Note:  For reasons of privacy, some information has been obscured from the following photos.  The actual quilt label usually contains my home address and occasionally my phone number as well – especially for quilts that travelled or were entered into shows.  Click on the title or the label itself to see the whole quilt.

Be Still
For this cottage-themed quilt, I began with a clipart image of a cabin in the woods as the background for the label.  The colors were changed to blend with the quilt backing fabric.

Fruitful
The patchwork Fruit Basket blocks in this quilt feature a beautiful multi-colored fabric print covered with fruit.  I scanned this fabric and used it to fill each letter in the title of the quilt using a feature available in CorelDraw. 

Heart’s Desire
With a title like this and a quilt filled with hearts, what better shape for the label?  The background and frame for this label are both fabrics scanned from the quilt itself.

Butterfly Kisses
Again, the title of the quilt suggested the shape of the label.  A clipart image of a butterfly was recolored to blend with the quilt backing fabric fabric using CorelDraw.  Since this quilt was made on commission, I only included my name, web-site, and year of completion on the label.

Grapevine Wreath
This quilt is a sample for a workshop on using crayons to color designs on fabric.  I found some adorable fonts on the Internet that featured actual crayons:  KR Crayons and Summers Crayons.  The label should really have my contact information on it, since the quilt is often lent out to guilds and quilt shops.

Trinity
The three primary colors of cyan, magenta and yellow plus black are mixed together to create all the hues in this quilt – hence the three colors used in the label.  The quilt is made entirely from hexagon shaped patches, so it was only fitting the label would feature hexagons as well.

Bridal Tea
This quilt features Dresden Plate blocks, so the label is the same shape and colored with the same fabrics – scanned and printed.  A much larger circle fills the center of the “block” to provide enough room for the text.

King of Hearts
With a name like this, what else would I use for the label?  The quilt features a Card Trick block and the four suits of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades.  I found an image of the King of Hearts card and created a transparent section in the center for the text.  Isn’t the backing fabric perfect?!

The Lord is my Shepherd
This is the first example of a label using fabric that I pre-treated myself using Bubble Jet Set 2000.  As you can see, this approach allows the pattern of the fabric to show through and can be much easier to match to the quilt backing fabric.  The label is a fairly simple design, enhanced with some clipart sheep which I recolored into green-hued sepia images.  Looking at it now, I wish I had lined the label since there is some shadowing from the backing fabric.

Flourish on the Vine
This is my most recent quilt – so recent, it isn’t even on my website yet!  You can see and read about it in progress here.  I carefully chose the font “Flemish Script BT” to add flourish to the text and more clipart adds flourish to the layout.  I pre-treated the label fabric but auditioned a variety of shades of green for the text and borders.  Stay tuned to see the quilt revealed later this summer!

What is the purpose of a quilt label?  In its most basic form, a label identifies the maker of the quilt.  But taken a step further, it can also provide valuable documentation for future generations.  When was the quilt made?  Where?  Why?  For whom?  What about the quilt itself?  Does it have a name?  Is it an original design or was it made from a pattern?  Did anyone else contribute to the making of this quilt?

A label that says:

Made with love by Grandma

doesn’t give nearly as much information as one that says:

For Julie Marie Smith Baker
born June 30, 2011 in Whitby, Ontario
7 lbs. 2 oz.
“Sweet Dreams”
pattern by Sydney Parkridge, Easy Baby Quilts
Made with love by Grandma
Mary Jo Smith
Ancaster, Ontario

What a difference!  The second label answers all our questions about when, where, why and for whom the quilt was made while clearly identifying the maker and designer of the quilt.

Assuming the label will be produced by printing or transferring onto fabric, this information must be arranged and formatted for print.  There are many ways you can design a label on your computer, using software you may already have.

This first example was created using Microsoft Word – word processing software.  The text was enhanced by using two fonts (Curlz MT and Garamond) in different sizes and colors.  Borders and shading were added to change the background color for printing on a white pre-treated fabric sheet.  A couple of clipart motifs add to the theme of a baby quilt made with love by her grandmother.

Microsoft Publisher has many features that can be used to create quilt labels.  This example began with the “Art Boxes” Postcard design and the “Spice” color scheme.  The text was reformatted using the fonts “Forte” and “Bookman Old Style” and the clipart images were changed to baby carriages.  The background was left white.

I often use CorelDraw to design my quilt labels.  This full function drawing and graphics program offers unlimited creative options.  This example uses a clipart image of a baby block as the background with the text formatted to fit on each side.  Wouldn’t it look sweet appliquéd on the back of a quilt?  

