If you were designing a MS Word document for a quilt binder, what information would you include?

Quilt Name:
Designed by:
Date started:
Date finished:
Quilted by:
Block names:
Fabric: (collection or other name)
Purchased at:
List the fabrics, yardage and cost and a place to put swatches

Could also add shows it's in, if any. Who it is made for or given to.

What else would you include?

reason for making it -

was it for a gift? a show? an order? just because?

what worked well in the process

what didn't work so well

quilt size, block size

oh - the most important part - tips on how to make again.


i keep a list of the challenges/tips i encountered making a certain quilt that way when i go back to that technique i'm ahead of the game.

nothing to do with the quilt, but it might be interesting to look back on -

major events that took place while making that particular quilt -

examples: birth of a child, death of someone, 9/11, acquiring a kitten, getting married/divorced, etc

No way would I put the start date and finish date. THen everyone who ever saw it would know I am SLOW AS SNAILS!!!

When you complete your MS Doc Quilt Information Sheet would
you share it with all of us. I think this is a great idea and would like
to make one also.

Good thinking....

texasquilts

was it a quilt that you would make again - and why or why not

You all have such great ideas. I, too, wouldn't put the start and finish date. I don't want anyone to know how slow I am.

what kind of batting and thread you used

I'm not sure how you would account for stash fabrics that have been around for ages, or donations/gifts, or scraps.

If pattern is from a book, the name of the book, copyright date, name of the block/quilt, and page number.

Although I think most of us may start out from a pattern, but add our own touches/adaptations to it.

maybe the finish date

For dating quilts - if the fabric has been acquired over many years - is the most recent one the deciding factor?

was the quilt made in a class? Name of class, instructor.

And yes give credit to original artist if using a pattern such as New York Beauty, Stack n Whack etc.

The quilt may have historic value one day, so if you can, put a 'story' on it. The more the better.

It seems most of your designs are from EQ, lately. You could put a picture of the design in your document. Or even a photo of the finished quilt.

If quilted by someone else, their name or company name would be useful. Also any Pattern, Pantograph, E2E designs used in the quilting could be noted.

You HAVE to put the finish date, especially if it's your design, because wouldn't that confirm your copyright?

I can go with finish date, but not start date.

Definitely no beginning date. I keep 3 x 5 cards on the quilts I make and on it are the start date, quilt TOP date and finished date. Sometimes the start date and finished dates are YEARS apart!!! They became WIP and set aside!!! (obviously, huh?? :shock: ) On my cards, I also put a piece of each of the fabrics I used and how it was used, i.e, borders, binding, first color, etc. Should I run out of a color, I take the card with me to the store to either match it or find something similar. I file them, when the quilt is completed, in a recipe card holder!! The WIPs are in a different card holder!! lol Any other information I want, I can write on the back of the card. I also list the name of the quilt or blocks, who I gave it to or the reason for making it, the finished size and any tips/hints I discovered along the way to make it quicker or easier.

Did you include a photo? In these days of digital it's pretty easy to insert a pic into a Word doc. You also might like some closeups of details.

I would also include is if it's hand or machine quilted.

And, would you make this quilt again? Yes _____ H*&^ No ______

If it's a gift, who you made it for
The event it was made for (wedding, baby with appropriate date)
Size of block, sashing, borders and quilt
Hand or machine quilted - I usually include that on the label, too
Whose design? If it's your own design, say so, eg 'using EQ6 with xyz blocks"

I keep mine in a scrapbook with a picture of the completed quilt and thank you note (if it was a gift) from giftee

KWhite - I was also going to say NO to start/end date - the paper it was written on would probably be brittle by the time I finished.

Good info though - thanks for the idea. I have pix of blocks and topos and other finshed things in a photo album, but not much other info.

Maybe location, especially if you end up moving around.

What type of thread for the quilting?

If you made it with someone else, record that.

It's all about details, no matter how minor it may seem. You can't over document imo, however it'll be what you want to include on your record of each quilt.

Ok... no start date seems to be the choice for most. I think I would want to know, and maybe someone in the future would too. "Wow, look at this one! GGGrandma spent 3 years on this one!" :lol:

All great suggestions and I'm working on it. Been browsing border and edge designs, format styles, etc. I'm at work though and all the thiings I find online at MS are for Word 2007. I have that at home but not at work.

I would add a digital picture and an export of the final design from EQ6 if that was used. I added a box for fabric swatches and a framed box for Inspiration and other notes.

So when are these going to be available please?

