So far, in this series about quilt finishing steps, we have looked at washing and blocking and examined the standards for a well-executed binding. The subject of quilt labels is so important, it was divided into three parts. Part 1 considered the methods and materials available for creating fabric quilt labels; part 2 was devoted to designing the label itself. This week, we conclude with examples of labels from some of my quilts.
Note: For reasons of privacy, some information has been obscured from the following photos. The actual quilt label usually contains my home address and occasionally my phone number as well – especially for quilts that travelled or were entered into shows. Click on the title or the label itself to see the whole quilt.
Be Still
For this cottage-themed quilt, I began with a clipart image of a cabin in the woods as the background for the label. The colors were changed to blend with the quilt backing fabric.
Fruitful
The patchwork Fruit Basket blocks in this quilt feature a beautiful multi-colored fabric print covered with fruit. I scanned this fabric and used it to fill each letter in the title of the quilt using a feature available in CorelDraw.
Heart’s Desire
With a title like this and a quilt filled with hearts, what better shape for the label? The background and frame for this label are both fabrics scanned from the quilt itself.
Butterfly Kisses
Again, the title of the quilt suggested the shape of the label. A clipart image of a butterfly was recolored to blend with the quilt backing fabric fabric using CorelDraw. Since this quilt was made on commission, I only included my name, web-site, and year of completion on the label.
Grapevine Wreath
This quilt is a sample for a workshop on using crayons to color designs on fabric. I found some adorable fonts on the Internet that featured actual crayons: KR Crayons and Summers Crayons. The label should really have my contact information on it, since the quilt is often lent out to guilds and quilt shops.
Trinity
The three primary colors of cyan, magenta and yellow plus black are mixed together to create all the hues in this quilt – hence the three colors used in the label. The quilt is made entirely from hexagon shaped patches, so it was only fitting the label would feature hexagons as well.
Bridal Tea
This quilt features Dresden Plate blocks, so the label is the same shape and colored with the same fabrics – scanned and printed. A much larger circle fills the center of the “block” to provide enough room for the text.
King of Hearts
With a name like this, what else would I use for the label? The quilt features a Card Trick block and the four suits of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. I found an image of the King of Hearts card and created a transparent section in the center for the text. Isn’t the backing fabric perfect?!
The Lord is my Shepherd
This is the first example of a label using fabric that I pre-treated myself using Bubble Jet Set 2000. As you can see, this approach allows the pattern of the fabric to show through and can be much easier to match to the quilt backing fabric. The label is a fairly simple design, enhanced with some clipart sheep which I recolored into green-hued sepia images. Looking at it now, I wish I had lined the label since there is some shadowing from the backing fabric.
Flourish on the Vine
This is my most recent quilt – so recent, it isn’t even on my website yet! You can see and read about it in progress here. I carefully chose the font “Flemish Script BT” to add flourish to the text and more clipart adds flourish to the layout. I pre-treated the label fabric but auditioned a variety of shades of green for the text and borders. Stay tuned to see the quilt revealed later this summer!
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