Books, Books, and More Books
 

I am looking for a good way to organize my ever growing quilt books. What I have so far are all of the Eleanor Burns, Georgia Boonsteel, Thimbleberries, Charlene Jorgensen grouped together.

But do I want to put the rest in order by author or publisher or by catagory and what happens when they fall between 2 or more catagories.

And maybe I'm just trying to organize myself way too much. What's your suggestion?

I have mine in alphabetical order by title. It's easy to make sure I'm not buying a duplicate that way. I also have them listed in a Microsoft Word document so I can do a key word search if needed.

Good question. I have my Christmas ones grouped together, baby/children together. I have my fabric dying together. The books that are sampler type or a variety of blocks are all together...just kind of general. Then my brain kind of groups others together like the old Leisure Arts books as well as kinds like the Brandywine Designs types. They are in a cabinet...and who cares if I have to go through and look at the spines or covers of many books to find the right one. I love doing that. Important thing, I think, is to keep the books with the obvious themes grouped together...obvious themes being christmas, baby/kids, etc. Works well for me. If I am in a hurry and want to make sure a book is in the cabinet, I lay it flat until I get a chance to put it where I want it. Mostly it is up in my brain where I want things. I am a slob about most things house work wise but I like to have my books organized and my fabric folded!

Thanks for the idea. I did that just yesterday, purchased a duplicate book, that's what got me started on how to organize.

Thank you for helping me decide where to go from here. I liked your grouping ideas and laying some flat when unsure of where to be filed. Thanks.

That's a good idea of the list. I should have thought of it sooner 'cause that's what I did my CD's.

I have mine by topic, machine quilting, applique, finishing , general quilting, traditional, paper piecing, other non quilt related sewing books

That's what I used to do. It worked well for me. If you want to put them by categories decide on two or three and then alphabetize within. If you like to quilt by pattern, then by author works well. Good that you have them in Word so you can find them quickly, but as your collection grows, it might become more tedious to keep entering. Excel is often a better way to organize a growing list that you might want to sort often.

Love your avatar!!!!!

I need to do this myself.