Record keeping for what you make.
 

Does anyone have a favorite printable page to record the specific information on each quilt you complete? Somewhere recently I saw a page that had some small squares at the bottom for attaching snippets of the fabrics used. Now I can't find that.

I'm getting to the age where I'm not remembering things well. So writing it down is the logical step.

I'd like to know:

1. The pattern, where did I get it? $
2. The fabrics, where did I get them? $
3. How difficult was it? Did it become a UFO for a time?
4. Who quilted it? What was the backing? What was the batting? $
5. Disposition of the finished product. Was it sold or gifted $


What other information do you think is necessary?

I know that a lot of people do keep a "journal" of quilts they're making or have make, along with pics, but I'm not one of them, if I get a pic, I consider myself lucky. LOL

There is sure to be a program out there and probably someone on here will share the site with you, I just don't know where it is. That said, I did type up my own information sheet, saved it and can fill in the blanks as needed, then print it off and place it in a sheet protector along with a picture of the quilt. Then the sheet protector goes into a 3 right binder.

I keep one of some sort but not always the same information about each quilt. For machine embroidery, I keep a list of thread colors used for each design. I do have a sheet that has spaces for fabrics too.

There are many ideas out on the net. The ones I liked the best aren't free though. A suggestion is to make a sheet that has the info you want to record.

Me, too! I do record keeping all day at the office. I'm not doing it for my hobby!

I've been quilting since 1979. In the beginning I kept a journal but never looked back on it. There was always a new quilt in my head that I wanted to try. Now I take a photograph of every quilt or project that I do and I keep them in a photo album. It's fun to look back on it from time to time.

I use a Word document - one page per project. I standardized a table for the top of each page for information that I wanted to track for each quilt. The rest of the page is blank, so I can insert comments and pictures. I do include lessons learned and things that I would do differently. I am thinking that I might expand to 2 pages per quilt as it is hard to pare down the information to one page.

As a relatively new quilter, I started my log, to track my projects and was surprised to discover the real number of UFOs and how few completes I had. So far, my journal/log exists online but I am hoping to maintain a physical journal with my completes. I love reading through my comments and thoughts about each quilt. It allows me to be proud of my accomplishments and oops.

I have a notebook next to the machine.
About all that I record are the settings, foot used, thread, etc. when I am machine quilting.
They're good references when I start with another project, as a starting point,
and avoid some of the frustrations in getting started at it.

Otherwise, I couldn't be so organized to have a detailed journal. :D

I take pictures of my quilts when finished, and in progress. I also have a list of the quilts, when they were finished, who I gave them to, how big they are, what I named them, and whether or not they have a label. I enjoy keeping this and going back over it brings me memories.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. This entire journey was initiated by trying to find a snippet of a fabric that I'd like to locate again. But I do need to write down some of these things.

Then my worry free for 4 years phone decided to have a melt down over the weekend. It literally got really hot then quit. Have brand new pink phone Samsung S-10-e. I'm thankful it did not start a fire.

You could make a basic document using Word or Excel or another program and add to it as you go

I don't keep a formal record of all the details, but I post pictures on my blog with a brief description and who the recipient was. What I often wish I had kept is a better record of the fabrics, including information off of the selvage edge and the sku number from the receipt. I so often want more of the fabric for one reason or another.

I keep a journal, but not all the details, I have alot of pictures saved to print out and add to it.

I used to keep a record but then just lost interest. Sent too many away failing to take a picture first. Tried to ask people to send me pictures with the baby or who ever it was, but it rarely happened. I have started keeping track of quilts I make without a pattern. Since I have written it out, decided I might as well keep the notes. That way I don't need to recreate the wheel if I want to make it again in a different color.

After choosing all the fabric for a pattern, cut a 2" square of each fabric.

Get one or two sheets of copy/ looseleaf paper.

Lay the first swatch on the top left side of the paper and sew it to the paper with a basting stitch.

Place the next one below the first and continue sewing each swatch in a column down the left side of the paper.

Write any information you want next to each swatch. The fabric info from the selvage, how much you need, where it goes in the pattern like background or star points or part A, B, C, etc., and how many pieces to cut.

Great suggestion!

Agreed, great suggestion to sew them onto a paper. Beats the dreaded staples, pins and losing the sample.

Interesting reading the commentary. What you do about record keeping is such a personal matter! I think you could just make up an information sheet of things about the quilt that you feel you might want to know in the future, copy it and keep one for each quilt in a notebook or your computer.

I give most of my quilts away, and have a poor memory, so I decided to keep a scrapbook of my quilts, so I could remember them or share with an interested other quilter. I include pics and notes about the process, unusual problems or interesting discoveries-whatever sticks out in my mind about the quilt, such as what I named it, a pic of the label, samples of the fabrics, names and pics (if possible) of recipients, thanks yous, etc. I am not too technical, so I don't feel the need to give that kind of detail, unless something unusual is involved. I do enjoy reviewing my pics once in a while, when I am ready to remember and re-enjoy my work.

I take a pic, post it in word and then write all the info under it (including date and who got it - whether it was gift or sold). I have it on the cloud but also copied onto a flash drive that I can take with me for reference.

I did enough office work keeping track of records too - haven't done any quilt record keeping.

I have a list of quilts I made before 2013, I think. Did it in Excel. Since I donate most quilts now I don't keep a pic or put on a list.

Here is a link to a form that the Lost Quilt Come Home website suggests. http://lostquilt.com/qd.pdf
It is very thorough documentation, including places for photos and fabric samples.

They say to feel free to make copies of it and distribute it freely.

