Quilt Label Ideas You Can Use

Are you good about labeling your quilts? Do you need ideas on what to use as a label because that little white square of fabric just looks "wrong" as a label? Here are a few ideas from Quilting Contessa.

Label Shape

Have you always made labels for your quilts that are a rectangle? Break out of your "box" and pick a shape from the front of your quilt to use as a label on the back. This is really easy if you have made an applique quilt, you can just replicate one of the pieces from the front to use on the back as your label. If you have made a pieced quilt, you can trace a shape from one of the fabrics you used to make your label shape and if it is not large enough to write everything on that you desire, place the traced shape on your printer and blow it up to the size that will best work with your quilt and the shape of your label then use that as your template to cut out your special label.

Writing on Your Quilt Labels

Hand writing quilt labels is my most favorite way to create them. In years gone by, our quilting sisters that labeled their quilts often would hand write the information on them and this is another way we are connected to our quilts. Do you remember receiving mail and looking at the handwriting on the envelope and just knowing who had sent the card or letter? We don't get many handwritten communications any more, but you can leave your "mark" on your quilt on the label by handwriting it using a Pigma Micron pen and heat setting the ink with an iron to make sure that it lasts for many many years to come.

Machine Embroidered Quilt Labels

Do you have an embroidery machine that can help you to create your special label? If not, there are lots of quilters out there that create special labels for quilts for a reasonable fee. Why not help a local small businessperson by having them create a special label for your quilt?

Private Labels

Just like a fine wine that receives a private label, some special quilts also get this treatment. I created a special quilt for a very special lady who taught Sunday School at our church through three generations of our family. When she retired from this service, I thought she should receive a quilt so I inked a picture of the church for the center square and then had all of her former students write a message to her on squares that were stitched around the inked picture. For the label, I wanted to write her a special message that was "for her eyes only" so I stitched a fabric pouch that she could open and I placed a card inside that she could read explaining the significance of the different types of squares. In this way, she could read the card, place it back in the envelope for a personal keepsake, and be able to remove it for washing (as pictured). But after thinking through the process, I decided the final version should be a true envelope shape that opened completely, and had the message written directly on the inside of the envelope so that no one would need to remove the card before washing the quilt. Unfortunately, I failed to take a picture of the final label, but it was modeled after a small postal envelope and had a button closure to hold it together when not being read.

Hidden Labeling

Sometimes we want to sign our quilts, but not necessarily add a visible label to them. When this is the case, hand embroidering or hand quilting your initials and the date somewhere on the quilt can act as a label without being an obtrusive "flag" of a label. This is the perfect option for double-sided quilts, or ones that are going into a competition where the label needs to be hidden for judging purposes. Initials can hide really easily in patterned fabrics but be in plain sight for your family that knows that you sign your art within the art.

What special label ideas have you used, or do you have in mind for your next quilt?