I made a quilt for my daughter also. We had the size of strips to be signed, backed with freezer paper ironed on, and on the front I would recommend use masking tape to cover the seam allowance so no one will write in them. You can use the pigma pen, but sometimes they are "scratchy" and hard for people to write with. We used an Identi.Pen we got from Michaels website. Her colors were pink and brown so we got brown pens. We got extras, and sent the fabric and pens to grandparents that couldn't come and that way they had their signatures also. You will have to decide if you want only a signature, or if you will have space for a little something said.