Why Quilt Documentation is Important

Pardon me for a second while I climb up on my quilty soapbox one more time…

Quilt documentation…quilt journals…quilt labels are topics I have written about many times since 2010.  Every so often an event, a quilt, or a picture of one of my foremothers sitting in front of a quilt on Ancestry.com will set me off again, wondering why the quilt at least didn’t have a label.  It makes me sad, it makes me wonder, but above all, it makes me just a wee bit angry.  Quilt documentation – accurate documentation – is so important not just to quilting history, but also to women’s history itself. 

The study of women’s history did not begin in America until the 1970’s.  Until roughly the 1920’s, with few exceptions, a good chunk of what we know about women came through their work in textiles – quilts, clothing, household linens.  However, we have so little documentation on these items.  There are some diaries, household inventories, and letters, but overall there is serious lack of documentation on any of it. Which makes people like me – who invest a good portion of their quilting research time in history – just a tad irritated.  But what’s even worse is today’s quilters, as a whole, still see little need for documenting their work. 

And a part of me gets it.  I do.  Documentation is one more step in the quilting process.  When we’re finally in our studios and we have a couple of hours to sew, the last thing we want to do is write down thoughts, inspirations, or the reasons behind us doing what we do.  However, let’s “second think” this process.  By definition, the word documentation means “material that provides official information or evidence or that serves as a record.”  The evidence of our quilting is the quilts themselves.  But the information behind those quilts lives in our heads and our heads only until we decide to share those facts with others.  Documentation preserves the historical and cultural significance of quilts, which act as valuable records in our lives as women (and men, too).  Documentation provides the context of artistic expression and social history.  It ensures the stories behind these quilts are not lost, allowing future generations to understand the context, techniques, and personal narratives woven into each quilt.

Here’s why quilt documentation is particularly valuable:

• The Historical Record

Quilts aren’t just decorative items.  They are more than just something to keep us warm at night.  Quilts themselves are just as important historical document as declarations, decrees, and treaties.  Quilt documentation captures details about the quilt’s creation, the maker, and the era in which it was made, providing insights into women’s history, cultural practices and artistic expression.

• Preserving Legacy

Documenting quilts ensures the stories behind them are preserved for future generations.  These stories might include the maker’s personal experiences, family history, or the purpose for which the quilt was made.  Quilts are often family heirlooms, and documenting them helps preserve the stories and memories associated with them, ensuring they are passed down with context and not conjecture. 

• Understanding Women’s History

Quilts offer a unique perspective on women’s history, as they were often a primary form of artistic expression and a way for women to connect with their communities.  Documentation can reveal the diversity of quiltmakers, their ethnicities, races, and social classes, providing a more complete picture of women’s roles in society.

• Prevents Anonymous Quilts

All of my antique quilts – except one – has absolutely nothing about the maker on the quilt.  No names, no dates, no locations.  While I can love and admire these quilts for years, I will probably never know who the creator was nor why she made that quilt.  And that’s just a tad heartbreaking.  So many quilts are made without detailed information about their origin, making them “anonymous.”  Documentation helps reduce the number of anonymous quilts by capturing the stories and details of their creation, ensuring that these quilts are not forgotten.

• Promotes Appreciation

How will the future generations of folks ever even care about quilting if there’s no historical data telling why quilting was and is important?  How will they know the value of meditatively pulling thread and needle through fabric or enjoying the company of other quilters if there’s no evidence of it?  Documenting quilts can enhance appreciation for the artistry, craftsmanship, and cultural significance of these textiles as well as inspire new generations of quilters and researchers to explore the rich history of quilt making.

Those are the reasons why quilt documentation is valuable.  Hopefully the reasons are eye-popping enough that you want to begin to take steps in documenting your quilts.  However, I also want to be perfectly frank with you at this point: I don’t document all of my quilts.  I have a chest full of seasonal table toppers, small quilts, and door quilts which I have not put one word into documenting.  As a matter of fact, they don’t even have a label.  Why?  Because I use them throughout the years and at some point, I’m sure they’ll be “used up” and tossed.  While I love these quilts – they do bring a great deal of color and joy to my home – I haven’t documented any of them except for the few times I’ve mentioned them in my blog.  But there are some quilts in every quilter’s life, which deserve documentation.  Those quilts that are heirlooms.  Those quilts whose creative process kept you sane through a particularly stormy period in your life.  Those quilts made for special occasions, special days, or for special people.  All of those deserve documentation.  Why?  It all goes back to the first paragraph of this blog: Preserving history.  Those special quilts are often family heirlooms and documenting them helps preserve the stories and memories associated with them, ensuring they’re passed down in context. 

