Wunder-Mar

I may be late to the game with my comments ... but it seems people are talking about two separate things: a quilt journal and idea books. A quilt journal documents patterns and fabrics used in the quilt, its dimensions, costs, purpose, who had it/who has it now (provenance), who quilted it and how (hand/machine) etc., with photos (where possible), and in some cases it also documents a quilt that's been inherited, wherein the information is logged as it becomes available. An idea/inspiration book is a catch-all of illustrations, photos, doodlings, etc. for quilts we'd like to make or duplicate, in part or in whole, or "do a riff" on. (Guess which one is larger?????)

I have both electronic copies and hard copies of each, with one e-copy on my computer and another on a CD. The CD of my journal serves to augment my will in terms of who has what and who gets what. The documentation/journal of the quilts I inherited from my dad's family has their written appraisal embedded/included. Each quilt has a separate multiple-page PDF file (not easily editable). When a new quilt gets added to the journal, my daughters and sister get a revised CD. No need to mention here the heartbreak so many of us have experienced when a quilt of a loved one is taken by someone to whom it was not designated. Although my family doesn't work like that, I am taking no chances.