I like the idea of documenting where all it was worked on. The thought of future generations reading that great great grandma worked on this at home, while camping, took it to her grandma's while on vacation 3 states away, and it moved with her across the USA, just adds more history to the quilt. I like the idea of a youngin' cuddled up in my quilt thinking about me and the whole journey/history of their quilt from start to finish...maybe even some blank spots to have others write down when they received it and who it went to after them, keeping the record going like you would a family bible.

The quilt exhibition I went to in Holland a while back displayed some quilt journals from the 19th C - they included little stamp size swatches of the fabrics used. It was amazing to see that swatch, protected by being in the pages of a book, alongside the quilt which had been out in the light, washed and used! The colours were as fresh as the day they were printed! But maybe our modern fabrics won't fade as much - only time will tell!

Obviously, the entries were hand written - that was beautiful to see as well - although I couldn't read them because they were in Dutch!

with a family heirloom...and document being read by future generations quilter,...I know I would relish ANY information, down to, what may seem like trivial information...links to the past.
And that includes HOW LONG IT TOOK :roll: , I would want to know that if it was a slow process, that meant the original quilter was quite dedicated to getting it finished.
I love the idea about current events being added, while it was being made. I too, like to record stumbling blocks I had, and ways I overcame them, for next time.
Some notes about what the quilter was feeling/thinking about this quilt, while making it...their musings, what music they listened to while sewing...I love all that. :D

yes, true to form, if I do this kind of thing, and I just might...mine would be more like a small book about the quilt :lol:
(but who among us, wouldn't love to get something like that, along with a quilt/gift?)

I would love to know EVERYTHING I could about a couple of quilts of my grandmother's and great-grandmother's that I have.

You can do it in any way but I think that the form will help me. I went back to the beginning of this year and printed all of the online receipts for fabric and other purchases. I'll have to go through them and sort them into which quilt. I brought a binder home from work yesterday (always emails going out for people to take some), has a bunch of dividers though I threw out the old contents.

I didn't work on the form last night but I definately will this weekend. I'll put in all the suggestions and you can take out, or change headings, to what is important to you. I can run it by my oldest daughter since she is more into graphic design and might have a better eye for a document than I do.

I know I would! :wink: :D

My goal is to leave each of my kids and grands (atleast) a wonderful quilt to hang onto. They are getting throw arounds now, as I practice on different patterns. But the "keepers" I would love to give them a mini book along with their quilts. I like the idea of keeping a notebook close by and writing down what I am thinking, especially about each individual, as I am making their quilts. Maybe it would be more like diary entries in my case... You all have given me a lot to think about in this area!!!! :D :D :D

These are all wonderful suggestions. But for someone who has yet to put even a label on my quilts it all sounds a little daunting. But then I've never been one for keeping up journals. However, in thinking about a quilt my grandmother made obviously from old coats, it would be kind of fun to know where she got the fabric, whose coats were these.

I think the absolute minimum that a quilt deserves is:

the makers' name, location, and year completed - somewhere on the quilt

I always hand embroider my initials and year on the back - hadn't thought about location though - guess I should as I've moved a fair bit in my life and probably not done moving yet!

that's so if someone wanted to research it, they'd have a chance at finding out something.

Hard to imagine anyone being that interested in my stuff when I'm gone - probably end up in a thrift store! But that's probably what our foremothers thought so, ya never know! :D

who knows?

I know so little of my family history - my parents were divorced when I was a baby - and my mom didn't talk about anyone - and my Grandma B would talk about the 18th cousin twice removd three marriages away - so I just kind of tuned her out - wish I'd paid better attention now-

My Grandma B made some great utility quilts - I'm only now starting to appreciate them.

Yeah, I wish I'd had a tape recorder running when my Gran was talking too. Too late now...

I have been told that I put my life story on mine, but I want someone 100 years from now to know who, and when, etc. I sometimes even put why I used a certain fabric.

I think we're starting to mix up what Pam was talking about - Quilt Journal - and the Label on the back of the quilt. I agree with Bearisgray about the absolute minimum for the label. For the LABEL, I usually include My name for the quilt, who I made it for, the event (wedding, baby usually), and 'machine pieced and quilted by [my name, city, state]' and the year.

i think date when completed, where, for whom, relationship to that person,
occasion, your name and age (sorry about that, i think it's important), so it would look something like this:

made by butterflywing, age 66, for her daughter, sondra flite, age 46, and her husband, michael, on the occasion of their new home ( 45th birthday, etc.) in 2009, in the city of birdsong, chickadee.

this way, there is a real family history that gets handed down with the quilt. you know what my name was, who my daughter was, where we lived, our ages in what year (you can figure out our birth years) and you know that she bought a new home that year. if you're interested, you can know that there were no children. also, if other quilts follow, there is a continuation of the history of that family.