Label Your Quilts

by Steffani McChesney

I have discovered an interesting phenomenon. Maybe you have experienced it too. I made a wedding quilt for some friends who got married in Colorado last year. They loved the quilt and thought it was gorgeous. But what really impressed them was the small label I had sewn on the back of the quilt. Other quilters who have had this same experience have said to me, “They (the quilt recipients) liked the label even better than the quilt.” Interesting.

My opinion is that they like the label because it makes the gift even more personal. It tells the world, “This quilt is truly mine. Someone cared enough to make this just for me.”

The label is important for other reasons. It identifies the maker and the place and time the quilt was made. Keeping track of these seemingly mundane facts is important for the history of our craft. And, more importantly, it shows the pride of the maker in his or her workmanship and artistry.

So, you ask, “What should I put on my label?” Glad you asked. Here is what I wrote on the label of the quilt I made for my son for Christmas:  To Evan, Christmas 2003. Pieced by Steffani McChesney. Quilted by Betty Colbert. Made in Bakersfield, California. Love, Mom.

Other information can be included such as if the quilt was entered in a show and won a ribbon or was presented on the occasion of the birth of a grandchild. Or say you went on a vacation and visited lots of quilt shops. You could use the fabric in a quilt and put all the places you purchased the fabric on the label. The possibilities and the memories created are endless.

Some people decorate the labels with ribbon and lace. Labels can be printed out in fancy script with illustrations on your color printer. Designing and making the label can be almost as much fun as making the quilt itself. You can put labels on quilts made a long time ago. In fact, you should label them so that people will know what you did in the past.

When I finish a quilt I always take several photographs of it for my brag book, a photo album dedicated to my projects. I include a photo of the whole quilt along with several close-ups of the blocks and quilting. I also write a few paragraphs about the making of the quilt, information about the person the quilt is for, and any other interesting facts about the quilt. Last, but not least, I take a picture of the label. Now my quilt is truly finished.

You should get in the habit of labeling all your quilts no matter how small or what they are going to be used for. History will thank you.