Quilt Turning at the fair...importance of a quilt label
 

One of the gals from my guild was telling us about the upcoming quilt turning event at the Lodi Agricultural Fair. I decided to go today to see it. It was wonderful! There were 43 quilts. They were shown one at a time and each quilt story was shared. The stories were written by the quiltmaker or quilt recipient. There were contemporary quilts as well as traditional quilts. The very last quilt was from the 1920's and it had no story. The quilt is in someone's family and no one in the family remembers where it came from or who made it. I just thought I'd share (again) how important it is to have a label on a quilt!

And make sure the label will not be easy to remove. My friend who is visually impaired but quilts and her daughter label their quilts for the sighted and visually impaired (Braille). So there are actually 2 labels. For the Braille they use French knots. Daughter also uses a shade or 2 lighter floss to hand embroider the quilts. One of the quilts they made for a friend was stolen but found at another quilt shop another county over. Thief wanted to sell it on consignment.

thanks for the important reminder.

great idea about the french knots for braille!

Most of my quilts go to charity and they do not allow any quilt labels.

I have never understood why quilts to donation groups can't have a label. Anyone know why it isn't allowed?

I did not know about "quilt turning" (also known as "bed turning", so I looked it up. Here is a good link to explain it and what a wonderful event it would be!

https://sites.google.com/site/testso...-a-bed-turning

I've donated many quilts over the years and have never had an organization state -- no labels-- don't know what charities those may be. I do keep the labels ( basic) for donation quilts-- most I've donated to request fiber content, I also include care instructions ( machine wash gentle, cool water. Tumble dry, remove promptly) my name, city, state and year. Basically the information you would expect to find on any bedding you purchased in a store. I've never had a donation refused, returned or label removed. I've donated to (Quilts of Valor; Downey Quilts for Kids; Linus Project; American Cancer society; local Cancer Center; Hospice House; Women's Resouce Center; Commission on Aging; American Red Cross; and many others-- quilts sent to Mississippi after hurricane Katrina, the Carolinas after Hurricane Andrew, New Jersey after Sandy, local police and fire departments-- the list goes on & on. ) I've really never heard of one refusing labeled quilts.

I've heard of some charities preferring that you not label the quilt because they put their own label on.

ckcowl, are you positive none of your labels have been removed? How can you be sure they don't do it after you leave? I'm not trying to challenge you, I'm just curious. One of the national charities you named is one that, in my experience, requested that you not put your own label on.

The guild I belong to labels the quilts that we donate. I know another local guild does the same.
My neighbor received a donated quilt while her husband was in hospice and the label from the guild was still on it.
I can't imagine why a label would be so offensive that it wasn't welcome.