quiltlonger

I have 1000's of magazines (mostly old ones) and at least that many quilt books in all categories --applique, scraps, samplers,miniatures,ect.ect. PLUS sets of books that came as a series. Question- How to put them so I can find them? At the moment are all boxed, but need idea how to put them Our library said by Author or publisher but that doesn't seem to work Have quilt magazines in order,in binders But refusing to buy more till can find what I already have. One problem is each author seems to call her pattern something else when is the same as X, Y and Z's Plus they put lots of different patterns in one book Driving me to ... crazy quilt- got those books too :idea: please

donnajean

I'm a retired librarian. When my sister lost her battle with colon cancer in 2001, she had over 2500 quilt books. The 1st thing I did was put them in order "alphabetically" by "title". That's the easiest way to find a particular book. Don't count "A", or "The" if it's the 1st word of title. Having books in order also helps eliminate purchasing duplicates. I then made a computer list with the basics - author, title, publisher, & copyright date. Once you have a computer list, you can easily find books by a particular author by doing a key word seardh in the document.

quiltlonger

Sorry for your loss. Did you use a special computer program to put them in order or try to arrange them then type in computer. I'm a two finger typer so even this takes me a while. Thanks might start out on paper seeing books downstairs and computer upstairs but could open one box at a time and start my list.

donnajean

Thank you for your kind words. If you were a bit closer I would come help you. I've been typing since high school & am now 67. Most computers come with a "Word" or similar word processing program. Do you have someone who can type for you? It helps to have the books in order before you start, but you don't have to. For some of my list, I had someone reading the information from the book to me as I typed the list. When you add a title to your list, you can "insert" it into the correct alphabetical place in the list.

hobo2000

I scanned the cover of my books, then printed 2 up per page. I had enough room to print in "highlights" of each book then put into a binder in alpha order. Works great for me.

pab58

I've done this with my trade books and non-fiction books, but I used Microsoft Excel. Then I can sort them by title, author, publisher, copyright, or genre. It's very easy to do, and is a tremendous help! :thumbup: I agree to put the quilt books on the shelves in alphabetical order -- at least to start. You can then arrange them according to type of book. For example, applique, scrap quilts, etc. :wink:

quiltinghere

I like the idea of a list - but ...

I would also keep them together by author. That way if you're looking for a Bonnie Hunter quilt you could check 'her section' and not have to remember the name of the book.

If you knew the name of the book, the list verify whether you had it or not and would help find on the shelf.

Good luck!

2livesdown7togo

I agree with scanning - book cover, inside page (date, ISBN number, etc) and then table of contents. Each set of scanned pages is stored in an electronic file with the title (or magazine name and edition) to make up the "index" and keep each file in a computer folder.

That makes it easier to search for what you need one day when you are thinking "Which book had that really cute rug mat?"

I need to do this too, have quilt and knitting books and magazines. I no longer buy them but I continue to be inspired by the ones I have.

quiltlonger

I like the idea of scanning the covers; because sometimes that helps me remember what quilts are inside. Maybe santa's helper will be less busy in new year to help me. And bring me better computer program. :)

misseva

i vote for typing them into excel - i did that with my embroidery thread i have over 300 skeins. i listed each thread by number - name on thread and by color family. then i printed out a list by number, actual name and color family. if you put them in excel you don't have to have them in order to start with - just start typing then do a sort and there you have it.