I have never put labels on any of my quilts I gave to family or friends. I think I will make them up and sew them on as I visit them.... Never thought about it's meaning until reading on the board. Does everyone do this?
My sis has n embroider machine she has sitting and not using. Well, I have a good use for it. She is going to teach me how to use it. It has a whole wall of thread and everything needed. Something new to learn.

Is it important to label our gift quilts?

Funny you should ask this. I have never attached a label to those I make. The only label I have used is for QFK. I think I should, but I always stop before doing it. I keep thinking that I don't label other gifts......

I think it's important to label all quilts for posterity. Even the ones that get loved to death :)
What kind of machine does she have????
I'm looking for one to add a little zing to my sewing life :D

I haven't done this in the past because I honestly didn't think about it. But as I've done more quilts I think it's important. If you have a quilt that has been passed down in the family, if there isn't someone around to tell you about it you have to guess who made it. I have a couple of quilts from my grandmother (who passed in 1956) and I wish I knew more about them. I know one of them was made from my grandfather's suits but only because someone knew about it. It was a crazy quilt and very heavy. A lot of wool in it and cotton batting.

I would say not only label it but if there is something special about it, add that too. If it was a specific pattern or blocks, you might want to add that to. JMHO

I have no idea but it looks intimidating. SHe bought it two years ago from Hancock's for 6000.00 and I would never buy one like that. When I get my first lesson I will tell you. They have bought patterns and all. I do know you can walk away from it while it does a design on a shirt or someting. Too high tech for me. LOL.

Another thing I do is to add a 'closed pocket' on the back. In the pocket I put swatches of the fabric I used in the quilt. As the quilt gets washed so do the swatches of fabric. If the quilt ever needs to be patched, they have fabric to make the repairs.

I just remembered. I have bought labels for my swaps I have done on here from board members, but those were for me. Good idea, Burnsk, on putting the occasion. Will take time to locate them all since everyone from my mom down to my great neices and nephews have them. But from now on I am going to make sure that is the final touch. ♥

That is a great idea. I keep binders with my scraps and repair fabric for my quilts. Even if I give them away, I have them for future use. A little pocket makes more sense so it gets washed right along with the quilt. Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

I have only made wall hangings, and one pillow. In quilting beginner class it was suggested we always put our names on our quilts. That one was a wall hanging and I embroidered my name in a corner. 2 other small wall hangings I made I put a hand written label on the back.

A suggestion I heard on a Fons & Porter show was to make a muslin case (like a pillow case) for the quilt storage and put some patches of the fabric used in the quilt on it. If it is always washed with the quilt the fabrics will wear the same as the quilt and is available if needed for repairs.

I like to take pictures of the quilts that I make and cross stitch a label to the back with persons name and the occasion plus the year given. Makes it more personal.

Using a script design on the last quilt I made a label which reads

Made Especially for
my grandson
Braxton Threatt
by
Gloria Cauthen
January 2011
Blind stitched it on the back and it really does look nice.

I always put a label on gift quilts- to and from, date, occasion, maybe with a little flower or bug or seashell drawing.

I like to label my quilts. I have a friend with a printing shop make mine for me. She does a fantastic job. They don't fade, costs just a few dollars, and makes a super nice finish. I even have had a photo of me with my Pfaff added to a couple of them. That was my moms idea! I can call her or send an email with what I want and she can mail it to me or I can run and pick up. Its perfect every time.
Thinking I need to redo this signature though.....that's all me, not Sara! :oops: :D

I always add a label using a pic and something relevant to the quilt. I also keep a quilting journal with fabric swatches and info about the quilt as well as pics.

Apart from keeping track of the quilts you have made, it makes a personal touch to finish off a quilt.

An artist signs their paintings so a quilter should sign their quilts. It doesn't have to be a fancy label. You can often buy pre-printed label panels in a variety of designs. I then use my Pigma Pen to fill in the appropriate information, iron it to set the ink and back it with lightweight stabilizer to encase the edges and then top stitch it by machine into the bottom corner where an artist would sign a painting. Most of my quilt buddies stitch their labels on the back but I put mine on the front, lower left corner!

I put labels on the backs of my quilts for 2 reasons:

1) One as dementia sets in I can actually remember when and what for; :lol:

2) Future reference to say family members down the road.

There are a lot of sayings that you can put on. Here's a site of sayings that I've found.

http://thegoldenthimble.com/quiltdedications.html

Yes to labeling. I have an embroidery machine and just embroider the information right ont he back. When it's a baby quilt I put down all the info re: the newborn. Name, Weight, length, Date of Birth, City and town of birth...
I also take photo's of all my quilts and have albums with their names...usually name all my quilts and to whom given...I realized a few mths ago when I was asked the name of a fabric I now need to keep a swatch with the salvage of it's name in that album also...

My sister hooks rugs and she labels all her rugs and numbers them. Her 50th rug she made for herself on her 50th birthday. Gifts I label so they know what the pattern is and when I made it for them. Quilts I know that are going to stay home with us aren't labeled. Funny story - I made a flannel quilt for at home and practiced FMQ on it. I thought I am going to 'write ' my name and year on the quilt as I sew. I CAN NOT find it - I know I did it!!

