Label…..Label…..Label

If you have been a quilter for long, you have heard the importance of putting a label on each of your quilts.

I recently discovered that I needed to make labels for SEVEN quilts that were either being entered into a show or being offered for sale.

Since there were so many to do, I opted for the easiest and fastest route….

(IF you receive notification of this blog via email, the video will NOT appear and you will need to click into the actual blog to get to the video. It’s one of those “technical” issues I can’t do anything about!!)

I love that I now have all of these ready to go…..

How do you make your labels??

Quilt Label HELP….

I make it a point to put a label on all of my quilts!!

For many years, I have used my computer to design the label and then printed it onto “Printed Treasures” fabric….

I LOVED this fabric and always kept a stash on hand. The design seemed colorfast and the fabric kept the same soft texture even after printing.

BUT, I have learned that they are no longer making it…..BOOOOO!!

I bought a package of June Taylor fabric sheets……

….but they just aren’t the same!!!

The fabric is stiffer and much less flexible than the Printed Treasures. That means that it is really hard to sew around the edges to applique it to the back.

I was able to figure out a workaround for the last label that I made. I printed it on the June Taylor fabric, added a fusible web to it, and then cut it into circle….

I then fused the shape onto a piece of fabric that corresponded to the background of the quilt. Once fused, I sewed a line permanently attaching the label to the fabric.

I turned under the edges of the fabric…..

….and appliqued it to the quilt…..

In the end it looked okay, but it would sure have been easier to simply applique the printed label!!

I have found some other fabric from VV Graphics and have purchased a pack but have yet to give it a try.

I am giving a guild program on Saturday about using photos in quilts but I don’t know what fabric to suggest…..

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS??

Prepping for an Art Show…

I am so excited that “Bridge Over the River Kew” was accepted into one of our large local Art Shows!! I am even more excited because this is not a quilt show but an ART show!!!

As I was getting it packed up, I realized that I had not put a label on it yet, so I turned to my favorite method…..printing it onto fabric and then sewing or fusing in place.

I start by designing the label in a text editor or in Powerpoint. Then it needs to be printed onto fabric. My fabric of choice is “Printed Treasures”……

It is a high-quality fabric that has a paper backing so that it can run thru an Inkjet printer. I really like this product because the photos come out sharp and the hand of the fabric stays the same…..it doesn’t get stiff at all!!

The fabric sheets are pricey and I always hated using an entire piece of paper to print one 3×5 inch label!! So I came up with a solution that allows me to use all of the little bits of fabric!!

I first print the label on paper (normally in black and white) and then cover it with the piece of “Printed Treasures” fabric……

I secure the fabric to the paper using a long strip of clear tape…..be sure to cover all of the leading edge with tape (in this case I folded the tape over the top of the paper)……

….but also make sure that the tape doesn’t cover part of the area that is going to be printed.

Run this page thru an inkjet printer and voila……

….the label is printed and ready to be applied.

Often the hardest part is getting the paper backing off of the label!! But, I have learned that if I heat the back with the iron, the paper will peel off easily…..

Since this was for a wall quilt, I chose to use Wonder Under to attach it. I have learned that it will adhere and hold better if you round the sharp corners…..

A quick press with the steam iron……

….and the label is secure on the back!!

The next step was to prepare a hanging rod of some sort. I found one in my closet that was the right length and used a small amount of acrylic paint to color the ends…….

That worked well…….

…..and it is now turned in and ready to hang!!