Creative quilt labels?
 

Do you label all your quilts? And how much effort do you put into it? I'm interested in seeing how creative quilters are in labelling their quilts. Do you use embroidery? I don't have a fancy embroidery machine so I'm also interested in seeing labels that people created with their computer and any tips for this method. Any photos you can post are very much appreciated.

I do label my quilts. I've spent a lot of time finishing quilts for others and I like to include what the history of the piece is. I am finishing 2 for me right now, and they'll just say something to the effect of Made by Becki and my birthday w/ the completion date.

we are always curious about the story behind a quilt, and my hope is that the label will fill in that story.

I started labeling just last year ( when my quilting skills reached the point I wanted to claim the finished product) and I iron cloth to freezer paper and print my labels. When I know, I include the recipients name, as in the photo below, but in general it just says made with love by me, and the year.[ATTACH=CONFIG]544838[/ATTACH]

for very special quilts, i design a label specifically for the quilt. examples:
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for 'not as special' quilts/gifts, i'll embroider my name and the date on the hanging sleeve. example:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]544841[/ATTACH]

and for my charity quilts, i'll just put my name or initials with the date with a micron permanent marker

The fanciest label I made was for my granddaughter's quilt. I did it on my embroidery machine, I put a little cat on it because she loves cats and did it in varigated thread. My grandson needed a small blanket, the size of a towel to lay on so I made him a raq quilt and embroidered on it his name, the school and the year. This was done with my regular machine that had built in fonts, before I got my emb machine. He loved it and still has it several years later.

My SIL admired this quilt so I gave it to her. Here's the simple hand written label. It's just a square folded diagonally and stitched in with the binding.

I don't have a fancy embroidery machine either but my machine does do a basic block alphabet. For special quilts I hand embroider the information. I always try to put who it was for, if there was an occasion (like wedding, birthday, etc). The name of the quilt, My name, city and state and year of completion. Sometimes I do this on an orphan block left over from the top or use my practice block for the label. Sometimes I just do plain fabric. Once I did a broderie perse from one of the fabrics in the top onto the label.

I just put the information onto fabric and sew it on. It is a large label, but I like to put several pieces of information for anyone who may be interested in years to come.

Since most of my quilts are donated anonymously, the only time I put a label on was when it was required in competition.

I just hand embroider in block letters. My neighbor does braille lettering along the binding in French knots but also has a hand written label in permanent ink. She uses French knots as a security measure ever since her mother's was stolen and is partially blind. They recovered it by recognizing the knots.

Yes, mine have labels. Usually says the name of quilt, made for __, made by me, and a finish date/year. Don't have emb. machine. Just use a square or triangle on the back with info. Charity quilts get "made especially for you by RW. :)

If the quilt is a gift for someone special, their name will be at the top with a message from the bible, the month/year it was given to them and my name at the bottom for who made it. If its a raffle quilt, then I'll put the pattern name of the quilt, the year it was made and again my name for who made it. I make my labels using my embroidery machine. I make them in a triangle shape so there's only one side I have to hand sew down as the other 2 sides will be stitched by the machine when I put the binding on. Anything to save me hand sewing. Also if its for a baby/child, I may add a character in line with the theme the parents have mentioned. I also make up a pillowcase to put the quilt into with the child's name on the cuff.

I don't label my quilts, but have been monogramming my name like QuiltnNan does on the green polka dot fabric in her pictures. Just my name and the year. My hubby really gets after me to do so since in his opinion they are "art" and all art should be signed. I am making a quilt for my niece as a wedding gift and I would like to put an actual label on it, that has been embroidered with more details since it is for their wedding. Are there quilters here who I could pay to make such a label for me? If so, please PM me. Thanks :-)

I like to get the kind of fabric you can run through a printer. After you've got your info on it, add a border or include it in a star or other pattern.

