It does sound like a great idea. Mine would be too heavy to carry though.

I'm currently reading a book about the history of quilting (well actually, I'm reading two but I can't remember which one it's in- If you want to know I'll go back and check) and it has a section in there about fabric diarys that ladies used to keep.

Thy would have samples of their fabric and would write what they thought of them/planned to do with them/had done with them.

The book in question even showed some pictures of these antique books. I fell in love with them I must say!

that's a GREAT idea!!! Thanks

I can't imagine doing that!
It would drive me crazy!
and with as much fabric as I buy and cut in a week , it would be gone before I got it cataloged!

Maybe saving a piece of each for a charm quilt.

I have a hard enough time just doing that with the quilts I'm currently working on. Even then the only time I do it is if I'm making a couple with the same pattern and different fabrics. Or if I'm doing it differently than the directions.

I am doing something like this. They lady who taught my sewing class stated that she wished that she had done it, so I thought that I would. All I am doing is taking a picture of the completed the quilt, pattern, month/year completed, who it went to, what type of quilting, (in the ditch, free motion, etc.) Then I an gluing a swatch of all the fabric used on the quilt. I am very glad to have it.

I use a small business card album to organize current project samples...it's only 8" x4", and isn't very thick, so it slides easily into my bag. It holds almost 40 swatches in clear plastic pockets. I have also discovered baseball card collector's pages. They fit into a 3-ring binder, and usually, I allot a "page" per project. I have a few pages, (same size) that are used to hold photo slides...the pockets are a bit smaller, but are the perfect size for snipets of solid colors!

I have some fabrics that were given to my by friends, etc where a square was cut out but I do not do that with mine. If I am buying for a specific project I always buy just a bit more in case I make a mistake. If there is any left over I might cut it into squares or whatever to use for a scrap quilt down the road but I just don't see the need to have a sample of every fabric I own. What's the purpose? I'm not making heirloom quilts -- mine are to be used and loved and if they wear out, I'll make something new. The only time I've had any issues is if I absolutely love a fabric and need to hunt some down via missingfabrics.com or here. I'm busy enough just making quilts that I want to make. Cataloging everything takes up too much of my valuable time and space that could be used for patterns, books or more fabric.

I only do it when I'm heading to a LQS for a current project and need to add coordinating fabric.

I got the idea from an old dollmaker's fabric journal. If you were reproducing items for sale, keeping a fabric journal was handy.