I am just learning on my little machine. Its really fun, I want to be able to make labels too!

[quote=GwynR]I like to label my quilts. I have a friend with a printing shop make mine for me. She does a fantastic job. They don't fade, costs just a few dollars, and makes a super nice finish. I even have had a photo of me with my Pfaff added to a couple of them. That was my moms idea! I can call her or send an email with what I want and she can mail it to me or I can run and pick up. Its perfect every time.
Thinking I need to redo this signature though.....that's all me, not Sara! :oops: :D[/quote

These are cute...can you pm me with the information? I usually just embroider mine.
Darby

I've never been one to label my gifts, but my DH chides me on this saying that in the years to come folks will want to remember where something came from. When I do bead weaving I now weave in my initials somewhere and made up little labels on the printer for other items. My quilted items I make little labels with my name and the date. I have some beautiful items that I know my grandmother made, but they have no labels and I want to be sure that my son knows where they came from. They are a part of who we are and there is so much of us in each article we should leave a little note to let our friends and family know how much we loved them.

I always put a label on my quilts. That way they always remeber me LOL

I never used to add labels either and I have made and sold thousands of quilts but just recently my daughter said mom be sure and put a label on this one so that when you are gone she will always remember where it came from. so now I do"

You should label all of them.... How many antique quilts have you seen showcased saying "Quilter Unknown"?

Making a label for our quits is important. Just Monday at quit guild a lady brought a pretty "round robin" quilt she had made yrs ago with several other guid members and no date-or who was involved-she wished now that she had done that. Down the road the information is nice to have.

I never did put quilt labels on my quilts, BUT, I just finished one for my granddaughter, and put a small embroidered label made with backing material with her initials and the year. I don't feel comfortable putting my initials on the quilt,well, it is a gift. I put it on the top side near the edge.

I always put labels on the quilts that I gift. It was suggested to me to put who it is to, who it is from, the date and city and state, and any info about the occasion such as grad. anniv. etc. The lady that suggested this was in the habit of purchasing old, old quilts. The ones that were the most interesting to her were the ones that had some of that info. on them.

Our church quilt group puts a small label on the back of our quilts and walker bags. Pastor recently had an email from out of state about one of our walker bags. This lady got one on a walker at a second hand shop. She thought we should know how nice it is and that when she is done with the walker she will share it and the bag with someone else.

I think its important to label your quilts because 60 years from now I want whoever ends up with my quilts to know how old they are, who made them and for whom I made them......old quilts can be quite expensive, either buying or selling, dates & places & names makes them more valuable.

Years ago I was involved in a quilt documentation project in my county. We were always thrilled when there was a label on writing on the quilts. The information provided was priceless. Since I belong to two guilds I have gotten in the habit of putting a label on the back of at least my bed size quilts. I now own two embroidery machines but before I make a label on one of them I actually use permanent markers to write on the back of the quilt if the fabric is light enough to be able to see. I figure if I mess up then I can sew a label over top of the mistake. It also means that if someone were to steal the quilt they would have to cut the labeled part out.

I had some small ones made that say" handmade especially for you by Stephanie" and i sew it on the backside bottom corner.

I always label my quilts using a fabric permanent marker. History is important.

I also label my quilts to my friends and family. I made one for my daughter to commerate the buying of the lot for their lake home. They had a picture of the lot before the house was built on it. I scanned that into my computer and put it on a printable label and sewed to the back of the quilt. She loved it and my son in law was so impressed with the quilt and the label.

I always put a label on all my quilts,whether I keep them or give them as gifts. If a gift,I put the name of the quilt,wheo it is to,the date and then made by me. It gives the history of the quilt. Now that I have relocated to oklahoma from Texas, I even put the county that I live in.

I do it for two reasons--to document my quilts for posterity, but also because it allows me to put a special message on the quilt for its recipient. I find a lot of quilty sayings online, but it also documents a special occasion in the recipient's life. Also, because my quilts often go to a long arm quilter, I feel better acknowledging the name of the quilter. It's how I made peace with not doing it myself.

Ditto!! I label everything

I don't label my quilts. I don't feel I need the recognition. I just give them to people and they know who I am and if they don't my name won't mean anything anyway.

I do like Shelbie & use Bounce sheets to turn it for applique is not my thing. I try to use same material used in the fromt & make a small pieced block to sign on info for the back of the quilt

It is my understanding that it is important to put the name of the quilt and date made. Anything else is a personal thing.

Oh, please label, even with just your name (made by) and date. I have a quilt my grandma hand quilted and hand pieced, probably in the 1930's but I have no documentation. I love it to death, but would have loved to know when she made it. I have added a label with what I know, but it is pretty limited. :cry:

I try to put labels on all of the quilts I give to family and friends. The donation quilts have labels put on by our guild. For my own labels I print them out on the Tshirt transfer paper. Then I can iron them onto fabric. They'll last much longer than the labels written with permanent ink. They also are much neater and more legible.

You can also print labels out on fabric. However, if you do that you need to use clear fingernail polish or some other clear fixative and go over the printed areas. That will make the printing more or less permanent.