I’m a big believer in documentation and in keeping track. The last quilt I finished was numbered 1,162 since I started counting my quilts forty years ago. I figure there were about 100 before I started counting.

So I was pretty shocked when I found I had 12 unlabeled quilts from this year and it got me to think about labels.

At one point I embroidered labels with a pfaff.

Years ago, I had a gallery person remove labels from quilts of mine, because she wanted to be the only port of contact for people to reach me. That was before we all knew how easy it is to find anyone on the internet. Some of those quilts were stolen later before I replaced the labels. I have forgotten her name and her gallery. I’ve never forgotten what she did. She didn’t mean harm, but there are always unintentional consequences. There is no way I will ever see those quilts again.

I now make labels that are glued and stitched into the back of my quilt. You cannot remove them without permanently obviously damaging the quilt. Once I found this method, I never looked back.

Recently I found a method that makes fabulous labels I can personalize exactly to my needs. Avery labels used to have computer programs for you to use to print labels. I haven’t seen those in years, but they do have a service online where you can design labels either in batches or one by one. Printavery.com has a full-service label printing program. I use the 5264 6 label sheets for large quilts. They are 3.3″ x 4″. You can put both text and pictures on the label. I also use the 5263 10 labels sheets for smaller quilts. Those are 2″ x 4″.

The labels are all well and good, but a paper label is longterm useless. So instead I print my labels on June Tailor Quick Fuse Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers. These sheets are a regular size 8.5″ x 11″ piece of fabric with fusible on the back. You can print them and cut them into whatever label sizes you want. They fuse beautifully with a hot iron.

So what do you need on a label? Your name and the quilt’s name are kind of the basics. Then it’s a matter of intent. The quilt for your beloved child, or someone laid up in a wheel chair is personal. I’d whatever you feel the need to say. Uncle Bob, Christmas 2024, made with love. For your new baby Beth from Granny. Whatever.

Commercial needs are different. What I want out of a quilt label is to identify the quilt, and make it possible for someone to reach me if they need to. I also want a label they can’t pry off with a crow bar.

I’m working with a large body of quilts still in house, so I need an inventory number of some kind. That number is the next number on the list plus the year it was created. So number 1162-24 is the 1,162nd quilt I made, finished in 2024. Hopefully, I won’t screw up and put down the wrong number. It has happened before. But remember, I also have the name of the quilt on the label.

I use my studio name, Thread Magic Studio, because it too is an identifier. If they type that in on line, they’ll be able to reach a current address and phone number for me.

I used to pick on picture for the year for all the quilts. Now I put the picture of that quilt on instead. It’s an instant identifier.

I’ve debated the next part for a while. Currently, I have my shipping address and phone number. But things change. If I’m sending out an older quilt that might have old information, I check and replace the label. If I’m sending out a large quilt to an owner, I ask them if they would prefer a label with their contact information on it.

Should I add a website and an email? It’s not a bad idea, but there’s only so much space. I can’t personally read anything in size 9 type. I think internet information is more likely to change than physical addresses.

So this is what label sheet looks like. I’ll cut it apart with a rotary cutter and round off the edges.

Some Tips

• There is sew-in label fabric available which I do not like nearly as much. The fabric isn’t as nice and it doesn’t fuse. The packages all look much the same so check.
• This does require an ink jet printer. Don lothes them, but a laser printer will fuse the fabric to your printer. Very unhappy.
• You probably want to feed these sheets one at a time through the printer. They do jam sometimes.
• You can print anything you would on regular paper. But keep in mind what it looks like. The preview section on the program will you check.
• Clean your iron first. Or use a pressing cloth. The iron fabric tends to smear easily.

Is it worth the time? I find it so. I can’t keep track otherwise. But any quilt you make deserves to recognize you as the artist, and the information to find it’s way home.