I almost always add a label. I never thought about adding my signature. Neat idea. I do add my name and date. When I make postcards and gift cards by machine I sometimes write on them with a Frixion pen, then machine stitch over it. I then iron it and the pen disappears.. I guess the machine stitchers(like me) could do it this way.

I'm a new quilter and did not appreciate the importance of a label until my son & daughter-in-law moved into my grandparent's house and found 2 quilts stored in a closet made by my grandmother, her mother and her aunt. Their names and dates were sewn into the quilt. One was from 1894, the other from 1916 (the year before my grandmother married). Without the information on the quilt I would have never known the makers or dates and all that history would have been gone forever. And I hope my great-grandmother would be pleased that her great-great grandchildren would receive the gift of her handiwork 100+ years later.

Much food for thought. Thanks.

I always put a label on my quilts, but never thought of a signature. What a great idea. It might not mean much now, but should the quilt survive 100 yrs., I think those who possess it would be happy to have not only the information from the label, but also a signature to 'authenticate' it. When I see old quilts, I would love to know the history, and enjoy imagining what the quilter was like, how she lived, the occasion for making the quilt. I will never be famous, but with my quilts, I will be known by somebody in the distant future. That feels kind of good.

I don't want to preserve my bad hand writing, but I'm glad there are people who do as you do. These days, many kids are not being taught cursive writing in school, so it's getting to be a lost art.

I usually make a label on the computer since the pens are not permanent.

I just now started doing labels for my personal quilts.

The charity ones will still have one that gives the name of our organization. I've had fun doing the personal ones with embroidered labels--just made the first one a couple of weeks ago and spent some time yesterday making one. However, I'm not very interested in doing a signature at this point. That may change, however, as I learn to use embird better and better and may figure out how to digitize the signature. I'm not terribly interested in using either a pen (they fade as a quilt that was given to us had verses written in a special ink pen and with each washing the words got lighter and lighter) or t shirt transfers (they come off). Neither am I interested in hand embroidering a label--but if I can figure out how to digitize my sig--it is definitely something to remember.

I usually put an embroidered label on my quilts but I really like the idea of the signature on it. I think I'll start adding one. Thanks for the idea.

Mom3 - this is such a good point. Thank you for bringing it up and thanks for the youtube link.

Yes, I saw the pictures and was horrified.

I always put a machine embroidered label on my quilts, large or small. The information I put on is the name of the quilt, designer, name of the person getting the quilt & reason for gift, my name as piecer/designer, date made, LAQ name, name of DH as the funder of the quilt. I also use a poem found in a making labels book-Those Who Sleep- Under a Quilt- Sleep Under- A Blanket of Love. I really like the look of the machine embroidered label and also add embroidered needle/thread or a spool of thread/needle. I guess that everyone needs to do it the way they like it and not worry what someone else believes is the right way. So if you don't like labels go for it---

Well said!

I think you might mean your descendants... hee hee .. :D

I thought that labels detracted too, until I made a very special bed quilt for my daughter and I wanted to label it. It will be hers forever, I made it with all my love, and I wanted my sentiments on the quilt, not in some little gift card with washing instructions. I made sure that it was a nice size, cleverly positioned in a corner on the back, with special thread and backing color and done by Sewnsewer2[ATTACH=CONFIG]409810[/ATTACH]. It is like a little hug and kiss for her every time she looks at it.

I am now doing a quilt for my son's sweetheart and I think I will try the hand embroidery signature if I can manage it - I learned embroidery as a child and have not done it since! How hard can it be? haha.

I am with you on this, when I give a quilt away, I am done with it and move on.

I started signing my quilt labels by hand and use my given name, maiden name, married name plus date & city. Doggone it I want others to know who put so much work in that quilt! Most of mine are given to family & close friend. Just me.
I have two quilts my grandmother made and I had to just guess what year, one was in 1930 something and the other was sometime before her death in 1954. My mother's were the same way. She never signed any of her quilts. I did go back and label these quilts and put my guestimated date on them.

I also sign & hand embroidery my name and date fiinished on my quilts.

I do labels various ways. I have signed some, I have embroidered some, I have stamped some. I think it is a good idea to embroider a signature for a special quilt, but I wouldn't bother doing that for most of mine. It takes me too long to embroider.

I have used pigma pens a lot, and the quilt I gave my son when he was 2 (he is now 5) has been washed MANY times, more than most quilts get washed in a lifetime, I think :) and it is still legible. One of my first quilts that was labeled with a sharpie, on the other hand, is badly faded after just a few washes. Embroidery doesn't last forever, either. My husband has a quilt his grandmother hand-embroidered for him when he was a child, and some of the stitching has become frayed and washed away over the years, too.

Thank you - great idea. I will do that from now on. I think of my quilts as my heritage - maybe the only thing that I will be remembered by in 2 or 3 generations.

And since cursive is not going to be taught in schools any more, maybe I should also print my name so future generations can read it - LOL.

A label is to give information, so what difference does it make if someone machine embroidery it. It will probably last longer!

I have only been quilting 9 years, but I label the quilts I give as gifts & keep for me. I have 5 quilts I inherited from my grandmother - NO labels. I 'think' her mother made them, but who know. If there was even someone's initials hidden in the binding, I would probably know who made them. I have had 2 appraised and the appraiser said to label them with what I know, that the history begins with me.

Thanks for the video...very nice way to label....

For those of you that print out your labels with the computer--do you use the special sheets made for printing, or do you use freezer paper ironed onto muslin? If you print one label , this wastes the rest of the sheet , doesn't it ? or is there a way to put the rest of the label paper back into the printer to make another label later? I just can't figure out what would be the best way to do this. Thank you for your advice.

In the beginning... I hand embroidered labels with my "logo" (read very loosely :) a flamingo and my name, date and name of quilt style, if applicable. Then I made an even simpler label with only my name and date on my Bernina QE. For me, I feel the name is important for the one I have given a quilt to and the date for more historical purposes should my quilts live a long life. I just got handed down a Brother PE150. I haven't even plugged it in yet. But am looking forward to making labels for my quilts that will most likely go back to the flamingo, name, date sort. Does anyone have any info on the Brother PE150? I'm a babe in the woods on this and looking to learn.

I Understand what your saying but some of us can not. As for me I have tremors so its hard for me to write any more, so i embroider my labels.

Leaving your name on a quilt is the same as signing a work of art. I hope we all would want a signed original painting of a master. Believe it or not, our quilts are our master pieces. Just antiques and paintings have a provenance, our signatures, dates, and who it is for provide a tangible line as to how a quilt gets somewhere. We might not be thinking our quilts will be around 100 years from now, and perhaps they won't. But if they are, they are our link with the living. For me, I will be signing my quilts. I want my great great nephew, or daughter to know who made that blanket that comforts them, or delights them when I am no longer around for them to know me any other way.