I’ve been actively sewing quilts since about 1996. From the beginning I’ve archived information on every quilt I’ve made. And I can’t believe how many times I’ve gone back to check on some detail about a finished quilt.
I use big notebook binders, and inside the binders I use plastic sleeves that will hold my quilt information and that open on the top only. The pictures below are from volume 4.
What do I record? EVERYTHING about a quilt I might need to know down the road. Always, I include pictures, the number of the quilt in the completion lineup, the completion date, the patterns involved (sewing, quilting), the size, the backing fabric, information on the front fabrics if needed, to whom I gave the quilt or why I’ve kept it (quilts saved for grandchildren), thank you cards or pics sent to me by recipients, and so on.
Below, the left page is more information about the quilt on the front side of that sleeve, and the right side is the first info for that particular quilt. On the left you can see there is a thank you note included. You can see each quilt has a page where I take notes as I work on the quilt.
On the left below you can see I included the pattern for the quilt on the front side. On the right side you can see the backing of that particular quilt.
Another set of pages:
The back side of the right page above:
In the book I reserve pages for quilts under construction–so I keep all the numbers in correct order for when I create a quilt’s label.
I hope this post encourages the quilters who read this blog to start archiving your own quilt work and/or other sewing projects. YOUR work is important.
Louisa Enright's Blog 