I use a fat book spiral type. It gives me lines for making notes, it also gives me room to put a picture on the page across from my notes (this way when looking in the book, I can look at pictures to find the one I'm looking for - don't always remember the names, but remember what they look like). This also gives me a page to put samples of fabric along with the amounts of fabric and all of the dimensions too (you never know when you might want that size again). Also any special notes (ie: tweaks to the pattern, special problems and how I fixed or over came them, short cuts, how I felt when finished - do again, don't do again, needs different backing, etc....) My first journals used to have a fat 1/4 of each fabric I used (just in case), now I just make sure to put a sample of fabric with all the info of the fabric (just in case). I also try to keep the amount I paid for the items in the info too (just because I like to see how much I'm SAVING - this is what I tell my husband - lol). Some of my quilts have layout that I have drawn up, it just depends. I have also looked back in some of my journals to find extra notes (ie: who I was making it for, if it was for a fundraiser - and how much it brought in, if it was a donations - what group it was donated to (I've also made notes to donate more to some groups and never again to others). This is a lot of information, but it's info I want. Your journal can be VERY detailed heavy, it can have a few notes and nothing more or anything in between with pictures, etc... This journal is like any other journal, personal for you and how you want to use it.