After reading about the four quilts that are missing from the Salt Lake show, I started wondering:

Has anyone considered microchipping for quilts for identification purposes?

Microchips are about the size of a small grain of rice (smaller than a cotton seed). The ones injected into animals are in a tiny glass capsule (no, they don't break) and consist of a tiny chip with a number and a strand of copper wire wound round it. When stimulated by the radio waves from a scanner at close distance (less than a couple inches), the antenna starts broadcasting the chip number. The scanner picks up the number and then the operator looks the number up in a database to discover who the chip is registered to.

Microchips do not act as GPS devices; that would require magnitudes more power and would generate too much heat at the site of the chip. What they do is act as a unique identifier, which can deter thieves. My dogs, who are both pets and champions, are all microchipped to deter theft and so that if they ever do disappear, I will have an indisputable way of identifying them.

In a quilt, I think the microchip could be hidden in the batting, maybe in the binding, so the bulk would keep it from being felt by someone with ill intentions.

Unlike a label, a microchip would be invisible and difficult to get rid of.

Does anyone think microchipping valuable quilts is the wave of the future?

I can see how a micro chip would make proof of ownership easy but doubt it would help with theft problems. The people who steal are not going to take their ill gotten gain anywhere near a micro chip reader. JMHO

It is an interesting and good idea but there probably aren't enough people, agencies, stores, etc that would have the chip reader to make it a viable way to identify quilts. Museums might have a use for them but I'm not sure who else would. I believe that most quilts that are stolen and taken to be sold to private parties or passed off as the theif's own work.

Where do most stolen or lost quilts end up?

What I do think would be a good idea is some sort of sensor on the quilts in shows so that they can not leave the building without authorization.

Yea I can see the idea as a good one but I don't think it would help much. If someone wants to steal a quilt they are going to steal the quilt and that will be the end of it and probably the last time it is seen. Quilts aren't like dogs that accidentally walk off and get lost :( And unless every quilt show starts to search for microchips there is really little good that a microchip would do. Nothing stops the theft.
I think the best way to protect yourself from theft would be to insure your quilt. Not the same at all. Money doesn't bring back the hours and hours that you spent on a quilt. But it is better than nothing.

Unfortunately and sadly, there are so many thieves in this world.

I know you said that the microchip would be harder to remove than a label, but am afraid that could be costly.

Did you catch the thread on QR codes and making them on your label? You can do it for free, and it is very easy.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-121655-1.htm here is how to print a code, so any cell phone (with the app) can read it. If you sew the label into the quilt, so that it would be hard to remove, it would help.

I have also heard of making an extra label inside the binding. So, if you see your lost/stolen quilt, you still have proof it is yours, even if they have removed the label.

in theory it could return a quilt to its rightful owner but odds are the person who stole it isn't going to get the quilt scanned.

a microchip on the other hand would be nice to retain data on the quilt thru out time.

wouldn't it be wonderful if the quilts made during the civil war had microchips that would detail the makers life and the inspiration behind the quilt.

i think that would be a wonderful idea for current quilters to do on their heirloom quilts.

It's a neat idea, but I agree with the other posters, it's probably not practical. In my own case, the quilt itself is so distinctive that it really doesn't need a microchip to identify it, and it is labeled.

The best we can do is be very careful how we ship and secure them. Make sure the quilt has an appraisal, and ship it insured. While the $$$ doesn't replace the quilt, it's better than nothing at all.

Janet

My dog is micro chipped, all pets should be. It's not expensive. I agree everything irreplaceable to you should be micro chipped just so ownership can be proven if you are lucky enough to find a lost or stolen item.

All you'd need to find a chip in a quilt is a scanner. Once located, it would be extremely easy to remove through a very small slit, easily fused shut afterwards. Chipping is not intended to deter theft, only to locate owners once the item (pet) is found. Tattoos do the same thing...as would sewing a name label inside a quilt.