Machine Embroidered Labels ?
 

I don't post much, but I've read almost everything all of you write. I am new to quilting and have learned so much from this Board, you guys, collectively, have sooo much knowledge! My question is...do you label your quilts & what is your preferred method ? A friend said I should use my embroidery machine to do labels but I am also new at that ! I would really appreciate some input on this. Thank you for the help (in advance).

Yes, you should make labels for your quilts. You always think you will remember when they were made but that doesn't happen. All artists sign their works and so should you. I use the lettering built into my machine - one of these days I will master setting the labels up in the embroidery program and sending them to the machine. Some people use permanent markers to write out their labels. Whatever way you chose just be sure you do it. It will be appreciated down the road!

I always mean to make a label, but I've only actually done it once. I did it with my embroidery machine, programming it on my computer first. It worked great, but since most of my finished quilts are gifts and there is usually a deadline, I often don't get around to making the labels.

The only quilts I have NOT labeled are the ones I've kept for me, and I keep meaning to label those before I forget when and why I made them. It may seem like no big deal now, but someday someone is going to want to know who made this quilt, who it was made for, what the occasion was, etc. It really doesn't take long and it doesn't have to be fancy. I use permanent markers to draw my labels on muslin w/ freezer paper ironed on the back. I just got an embroidery machine and have even downloaded a couple of frames for quilt labels, but I haven't tried them out yet. On my labels, I try to include not just who it was for, when and why, but also maybe the name of the pattern, who or what inspired my design, etc. The more info you include, the more interesting it will be to posterity.

I would use your embroidery machine for labels. I have not tried that yet on my machine, but hope to soon. emblibrary has a lot of label frames for quilting

I think machine embroidered labels would be lovely. I print mine and in addition to the necessary information, I add clip art that goes with the name of the quilt. Tonight, I am sewing buttons on my Merry, Merry Snowmen quilt. The label has pictures of snowmen on either side of the information. I enjoy planning my label as much as planning and making the quilt.

Yes you should use your embroidery machine for your labels. I do all the time and use design on them also

For me, it truly doesn't matter HOW you label your quilts, it's that you DO.

I have several quilts my Mother made... she didn't label them. So I'm creating labels for them. Like Nammie said, all artists sign their work. We're creating and keeping history when we do this simple thing.

**One of my quilting friends encouraged me to put my name, date/year, who it's gifted to and my town on each label. I can see this is a good thing.

I make my labels on the computer and then print them out on treated fabric. My goal is to learn how to do them on my embroidery machine too. A number of years ago a professional quilter challenged me to name each quilt also. Sometimes that is hard! I take pictures of my quilts and they go in an album along with a copy of the label. The label should include who made it, who received it, date, and where it was made. Hope this helps.

I embroider the "label" right on the quilt in the border, just before I finish the binding. One was named "35 Tulips for Alexis". Pieced by (me) and the year.

i always label mine

Yes by all means label your quilts. I had a machine for years that embroidered and didn't try to make labels until about two years ago. I do have to do a lot of adjusting and manipulation but I love the look of an embroidered label.

I just made my first label for my DGD quilt. I just created a frame in my embroidery software, pulled in a design of a cat (she loves animals) and put that on one corner and then added text. I put the yr, and what and who the quilt was made for, and my name since I made it and then at the bottom, I put Happy Birthday with lots of love from your Gi-Gi. Which I put Gi-Gi in () after my name to show it was the same person. I printed them out with varigated thread to match quilt and sewed it onto the back of the quilt. She'll always remember who made her that quilt and so will her kids. I've only given away two other quilts, one was a rag quilt and I actually embroidered right on the quilt fabric, my DGS name, his school (it was for his nap time) and the school yr. He loved it and there was no doubt in school who it belonged to. The other quilt I forgot to do the label but will make one and give it to the owner (best friend) and she'll sew it on. I think lables are really important and if I has special washing instructions then I'd include that at the bottom of the quilt.

i've used many different techniques for labels-
the information i generally include on labels are:
name of quilt, name of pattern/designer if i used a commercial pattern,
whom or occassion i made it (if it's a gift or special occassion quilt)
date (month & year) my name, city & state
materials & care instructions...such as (100% cotton; or 100% cotton top &backing, Polyester batting; or what ever) sometimes i write alot- if it's a special occassion or special gift i want to include more about-
if it's a sale quilt and i do not know where it's going i might only include name, design info-if it's someone else's design; date, my name, city, state, materials & care.
as for how the labels are made-
there are pre-made labels that can be purchased by the yard- which you simply fill in the blanks on with a pigma permenent pen (thimbleberries are the ones i have)
there are books (joannes has a couple different ones) that have a variety of labels, designs, sizes, occassions- that are (transfers) you iron them onto the fabric- then again-fill in the blanks
i've printed many of my own designed ones onto fabric with the help of my computer & printer,
i've written right on a few quilts
i've made some embroidered labels.
every quilt gets a label- how it's made & what size/design it is depends on the quilt
sometimes i make a special block for the back of the quilt- which is the label-
i've even made the label as part of the front of a quilt or two, making it part of the design.

there are plenty of ways to go about it-

Here are three I just made today. This was one of my motivations for wanting an embroidery machine as I think that a permanent ink pen gets lighter and lighter with each washing and I know the t shirt transfers peel off.

Here are the three I just embroidered today.[ATTACH=CONFIG]408449[/ATTACH]

and

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and

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I bought the basic design from emblibrary.com for $1 for each design (wait for a sale) and I added the words via embird.

I must say that I'm super pleased with the size of these labels. I had thought that big would be too big, but I love them! These are my first ones that I have personalized but I plan on doing it from now on.

I hand write mine with a black marker made just for fabric, and then I heat set it. My labels are 6 x 9 inches before sewing because I like to put as much information as I can. They are not fancy by any means but they tell the person I give it to when it was made etc.

I've enjoyed reading about the quilt labels...Any suggestions to purchase fonts or labels for embroidery machine? I own a Pfaff.... Thanks for any input!