Most quilters have heard the message about quilt labeling. Adding a label to your quilt that includes, at minimum, your name, and when and where the quilt was made, is one way to ensure that its history will remain known and preserved. However, according to the 2016 Handi Quilter Quilters’ Survey only 57% of the 24,185 respondents say they label their quilts consistently, even though 94% of this group said they believe it is important to document and preserve the history of quilts and quiltmakers. What gives?

During our Quilt Story Road Show lectures we always ask the audience: “How many of you label the quilts that you make?” A typical response mirrors the figure from the survey–a little over half the room raises their hand. When we ask a follow up question: “How many of you label the quilts that you own, but did not make?” the room gets quiet and there is mostly blinking and nodding. So, we continue our crusade to change the documentation habits of quilt makers and owners until our vision of No More Anonymous Quiltmakers is realized. (There’s even a t-shirt for this campaign now–buy yours in the QA web shop).

Purchase QA Labels on Spoonflower

Download the Label That Quilt handout

Let’s go over a simple method for making a quilt label.

In the past, the Quilt Alliance has offered samples of pre-printed quilt labels (example below) as giveaways at lectures and quilt shows. The labels are small, all-cotton fabric printed with fields for the most basic information.

You can buy all manner of pre-printed labels. Some are pre-cut, some are printed on yardage, and if you don’t like the choices you can buy fabric that goes in your printer to create your own custom labels. The goal of this post is to leave you with no excuse not to make a simple label and sew it on.

Here are the materials and the steps, now label it already! The two irons featured in this demo are made by Oliso,

Here are the options and steps:

Click arrow in top right to view slides.

Pick the Fabric

Any natural-fiber fabric that is smooth enough and light enough to write on is perfect for a label. This is a great way to use up your scraps.

Back the Label

It’s a lot easier to write on your fabric label when you back it with freezer paper temporarily. Some people also use a fine-grain sandpaper- anything to keep your fabric stable while you are inking in the details. I like to prep a bunch of labels as once–and long strips are great for this. (These came from the fabric panels for our KidsQuilt Kits).

Iron on the freezer paper.

Place the shiny side of the freezer paper towards the fabric and press using an iron set to medium heat. At this point, use an archival pen to write out your details, then sew it onto your quilt using a simple whip stitch. If you’d like to make your label look neater and avoid frayed edges–continue to the next slide.

Turn under the edges.

To turn down the edges on the label before sewing, start with the wrong side of the fabric facing up. Fold in and press each corner as shown.

Fold in each side and press.

Create mitered corners by folding in the length of each side by about 1/4′. Press.

Add freezer paper.

Turn the label over so right side is facing up. Cut a piece of freezer paper to fit the label and iron it to the label with the shiny side of the paper facing the back of the label.

Plan the label.

Use a scrap sheet of paper to draft your label. Include any bit of information that you know–maker, date, location, purpose, recipient, dimensions, fiber content, techniques, pattern, title, contact info of maker…

Write out the label.

Choose an archival, permanent, fadeproof pen versus a pen meant for general office use. Press the label again with your iron after the ink goes on to add an extra heat setting.

Peel off the freezer paper.

Gently pull off the freezer paper and you’re ready to sew on the label.

Sew on the label.

The best way to attach the label is to sew it on using cotton thread. If you are labeling a new quilt, you may consider attaching the label before you do the quilting–giving it added staying power.

You did it!

Time to completion: around 30 minutes and that includes time to shoo the cat off the quilt (three times). Everyone loves a soft, well-documented quilt. Now its history won’t fade away!

11 Comments

Cindy Sanders Soliz on April 20, 2020 at 2:37 am

Thank you so much for this!!!????
CherylBaxter on March 26, 2021 at 1:41 pm

I try to label all my quilts both old and new
- Amy Milne on March 26, 2021 at 2:18 pm
  
  This is so good to hear, Cheryl!
Pamela Kasky on June 17, 2024 at 9:00 pm

I did a quilt history of my quilts with my local guild recently and showed many of my quilts. As I was going through my quilts, I found at least 2 dozen without labels. (I thought I was pretty good about labeling them.) So now I have those stacked up and I’m making labels for all those unlabeled quilts before putting them away!
- Amy Milne on June 17, 2024 at 9:18 pm
  
  Good for you, Pamela! Thank you for posting because I think you are not alone. Many of us who take care to record the history of our quilts, find some in our collection that are still Anonymous.
Kathy Makin on December 4, 2024 at 10:37 pm

I mostly make donation quilts and never put a label. They are simple designs and I feel that making a label takes away from the thought that the quilt is FOR the receiver.
- Amy Milne on January 8, 2025 at 2:18 pm
  
  Hi Kathy, thanks for commenting and donating quilts! It’s true that the label often focuses on the maker, but there are a lot of other important pieces of information that could be shared on this tag for the recipient. These include the year made, materials used and/or care instructions, and a simple message about why it was donated (e.g., “This quilt was made especially for you, and I hope it makes you feel warm and cared for. From me: a quiltmaker in your community.”).
Barbara H. on March 17, 2025 at 2:25 am

Thank you for this great info!!!! It is very helpful!
- Amy Milne on May 9, 2025 at 3:38 pm
  
  Thank you for commenting, Barbara!
Barb Murray on April 27, 2025 at 5:31 pm

Hi, I found your labels at a Quilt store, I am not a Quilter but have tried it.
I am A Rug Hooker, and thought how perfect these labels are for the backs of our Rugs . We will include these as Giveaways at our next big Hook In next month.
Our Nova Scotia Guild does a label and archive for older Rugs , but we all know how quickly information can be lost.
Thank you for your preservation of Handcrafted articles ❤️
- Amy Milne on May 9, 2025 at 3:41 pm
  
  Barb, thank you so much for commenting. We are so glad that you found our labels useful. Have you discovered the Textile Talks series yet? It’s a wonderful free lecture series on Zoom each week at 2pm EDT. We are one of four fiber arts organizations who present–so not always about quilts, but other fiber media too. The audience connects from around the world. Join us! Here’s a link to the registration page on our website: https://quiltalliance.org/events/textile-talks/

Label it Already!