Label Making Tutorial

The saddest thing to me is going to a flea market or some sort of sale and finding a love worn quilt that no one knows it's story.  It may be a quilt from China, but, I imagine even Calvin Kline puts a label in his product.  



If you are going through the process of making a quilt, please put a label on it.  You know it could give it more value.  Take for example, the Baltimore Album Quilts.  Those quilts from that area have a pretty pricey value.  Kentucky has a strong heritage of quilting, so maybe in the future quilts from Kentucky may also have a little more value because they are made in Kentucky.  Also, quilts are most times made for someone, daughter, niece etc., so there is an inherent value in leaving your legacy with a written history of sorts for the family to share.  So, that being said, here is how I like to make a label:


What you need to make a hand made label:
1.  Finished Quilt
2.  Freezer Paper, you can find this at the grocery store
3.  Archival quality, acid free pens
4.  100% cotton fabric

How you make the label:
1.  Iron your 100% cotton material.
2.  Write out your label information on a separate piece of paper.  Once you begin writing the message on the fabric using the fabric pens, you cannot erase it.  So, no in advance what you would like to say. 
3.  Cut the freezer paper the size of the finished label. 
4.  Using the PLASTIC COATED side of the freezer paper, on the wrong side of the fabric, iron it on, using the cotton setting.  If you make a mistake, and iron it to the right side, simply peal it off and iron it to the correct wrong side. 
5.  The fabric should be one half inch larger than the freezer paper for turning under and pressing to clean finish your label.  

After you have thought out what you would like to write, use the acid free pens to write on the right side of fabric with the freezer paper plastic coated side ironed on the wrong side of the label and the edges are clean finished (1/2 inch of fabric turned under and pressed).  

Turn under and press again, the 1/2 inch of fabric to clean finish the edges of the label. 


Peal off the freezer paper. 


I like to put my labels on the lower right hand corners of the quilts I make.  Using a needle and thread, you next whip stitch the label in place, going over it twice for added security.  


There you have, one of my preferred methods of label making.