I like the idea of labeling, for the sake of those who may find the quilt in the future. I liked the idea of printing the labels, but they jammed in our printer; the other problem with the printed labels was the ink setting procedure sounded complicated (or else I couldn't find any -- can't remember which). So I've just been using a fine point permanent marker and printing as neatly as I can; I usually frame the label with the binding material, or a fabric from the quilt back. I put the name of the quilt, whether it's hand or machine pieced and the date, hand or machine quilted and the date (if there's a big gap), my name, who it's for, name of fabrics and designer if it's mostly from one fabric line, and name of pattern and designer.

I label my quilts. If the quilt is for a special occasion , event or person I may make a special, detailed label. If I don't know where the quilt will go, donations, sales, future gift, etc. I put a simple label. Simple ( bare necessities) labels contain name of quilt, my name, city, state, year, fiber content and care instructions.
I generally design my labels on the computer and print them onto fabric.

I use Avery.com I choose a size(post card) Blank. Then use mine or their graphics. I print it out on printer fabric. Experiment some on paper first.

I have a very elaborate quilt label that I trace for special people. Once I have a copy made, I use very fine permanent pens to color in the designs, set the ink with heat and then attach the label with embroidery. l

On bed quilts, especially, I don't like a prominent label unless there's a special reason for it. I've found that I like to put a short label on the binding using the letters that are built into my sewing machine.

I also have machine embroidered the label on the bindings of several quilts. One one wedding quilt I put the bride's and groom's names, wedding date and a saying that was included in their invitation. On another I put the same wedding info but added different sayings about love on all sides of the quilt. It was a little difficult getting the spacing right but oh what an impression it made!

I seem to need to do a practice piece every time I embroider on the binding, so that it faces the right way after it is sewn to the quilt Guess I am dyslexic that way

Me, too. If you want to, you can also add a pretty border to the label before printing. The border gives the label a bit more character, too.

If I know who a quilt is going to, then I attach the label to the bacl before I quilt the quilt. I can no longer hand sew due to fibro/arthritis; this way the machine stitching to attach the label doesn't show through on the front of hte quilt.

My printer started jamming when I tried to put fabric on freezer paper to print the label. Since I switched to the store-bought paper backed fabric, that problem was solved. Of course, I'd rather use the freezer paper and a scrap of fabric, since I already own them...

I also number and label all of my quilts. Today am working on #100, "One Hundred Hugs". Seemed like the best one to celebrate. I do labels with my Embroidery Machine, and also, the wheelchair quilts for charity I do the triangle in the corner with the pigment pen. Started quilting when I was 75, six years ago. Never though I would like it, but found my second love, and have learned so much from all of you. Thanks a big Bunch!!












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I try to label all the quilts I make, because as much as I would like to say I would remember which quilt I did when and for whom, but that's not true. I make a simple label "made with (love, in the shape of a heart) by Margaret Dabrowski, Lowell, MA for a special person, baby or more often than not, "made for the Sarringar-Larson Family Reunion, July 4, and the year" - I make one every other year, and it gets raffled off to some lucky family member, although no one in my immediate family has won, I'd like to win one too. I keep it simple, as I don't have a fancy embroidery machine, but I want to make a record for posterity, and hopefully in some small way, I will be remembered too. I guess that's a selfish reason, but I'd like to know that somewhere, someone is sleeping under a quilt that I have made.

What a great question OhCanada! I love to make special labels for my quilts. I have embroidered some, but prefer using a product called Printed Treasures. You design your label on your computer ( I use PowerPoint because it's easy to format) then print on an inkjet printer. You can change up the background or leave it clank. Here are a few that I've done.[ATTACH=CONFIG]545083[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545084[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545085[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545086[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545087[/ATTACH]

I use an embroidery machine to label my quilts/wall hangings. These are 2 that I still have pictures of.

I have been quilting for about 25 years but only started labelling my quilts 2 years ago. Last year I took a Craftsy class by Cindy Needham and she suggested using doilies for labels. So I have been scouring second-hand stores and estate sales for these special labels. I look for ones with a solid center and pretty, colorful embroidery on the edges. Such a great idea! Thanks Cindy.

