Stitch in the ditch is finished around and through all of the blocks.

Next is to decide on a quilting design. Like most computer-assisted quilters, I’ve accumulated several hundred digitized designs … but organizing them, and then finding just the right one, is always a challenge.

Enter QE Pattern Finder.

Made by the same folks who created the Art and Stitch digitizing software, this indexing software allows you to set up categories, and assign each of your digitized designs to one or more of those categories. It’s a “virtual” index — your files stay right where you put them on your storage media (hard drive, USB, etc.) — but now you can look easily through, say, only the borders … only the blocks … only the feathers … only the flowers … you get the idea. Categories are limited only by your imagination, and the same design can be assigned to more than one category. There’s also a keyword search, and a file name search (which works with partial file names as well) — you’ll never lose a pattern again.

You can even print out a catalog, organized by category …. and you can also make a copy of your design files, organized into data folders that match the categories. So you can keep one set of design files on your hard drive (or your machine’s tablet) organized by designer name, and a second set on your thumb drive, organized by category. Pretty neat, huh?

I’ve tried a few different software products and database index approaches over several years of working with digitized embroidery and quilting designs; this is far and away the easiest to use, as well as the most versatile.

No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer.