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!