Quilt Labels

[sharni]

How do you label your quilts? What information do you write on it? I have heard that some people put labels on before they quilt and then quilt over the label. Some make an embroidered label that is a work of art in it's self and then put it on like applique. Show a picture of your label and tell how you made it.

[connieb]

I'd like to know this too. I've yet to put a label on a quilt.

[Guest Linda S]

All quilts should be labeled. A hundred years from now, should someone find one of your quilts, they will want to know who made it, who you made it for, when, who pieced it and who quilted it. Most of the time, I take a picture of the quilt top, fade it out in photoshop, then insert it into a Word document, and do a wrap through nice text that says something like:

Made with love for our sister Barbara

in honor of her 60th birthday, October 6, 2010.

Pieced by Ginny and Linda Steller

Quilted by Linda Steller.

[CindyT]

Love your idea Linda!

I just finished making labels for the 5 quilts going into our guild's quilt show next week. Nothing fancy...I use fabric markers and write the name of the quilt, name of the pattern and pattern author (if known), machine pieced and quilted by me, my city and state, start date and finish date. If it's for someone in particular, that is on there, too. I usually try to sew it to the bottom righthand back corner before the binding is finished so I only have to hand stitch down two sides of it.

[MastiffMomQlt]

My Mom makes beautiful handmade, pieced labels. She LOVES to make mini quilts so this is right up her alley. She sells them & they are so cute!

[delld]

Here is the last label I made. I emboridered it right on the back before I quilted the quilt. That way no one can remoev the label!!!!

[kloar]

I embroider my labels and put the name of quilt, my name, street address, city/state and the year that it was made. If it was made for someone else, I also put on the details of who/what it was for. Then I applique it on. I usually don't embroider them directly on the back because if you use a lot of stitches in the embroidery which I tend to do it can misshape the backing.

[kathyd]

I saw something interesting one day and tried it. It works pretty good. Here is what I do.

I make my binding and iron it in half so I know where the fold is and then I open it up and use the lettering on my sewing machine to write on the binding. I use the fold to keep it straight. You then have to pay attention when you put the binding on but it works and works well.

I have not tried to use an embroidered font yet but that is on my to try list.

I'd post a picture if I could figure out what is wrong with what I am doing when posting.

[Sharond]

I make my labels in Microsoft PictureIt 2002. I can add pictures, text, frames, fade the picture, etc. Then I print the labels on Printed Treasures printer ready fabric "sheets".

The info I put on depends on the quilt. My kids graduation quilts, I had pictures from birth thru their senior year. Each picture then had a little write up about it. It could be just a short sentence to several sentences. Then I ended with a poem for the kids. When our oldest graduated in '03, she loved her quilt. I sewed it in front of her, hand quilted it in front of her, and she did not know it was for her. So when she found the label she started to cry, so was so touched. So when our other two graduated we had the quilts laid out on a bed or handing for display. What is the first thing they do, flip the corner to see their label. Then they looked at their quilt.

But I always include the name of the person it is for, name of the quilt (pattern & designer), date made, my name if I pieced it alone -- my sister Judy when we do it together, my name for machine quilting it, fabric content, backing content, and batting. Then I put on washing instructions as well.

[JustSewSimple]

I teach that a quilt is not finished until it has a label. I "name" my quilts:

Bella

Made for

Date

Designed and Pieced by

Quilted by

[Calicoquilter]

I make my labels using Microsoft Word and print them onto Hidden Treasures sheets that I feed through my printer. I add them after I have quilted the quilt because I can't guarantee that they will be straight if I put them on first.

[bobbi]

Sharni, making quilts and labeling them is our way of creating our own form of "immortality".

I always label my quilts because the ones from grandma, old friends, relatives, are not always labeled. I want to know the story, the circumstances, and the people who made it and the people it was made for. Without labels, we lose our history.

Personally I also give a way for a recipient to reach me - IE: I put my website/address or something they may be able to "track" to find out more about the quilt... The ones not labeled are true "mystery" quilts!

[Oma]

I'd post a picture if I could figure out what is wrong with what I am doing when posting.

Kathy, I sent you an U2U and an e-mail how to do this. Actually, I just decided to post it on here so everyone would have it.

[sharni]

Thanks for all of the responses. They are helping me decide how to do mine. I like the idea of doing the label so that it cannot be removed.

[Sandra Darlington]

Sometimes I embroider the labels; some I have hand written on the "fabric by the yard" premade labels, but mostly I use printed treasures sheets and my color printer. Sometimes I use the printer to print a border or a seaonal picture (holly, for example on a Christmas quilt), but mostly I just print in black and include the quilt name, who it is for, pieced and quilted by me, my city and state and the date. The one I made for my newest grandson, I used a picture of me holding him and incorporated that into the label. On his I put the date of his birth, weight and lenght. Often I include that the fabrics are 100% cotton, the batting is 100% wool (or cotton or whatever I use). After I trim it down to size and remove the paper backing, I put a narrow frame around it with fabric from the quilt; sometimes I make 2 frames around it, like building a log cabin block. I hand stitch it to the quilt after it has been quilted. I do see merit in quilting the label right into the quilt, but I would never get it in the exact spot I wanted it.

A large queen I recently finished to hang in our LQS also had the name of the pattern, who designed it, and also that I started it in Nov 2010 and finished it in June 2012, plus I said it was a Cvil War inspired quilt pieced with Civil War reproduction fabrics.

[cjtinkle]

I embroider all mine, but I keep them pretty basic.

Here's one I just did for my niece.