Great topic! I have used a product designed to run through a printer but didn't care for the stiffness which was really tough to handsew to the quilt. I'm really happy to know to more about the product Quilterafloat uses. Is it stiff to handsew on? Also, how does it handle being washed? The product I have used looks like crinkled paper after washing.

I'm floored by everyone's inventiveness and creativity when it comes to labeling their quilts. They are all so beautiful! As much as I love them all, the simplicity of QuiltsRFun is the one that speaks to me personally. Just a little label tucked unobtrusively in the corner.

I TRY to label each quilt.
Back story:
I was very involved with basenjis (dogs) and then had a traumatic brain injury. I did not feel comfortable making decisions regarding breeding, showing and puppy placement so I no longer was so involved. But, I retained the ability to sew as I did before. ( I retained all my old brain memories I had before, but new ones, not so reliably)
So I use a little basenji pup in my label and call my quilts Rugosa Creations (Rugosa was my kennel name)
I still make many quilts that help the basenji breed.

Thanks for all the great ideas!

I label finished quilts, but not other things - bags, table runners, pillows... I run the label through a printer and try to put some effort into it with fabrics. I'd like to add buttons and embroidery, but haven't yet.

For those that actually write on their labels, what is your favorite pen/marker to use? Also, do you iron the fabric to freezer paper to do the writing?

For quilts I will give to family/friends, I have designed an elephant made out of the letters in "Made with love" (the body is created with "made", ear is a "W", the head and trunk made from "ith", and it is blowing "water" that is the "lov". The "e" in "love" is the tip of the elephant's trunk.) It will have my name under the elephant.

I've been debating scanning a copy of the elephant to the computer and then using Spoonflower or similar to make myself some label sized blocks with the elephant printed on and my name underneath, with room to write/embroider the extra info. That, or having to draw the elephant every time, figure out how to print it, etc.

This is a very rough draft of my elephant, I don't have a photo of my completed/cleaned up version:
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The colored version just shows how the letters make up the elephant (this was before I figured out how I wanted the "lov" part to fit in).

I label my quilts but not with a standard quilt label. I have some sew-in labels that say "Made Especially for you by (my name here). I fold it in half & sew it in with the binding. I've used them for years for things I make. I put them in the seam of pillow cases, tote bags, table runners, etc. The don't have a date or any specifics but the recipient will always know who made it for them. Here's where I ordered my last labels:
http://www.namemaker.com/

I label my quilts. The quilt, recipient and occasion dictates how creative I am. A quilt I make for a commission, donation or one I don't know where will go gets a ( basic) label: name of quilt, my name, City, State, date ( at least the year) fiber content and care instructions.
If it's a personal quilt ( special occasion, special person, gift ) I put a personal label. Some are long and heartfelt, some are a bit simpler. I often design my labels on the computer and print them onto ( PDF- prepared for dyeing) fabrics. Sometimes I use permanent micron pens and write my own.

I no longer have an ink jet.....just a laser....and you cant print on them. So I use a micro pen and keep it simple

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*** I do not make labels.
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*** I just embroider my name and date finished on one of the back corners.
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A local quilt/craft store had small labels that said "Someone Cares". I like to put those on donation quilts.

I have an embroidery machine now, so I use that to label my quilts. Before I got it, I used the freezer paper printing on fabric to make labels. The quilt I have on our bed has been washed several times, and the printed label seems to be holding up well.

I found a cute poem (hope original owner doesn't mind) but it fits, since my quilts are going to DGKs. I surround with little squares from my stash/es..
Here is your quilt to keep
you comfy and warm while you go
through this life's storm.
Your on your way to a better day
but for today may your smile be
bright as you cuddle up tight in this
quilt made just for you.

Made for ______ with caring hands,
a loving heart and lots of love.
Given with lots of hugs and prayers
by Nanna 2016