The Electric Quilt Company produced a tutorial about making quilt labels with EQ7.  The label is designed as if it were a quilt using the “Set Appliqué Text” tool to format the text.  The “Set Auto Borders” tool offers an extensive collection of pre-designed borders to frame the label and the “Paintbrush” tool allows all the elements to be filled with “fabric” or solid colors.

It is also possible to purchase collections of pre-designed quilt labels.  Virtual Quilt Labels Plus includes 110 color designs that can be edited in a drawing program.  C&T Publishing’s Quilt Label Collective CD Volume 1 offers over 150 designs than can be customized by hand or on your computer.  Victoriana Quilt Designs generously provides a free selection of quilt labels on their website.  The HP Custom Quilt Label Kit, announced in 2002, does not seem to be available any longer directly from HP but there might be other sites that still carry it.

It doesn’t matter what tool you choose to create your quilt label.  What matters is that you finish your quilt properly by giving it the documentation it deserves.  Future generations will thank you for leaving behind this precious legacy.

The topic of quilt labels will be divided into three parts.  This article will discuss the methods and materials that can be used to create a fabric quilt label.  Next week, we will look at designing the label itself.  Then in part three, I’ll show you some my favorites.  Most of my quilt labels were produced by printing onto fabric, so we will begin with two approaches to ink-jet printing on fabric.  Then we’ll consider some other options you may want to investigate.

Printing on your own fabric
The first step to printing on your own fabric is to prepare 100% cotton or 100% silk with a permanent bonding agent called Bubble Jet Set 2000.  Soak fabric in the solution for five minutes then lay flat to dry.  Iron the fabric onto the shiny side of freezer paper and trim to 8-½” x 11″ (or use 8-½” x 11″ freezer paper sheets and trim fabric to fit). 

Once the fabric has been prepared, it can run through the printer like paper.  Make sure the edge that feeds through first is crisply pressed and free of any loose threads – I have occasionally had difficulties with the initial “grab” and feed of the fabric/freezer paper.  I also change my printer settings to “best”.  After printing, allow to completely dry for at least 30 minutes.  Finally, remove the freezer paper and wash the printed fabric in Bubble Jet Rinse to remove excess ink and prevent fading.

For more information about these products, along with an excellent set of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the wonderful site Soft Expressions.com.

Pre-treated fabric sheets
An alternative to preparing your own fabric for ink-jet printing is to use ready-to-use fabric sheets.  The fabric has already been treated, cut to 8-½” x 11″, and fused to freezer paper.  At one time only available in 100% white cotton, there are now many choices including natural cotton, silk, organza and more.  I use Miracle Fabric Sheets, by the same company that makes Bubble Jet Set 2000, and have had excellent results.  (I even dyed and printed all the patches for an entire quilt using them!)  But there are many other brands available.  Again, see Soft Expressions.com or the Quilters Newsletter’s article “Fabric Sheets for Inkjet Printers” (Part 1: Jan/Feb 2007, No. 389; Part 2: Mar 2007, No. 390) that tested and compared the various options available at that time.

Using pre-treated fabric sheets is certainly convenient, but remember that the background color of the quilt label will be the color of the fabric sheet unless it is printed with a different background color.  We will talk more next week about designing quilt labels, but this is often my most important consideration when choosing between the two approaches to fabric printing.

Other options
Rather than printing directly onto fabric, another option is to transfer to fabric.  Again, there are many products available for this including Lesley Riley’s TAP Transfer Artist Paper.  Click here for instructions on using this product or watch videos at Soft Expressions.com.  With this method, images will be reversed so it is important to begin with a mirror-image of the intended quilt label.

Quilt labels can also be printed by hand using Pigma pens or other permanent fabric markers.  Look for fabric yardage pre-printed with labels or use stamps to create a decorative frame.

Embroidery can also be used to create beautiful quilt labels.  Designs are available for machine embroidery or simply stitch out your own design by hand.

With so many options, there is sure to be one that works for you!  After pouring so much time and love into making a quilt, don’t neglect to finish it properly by documenting it with a label.

Well, take this fruit fabric as an example.  Suppose I wanted to use it as part of a quilt label. 

Instead of sewing a border onto my label, I could scan the fabric and print it all in one.

Or, I could apply an effect called transparency.  I could continue to lighten the fabric until text would be visible on it.

This effect works really well if you want to use the same fabric as the quilt backing for your label.

Once our fabric is scanned, we can apply image editing tricks to it as well.  Take this animal fabric, for instance.

We could isolate the chicken…

We could turn him to face in the other direction…

We could turn him pink!

We could make him tall and skinny…

Or short and squat…

And we could put them all together in a funky chicken nine-patch block!

And these are just a few ideas of what you could do.