Pro tip: Bookmark this page as a remedy for those tough sleepless nights! If you're more of a picture book type of person, I've got your back. Scroll down for a quick, visual run-through.

01: Quilt pattern and color design. My handmade quilts are from patterns I've designed myself (you can get them here!) or designs I've purchased from a designer (noted on the product listing). From there, I play around with colors -- mixing solids and prints and placing colors together that catch my eye.

02: Materials. Materials cost money. Good, high-quality materials cost even more! (How about that.) Most of my quilt tops are fabrics from local shops and small businesses because they got the good stuff! I also use 100% cotton Aurifil thread for piecing and stitching.

03: Cut the pattern template and cut the fabrics. Many people pre-wash the fabric for good reasons but I’m on team wash-it-after-the-quilt-is-finished. Why do I wash after it's complete? Check out step 25.

03A: Did you say step 25? Oh, my friend, we’re just getting started!

04: Pin and sew two pieces of fabric together.

05: Press seams.

06: Repeat steps 4 and 5 dozens or hundreds of times, depending on the pattern! Netflix and podcasts come in really handy at this time.

07: Trim the fabric. Fabric, by nature, stretches and shifts. On the matching picture below, I trimmed all 250+ squares one by one.

08: Pin and sew one block with another block.

09: Press seams.

10: Repeat steps 8 and 9 several, dozens, or hundreds of times, depending on the pattern. (Are you still with me?)

11: Ta-da! All finished, right? Nope! Now it’s time to do the actual quilting! When my listing indicates long arm quilted, this means I sent it to a professional quilter. They have a special sewing machine, a long arm quilting machine that executes the actual quilting stitches (these are the very visible stitches that connect the 3 layers that make a quilt: top, batting, backing). If I send it to a long armer, I skip steps 14-19.

12: Trim all loose threads.

13: Piece the backing.

14: Tape the backing securely on a flat surface.

15: Place the batting and tape securely on the flat surface.

16: Place the quilt top on the top and make sure the surface is smooth.

17: Baste! This means, pin the 3 layers together every few inches apart. I typically use between 100-200 pins per throw-sized quilt. This is required so the layers don’t shift when it goes through the sewing machine. This is also the time when I whip out my trusty ice pack from the freezer for this back-unfriendly but necessary step.

18: NOW it’s time to quilt. Keep in mind that as it goes through my machine, I have to unpin all those pins!

19: For straight line quilting, repeat several or dozens or hundreds of times through the sewing machine.

20: Is it finally done? NOPE! It’s time to bind.

21: Cut the binding strips.

22: Sew the strips together, fold in half, and press seams open.

23: Machine bind the top.

24: Hand quilt or machine bind the back.

25: Machine wash in gentle cycle and tumble dry low. This ensures the fabric colors don’t bleed, that all stitches are intact. It's also a great way provide you with more accurate dimensions if the quilt is listed in my handmade quilt shop.

26: NOW IT’S FINISHED. If you made it this far, kudos to you. You’re my kind of person.