1. I would like to use an image or other content from the Quilt Index. Do I need to have permission to do so?
Yes. Contributors to the Quilt Index retain copyright to their contributions of data (both text and images), and agree to permanently license these contributions to the Quilt Index to display on the website for educational purposes. If you wish to obtain permission to use any Quilt Index content in any other way, please contact the contributing institution/collection or donald20@msu.edu

2. How can our quilt documentation project or quilt collection become a part of the Quilt Index?
Application materials to join the Quilt Index can be found here: 
Introduction Letter
Application Form
Work Plan
The power of the Quilt Index is in providing access both to quilt documentation projects and to groups of documentations where the data is linked and can be searched and cross-referenced with data from all of the quilts in the Index. The Quilt Index is most useful to you and everyone when it has as much quilt data as possible. Building and testing a useable site is complicated and costly; putting your data in The Quilt Index means you won't need to unnecessarily replicate R&D costs. Finally, the Quilt Index is built upon a repository and is housed at a major research university with high-level, redundant data back-up and preservation measures and an experienced, professional staff. Thus the Quilt Index can serve to preserve and protect the hard-earned quilt documentation information for years to come. If you have questions, please contact Beth Donaldson at donald20@msu.edu.

3. Our quilt documentation project has not yet created a documentation form. Is there a model we could follow?
Yes, we created a documentation form based on forms used by state documentation projects launched in the 1980s and 1990s, information maintained by museums with quilt collections, and active contributions from contributors collaborating during the early years of the development of the Quilt Index.

There are three versions of the same form:
     • one that you print out for each quilt (Quilt Index form pdf version),
     • one that you can fill out using your computer as a word document (Quilt Index form word version),
     • and one that is a fillable pdf format (Quilt Index fillable pdf version.)
Feel free to use any version of the form you like. Contact the Quilt Index if you have any questions.

4. My quilt documentation project already has a form but we have not yet computerized our data. What can we do to make sure that it is compatible with the Quilt Index?
The Quilt Index will work with you to choose the best way to get your data entered. Options include entering your data into an excel spreadsheet, then importing it into the Quilt Index, entering the data directly into KORA, the Quilt Index's management system, or using the Submit A Quilt form. Upon becoming a Quilt Index contributor, you will work with the Quilt Index to determine which option is best for your data.

5. We are preparing to photograph quilts and/or digitize images. What can we do to make sure our images are compatible with the Quilt Index?
If you are photographing quilts, obtain the best quality photographs possible. Be sure to make one image of the full quilt, and then take close-up images to show special details of the quilt. The Quilt Index can feature multiple images of the same quilt. Four basic benchmarks for image quality for quilts are: sufficient and even lighting (i.e. no hot spots), color faithfulness, quilt pattern detail, fabric pattern detail, and quilt stitching detail. If you are digitizing existing slides or photographs that are part of a collection of documentation, you must have access to a scanner with adequate resolution and color consistency. Instructions for preparing your slides or photographs to be uploaded to the Quilt Index are found on our Preparing Your Images for the Quilt Index document.

6. Some of the photographs from our documentation project are not very good. Can we still submit them to the Quilt Index?
Sometimes existing archival images may have lower photographic quality. We know that in many cases documentation is conducted by dedicated volunteers who are not photography professionals. If there is no way to re-photograph the quilts, then the existing images are the documentation of those quilts and they are OK to submit to the Quilt Index. Collections can explain their photography standards or discrepancies on their collections pages.

7. How many state quilt documentation projects, museum collections, and other quilt data collections will be available online in the Quilt Index?
Eventually, as many as possible. The Quilt Index is growing daily as new documentation records are added to current collections in the Index and as entirely new collections join the Quilt Index.

8. When will other documentation projects be put online in the Index?
As soon as they've applied and we've worked with them to get their records entered or transferred.

9. Can an individual enter records on their quilts directly into the Index?
The dream of sitting at one’s own computer and being able to add images and information about a quilt you made and/or own to the Quilt Index has become a reality! After years of dreaming, planning, programming, and testing, the Quilt Index Submit A Quilt page is now active. Just go to https://quiltindex.org/add-quilts/submit-form/ and start adding. In 2009, with funding support from IMLS and the Salser Family Foundation, we collaborated with a small team of researchers on a Signature Quilt Project to pilot test public submission of quilt data to the Quilt Index. A grant in 2015 from the Robert and Ardis James Foundation is enabled us to move forward on building the structure for public submission. 

10. How can I visit the quilts found in the Quilt Index?
The Quilt Index is a virtual repository, not a physical collections holding entity. The quilts found in the Quilt Index remain in public and private collections. You will need to contact the contributing institution/collection that submitted the quilt data for information about visiting their collection or locating particular quilts.

11. I would like to suggest a change to a Quilt Index record. How can I do this?
Management and control of records in the Quilt Index is retained by the contributor (documentation project, museum, etc.) who submitted the quilt record. If you would like to suggest a change to a record you can contact the contributing collection or you can send your request to the Quilt Index (donald20@msu.edu) and we will forward your request. Make sure to include the url of the page that needs the correction.

Updated 1/8/2024