Documentation can also help you keep track of where your quilts are and who now owns them.  If you’re a prolific quilt maker, you may have promised certain quilts to certain people and having a paper trail of those promises can help you keep everything straight.  Documentation also allows you to record materials, size, construction, and any special features or patterns.  This type of information provides valuable insights for future quilters and historians.  When I make a really special quilt – such as an heirloom one for the grand darlings – I keep the pattern, sales receipts for fabric and notions, and any sketches in a notebook for their future use.  I think this type of information will be interesting for them in the future and will help keep the quilt in historical context if they decide to sell it.  Which brings me to my next point, documenting your quilts can serve as a source of information and inspiration for future generations who may be interested in your craft, family history, or specific quilt.  As I continue to plow through research on my maternal side of my family, I am struck by how many of the women were quilters and were often photographed with their quilts. 

I would love to know the history of these quilts and their makers, but there’s nothing out there on the internet.  Imagine how grateful your family will be if they have access to the details about your quilts.  This would not only give them a better understanding of your quilts, but also a better understanding of you.  As you share your personal stories, your inspiration, and your memories related to each quilt, you add layers of meaning and connections to your work.

We’ve discussed the ways documenting your quilts may help your family and future generations of quilt historians and quilters, but it also could benefit you.  Documentation is often required for quilt shows and exhibitions.  Having a fairly detailed record of your quilts can be very helpful.  This information will tell you when a quilt was begun and when it was finished, how large the quilt is (without having to take the time to re-measure it), the name of the quilt, any pattern used, and who did the quilting (if it wasn’t you).

Since we’ve discussed documentation in detail – why it’s important and how it’s helpful – let’s talk about what exactly should be in the information.  I’m not necessarily talking about pages and pages of notes and details, but it is helpful to have a few pictures of the quilt, the name of the quilt, the dimensions, any pattern used either directly or for inspiration, the date the quilt was started and the date finished, who the quilt is for, the occasion the quilt was made, the city and state the quilt was made in, and who quilted the quilt.  So this isn’t a ton of information and it’s not going to take you hours and hours to record.  Some quilters keep this information in a Word document and save it to the Cloud, some quilters keep physical journals of their quilts and the information.  Some quilters have discovered Quilt Alliance.  Quilt Alliance is a website (https://quiltalliance.org/) and they specialize in assisting you in your quilt documentation, either written or in video format.  I would encourage you to check them out.  They do make it super easy for you.

Lastly…let’s talk quilt labels.  I must admit, for quite a number of years, I was pretty naïve about them.  This was because my early quilt teachers emphasized that quilt labels were just as much a part of the quilting process as the binding and the piecing.  Your quilt wasn’t finished until a label was attached.  It wasn’t until I began quilting with other quilt groups that I found out this quilt-label-sentiment did not sit well with all quilters.  Some quilters labeled each and every quilt.  Some quilters only labeled significant quilts, and other quilters eschewed labels all together.  Personally, I still believe they are very important, if only for the fact that if your quilt got lost, if it had a label, it could find its way home faster than if it had no label.  But do I still label every quilt?

No.

See the above paragraphs about door quilts, small quilts, and table toppers.  Unless I give these quilts as gifts, they do not have a label.

However, I still believe a quilt label is the least you can do as far as quilt documentation goes, and labels really don’t take a long time to make.  I make my label when I cut out my quilt.  I’ve found if the label is in with all the quilt pieces, it’s really no trouble to sew it on.  However, if I had to stop and make a label after the quilt was complete … well, it might not get done. 

My labels aren’t super big, but they do contain enough information for quilt historians to have a successful search if they want to.  My labels have the following information:

Name of the Quilt

My name and if I pieced, appliqued, and quilted it.

If I did not quilt it, I have “Quilted By” on the third line

City and state I was in when I made the quilt

Quilt pattern used or the one which inspired the quilt (if any).  If there is none, I add that I designed the quilt on the second line.

The date the quilt was started and the date it was finished.

One esoteric fact – such as the price of a gallon of gas or a loaf of bread on the date the quilt was finished. 

I use computer generated labels.  For me this is the easiest and fastest way to make a label.  I use a word processing program and can drop clip art or pictures into the label if I want to.  Most of the time I add the date started and finished with a Pigma pen, because while I certainly know the date I began the quilt when I make the label, it’s anybody’s guess when the quilt will be complete. 

Until recently – within the last few years – I always included the label as part of the binding process.  I would sew on the binding and then add the label.  However, over the past several years there has been an increase in quilt thefts, both at shows and from luggage.  A hand-sewn on label is pretty easy to dispose of and if the label is the only truly piece of evidence identifying your possession of the quilt, you could lose your quilt for good.  I now applique the label to the quilt backing and quilt through it in the quilting process.  That label is on good and tight, and I don’t think anyone will go through the trouble of removing it.

I hope this blog has given you pause to think about how important quilt documentation is.  While you don’t have to document or label every quilt you make, I hope you make sure the important quilts in your life do have some kind of information attached to them.  You may not consider your quilt very important or even noteworthy, but that doesn’t mean future generations of quilts and quilt historians won’t. 

Until next week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix.