It’s finally here—you’ve finished your quilt! The binding is on and it’s ready for gifting or snuggling. Then you realize you forgot to label your masterpiece, and you just can’t bare to add one more stitch…Oh, I’ll get to it later, you think to yourself.
Yeah, right!
I come from a family of quilters, and the passing down of the tradition is obviously of huge importance to me. My grandmother, mother, aunts, and myself all quilt. I can fully imagine a day where my great-great grandchildren are digging through old boxes and wondering which quilts came from who and when they were made. I can imagine this and a million other scenarios where it would have been well worth my while to to take an extra ten minutes and sew on a label.
But what to write…?
There’s all sorts of fun things to write on quilt labels when you think about it: quotes, notes, favorite lyrics, or bibles verses…the list could go on and on! But there are a few things that you want to be sure to include on your labels that the future generations will appreciate.
10 Things To Write On Your Quilt Label
The Necessities
- The name of the quilt maker and quilter (if you have someone quilt for you)
- The name of the recipient, if it’s a gift
- The occasion (and/or dated) that you are commemorating with your quilt
- The Year in which the quit was finished
- The city and state where the quilt was made
Optional Details for Quilt Labels
- Quilt/Pattern Name
- Pattern Designer’s name
- If you are a married woman, it’s also good to include your maiden name as well! This makes it easy for future generations to figure out which side of the family the quilt came from.
- A special note, bible verse, quote, or poem
- Care instructions
I love this idea: Make your quilt label into a pocket and stick in some fabric scraps for future repairs! (This idea came from One-of-a-Kind Quilt Labels by Thea Nerud)
I hope you start labeling your quilts if you don’t already—it might not seem like much right now, but in the future, you’ll be glad you did! I plan on labeling the quilts that my mom made and I inherited—I think it’s important to credit her for her incredible art for generations to come.
For help with new ideas on quilt labels, check out my post of Creative Quilt Labels and my favorite way of labeling: Modern Quilt Label Tags.