I like to see labels on the quilts - it will make the quilt even more treasured in years to come. I have a quilt that is from the late 1800's. According to family legend my grandfather helped piece it when he was 5. I did have it appraised just to see if the story could be true and the appraiser agreed. The quilt is precious to me because I know the history - which could also come from a label. All artists should sign and date their work - whether by hand or machine.

Well whaddaya know! I may be the other person who feels this way. I don't put labels on or sign either. I may change my mind but not yet.

I got a program that let me make my own signature into an embroidery file. I have been hand embroidering it but I have carpal tunnel syndrome and it's not easy for me to embroider by hand. I don't care if the rest of the text on the label is not my handwriting.

I do not like labels. I believe they take away from the work that has been done. They are usually gaudy. The idea of personally signing the quilt and the year it was made, I think would be very special to the person receiving the quilt>

Nope...I don't sign quilts either. May change in future, but I haven't in the past.

Wow. I don't agree with this. Even if a label is larger, it's usually on the back so I can't imagine how it takes away from the work. Gaudy is a matter of opinion. I can't imagine someone would make a beautiful quilt and then put an ugly, gaudy label on it. :shock:

My 2 cents worth. I label my quilts to grandkids. My labels for this year's graduate will say. " Where ever you go, what ever you do, take this quilt along with you. Wrap it around you, and when you do, remember God loves you and we do too." Along with my name, date and city. I print them out on the computer and it seems to last. The label from 2001 is still very readable. Janice

Label...Our quilt guild has been making "opportunity" (read raffle) quilts for many years. Last meeting a member brought in one she won many years ago. Hand quilted, lovely piece of work...no label. Some of our members have been around along time and they think they can at least trace back to the year it was made and possible some of the members that might have contributed to making it. That would mean the world to the lady that owns it. So label is good. It can be removed if it is re-gifted.
Signature...I do mine on the embroidery machine. I can't write worth a flip, you couldn't read what it said if I did...so the object of a label is to know who and when and perhaps why (graduation, birthday, etc) so if you can't read it because I shoulda' been a doctor, or because it faded, what good is it? Hand embroidering over your sig is a wonderful way to preserve it, and it certainly makes it very personal. But IMHO, I have chosen a pattern, fabric, cut, sewn, pieced, bordered, quilted the thing VERY PERSONALLY! So my label isn't my "real" sig, I don't really think it matters to my DG kids, or my kids, or my friends...they love the quilts...labels are personalized with cats or giraffes, etc, and not gaudy and I don't care what city I happen to be living in when I make it...I just want it finished and delivered and loved.

I like to put not just labels on my quilts, but also a QR code. The label tells the year, my name, the quilt name, etc. The QR code is a link to a post on my blog which has more in-depth information about the quilt, such as progress pictures, design choices and changes, and so on. If the quilt ever gets lost or stolen, I have the ability to add that to the blog post, so if someone finds the quilt, they can scan the QR code, learn that the quilt is missing, and contact me so I can arrange to recover the quilt.

I've had nothing but good feedback from people who have received my quilts with QR codes, they seem to love the "behind-the-scenes" info they get.

the method used to document (history) is not anywhere near as important as the history itself- any label, containing at least makers name, city/state and date is the bare minimum that should be added to every quilt we make- how we choose to put that information on the quilt doesn't really matter at all...just the fact the information is there.