I have just started documenting my quilts because I wanted a way to track show quilts and then decided I'd also like to track the quilts that I make to give to family and friends as well. I did a streamlined version of the Quiltmaker's documentation. Just the information that I couldn't get by looking at the quilt (like batting used, current location of quilt, appraised yes or no, etc.). I did one page for each quilt that is still in my possession. Quilts that have been gifted did not get a page as I don't have enough info on the ones that I remembered to do much more than list them and who they were given to.

Rob

that is quite the comprehensive form. thanks for sharing

I almost always take pictures of the front and back and maybe a close-up of the quilting, but that's as far as I get with documenting what I've done. When I save the picture I give it a name that is descriptive, usually the pattern name. I make sure the time/date on the phone/camera is correct so that when I look at the picture properties I can figure out when the quilt was made. I'm not prolific enough to have trouble remembering what I did with them - LOL!

I love the idea of keeping a record but I've never gotten around to actually doing it. I remember when I first started my quilting journey I couldn't wait to document everything. Never happened!!!

I like this idea. I have kinda been using the QB as my info repository, but think I may have to do something local. This would keep it in my computer and I could back up to the cloud also.

Thank you for sharing the Quilt Documentation form. I saved it for later use

I take a picture of front and then fold the back down to show it. What a great idea to say who I gave them to. I give 99% of my quilts away.

Some really good ideas shared. I have a notebook, each page is a quilt, including picture, pattern name, date completed, and who I gifted it to. But, I do keep a journal my SIL made me to keep track of specific things, such as specific stitch measurements for different things...such applique stitches etc. or product names etc. Anytime a I find a technique shared, I write it down or print out the page and stick it in book to try. My SIL helped me journal quilting basics when I first started quilting like binding technique or squaring up a quilt...stuff like that. I needed that at first but now it's ingrained. Lol..

I too keep an electronic diary. I’ve created a folder called Quilting Journal in the Notes app on my iPad. Whenever I start a new project I create a new note. It’s easy to insert photos and when I’m finished the quilt I place a photo of it near the top of the file. Then when I go to my folder I see a listing of all my quilts with a photo. UFOs and WIPs are easily identified because there isn’t a photo yet and I document what is still left to do.
I wanted a simple process so that I would use it consistently.
This is what it looks like:

I am one of those that keeps a record of everything I make. I designed an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet with the information that I thought I would want to know/refer to later. I take pictures of all my quilts and put them with my sheet of information. I make a label for every quilt/project. If there are special things are instructions about the quilt, I include that on the label also. Each project is numbered. All of my information sheets with their pictures are in protective covers and placed in 3-ring binders. I include fabric samples with some of my project information. My binders are labeled beginning with 1 and the dates of the projects in that notebook are included on the notebook label. I include all my notes and any designs I drew or sketched with every project- usually on graph paper. I think I'm up to projects number 66, 67, and 68 and binder number 9. I started quilting in January 2010 and have never stopped. I know this sounds crazy and seems like a lot of work, but for me it helps me keep my projects organized in my head and helps me with my future UFO's. It sure does set ongoing goals and future projects. If I make a quilt for someone in particular, I write a "story" about the project and give it to them along with the quilt (and of course, I keep a copy...lol) All of this sounds like a lot, but it really isn't when you consider you're only working on one or two or three at a time..... This may be what happens when you were an Executive Specialist and you had to constantly document, document, document and keep up with about 10 or 15 execs and 20-25 Supervisors. Whew - glad I'm retired. Sorry for the long note, but my reasoning took some explaining......thanks for your patience in reading my book.

The plastic sheet protectors come in various qualities - read the descriptions carefully before purchasing.

Like others I take a photo. I have an ‘album on my iPad and save a photo of the front and back. When I started doing this I used to add measurements too but seem to have got out of the habit.

It’s a useful way to record patterns.

If I would have had enough sense to keep records - this is probably the way I would have done it.

One can always ignore the information that is not relevant - but it is difficult to capture it after it "got away".

I think the "this is where I had a problem and what I did about it" would be very helpful/useful in the future.

I was given an excel sheet for keeping up with progress on quilts; start date , fabric cut, blocks made, etc., to quilt completed date. I added quilting info like pattern, thread and a pic. Since I received this I have changed computers and I have a different program(Libre Office instead of word) which I don't know(I don't know excel either, but it was set up for quilts). One thing the excel was set to do was give a percent complete, but it only went to 69 items and it did not transfer to the new computer well. I played with libre until I could set up a spread sheet similar to the excel but I don't know how to get the percent complete. It was automatically calculated in excel when a date was put into the 'quilt finished' cell and showed up at the bottom of the page as percent completed.
If anyone is familiar with libre, I would appreciate any help, please! I find that I actually enjoy keeping this record and felt a sense of accomplishment when I could check off a function and especially when I saw the percentage change.

I think if one keeps records - a paper copy is a good idea -

I keep a quilt journal--tend to always need to catch up--put name of design, pattern designer, note on how long it took, why I made it, and attach a picture--and I also add which child inherits it or who I gave it to.

The only recording I do is taking photos of the quilt. Since I do robotics, I will keep the layout page I print out and sometimes it will have the size of my blocks, sashings, borders on it too. If I designed the quilt using EQ8, then I'll have that saved as well. All my quilts are gifts to others so I don't bother keeping record where I got the fabrics and I quilt it myself so no problem remembering that either. I do like to go back from time to time to look at the photos, review the quilting layout as I might want to use the same patterns and since I keep the computer file on it too I can go back to see where to find the patterns.

This is a great idea! I have an album in my photos but the notes app is better for adding info as you have done. And with iCloud, it will be linked to the notes app on all my other apple devices and MacBook. A no brainer! :thumbup:

I keep a journal of each quilt with some details of how it was made, and who it was made for. There were a few pages in the beginning as I would write about what was happening in my life at the time, but those pages have gotten fewer and fewer, now it is all about the quilt with less details.