's Garden quilt
4. Surprise snacks brought home by hubby
5. Hubby's second job at Blockbuster
6. Our budgeting system
7. Son's first sleepover

So are you caught up? I'd love to see what you have done so far!!

Rachel

Journaling Week One

So I have been good this week and kept up with my blocks, I will try and post what I journal about each week to hopefully give you some ideas if you are following along!

Here is my journaling for the first week:

1. About starting this project
2. Hubby's journaling about his flat tire
3. Son's name written by him, and explanation of his reward chart at school
4. My son being sick today
5. Working overtime at my job
6. My favorite snack & hubby making dinner
7. Hubby overcooking breakfast

As you can see none of these things are overly exciting parts of my life, but I think it will be exciting to read it all later. As a whole, this quilt will give a true slice of our lives together.

Let me know if you have started on this project yet and what some of your journaling has been!

Rachel

Journaling for 365 Days

I have heard from a few people that they are not sure that they could find something to journal about for 365 days straight. It does seem daunting, but you need to remember, this is not about having a soul searching, epiphany story to tell each and everyday. Sometimes the mundane can be just as interesting as the not so mundane.

Think about it, if you had a quilt like this from your grandmother, wouldn’t you think it was so interesting to read about the plain everyday stuff just as much as the exciting big events? I’d love to know the name of the restaurants she went out to eat at, I’d love to hear all about her favorite radio programs, or which brand of peanut butter she adored. I think it would be fun to hear about the type of car she had or even the style of clothes she wore. These are things that we wouldn’t think about putting on a quilt, they don’t seem worthy of remembering for eternity, but they are. Trust me. When you look back on this quilt in 20 years, you will appreciate that you remembered all the small things just as much as the big ones.

I also scrapbook, and journaling is so important to me. I have taught classes on journaling in scrapbooks, of learning to look at a picture in a new way. And I think the same principals apply for this quilt. We can’t worry about making our lives sound Hollywood glamorous, because they are not. Our lives are interesting in all the small details, so don’t be afraid to share them!

For instance, yesterday my husband got a flat tire before he could go to work. So I asked him to write the block for yesterday and include that event. Then my 6 year old son wanted to get in on it, so he will write his name and age on a block now, and then probably again at the end to see the difference. These are the things that may not seem exciting now, but I am sure we will love reading about them later on in life.

Here are some ideas to get you started. I will also share the topics of some of my blocks as I go to give you some more ideas of where you can pull your journaling from.

- Children’s Handprints
- Pet paw prints
- Names of pets you own
- What meal you made for breakfast/lunch/dinner
- What Restaurant you ate at today
- Your favorite outfit
- Bring a block with you when you visit friends or family and have them sign the block
- What kind of vehicles you own
- Your favorite sport
- Your favorite TV show
- Your favorite internet site
- Your child’s nightly ritual
- Your child’s school teacher
- A hobby you or your family has
- A list of your daily chores
- Your exercise regimen
- A description of your neighborhood
- Where you work, how log you’ve been there etc…
- Unusual family traditions
- Ages and signatures of all family members
- Nicknames for you or your family members
- Quotes from funny things said during the day
- Your favorite food
- Where you buy your groceries
- How much something that you bought today costs (eggs, milk, clothing, TV, cell phone bill etc…)
- A news story from today

I could on forever! You just need to be creative and remember that it does not have to be extraordinary, just a slice of your family’s life in this great world we live in. No matter what you write, you will love it 10… 15 … 30 years from now, I can promise you that.

Leave some of your ideas for others if you have them. Having 365 things to say may not be easy, but it is a fun challenge to have!

Cheers!
Rachel