Quilt historians in the future will be thrilled that we took the time to add so much information to the lables of our quilts. I have added my thoughts as I worked on the quilt to my lables. I have mentioned world and even celestial events. I have told of personal joys and sorrows. All these on a lable will add to the pleasure of owning one of my quilts in the future long after I am unable to tell their story. And after all, it is my quilt and I can fill the back with any thing I choose. I've earned that right. I am pained each time I admire a quilt and then I see the word "unknown". The quilts by Betty Ann Seeman will not be unknown and I hope with all of me that I put into them that Betty Ann Seeman herself will not be unknown. Betty Ann Seeman

I love your labels Terry! Good job!

For what it's worth, I've been adding information about the batting and thread just because the information helps me remember for another project as I'm experimenting with thread and batting.

Here are a couple examples of my labels:



I enjoy making the labels fit the project and the recipient.

Margo wrote:
Margo, I'm so very glad you do monitor the forum- thank you very much. You are a wonderful source of enthusiasm and information.

Hmm, you must be a true amateur- a lover of quilts and quilting!

Kathy

Anna, like Margo I'm not 'in the business', but my quilts range from quickly thrown together snuggly quilts for a charity to the odd art quilt that gets entered into shows. The labels very much depend on what the piece is intended for. A Linus quilt simply said on the back 'For a Football Fan. Enjoy! from H.N.', but a small art quilt had to have a label on it that contained a whole list of information, as stipulated by the organizer. I must admit that I have not managed to find the time yet to play with my embroidery unit, and things often get finished at the last minute, so most labels are hand-written with a permanent marker pen. My sons' quilts have a very small 'From Mütterchen with Love, 20..' in a corner, and similar for my granddaughter: 'From Oma for Evchen, 20..'

Now, if there would be any chance at all (and we'd start a colony on Venus before that happens) that I would have to stand next to one of my quilts at a major show and answer questions from quilters ('It took me three years, Dear!', 'I used Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin', 'The trapunto work is my own design.', etc.) I would definitely keep a log whilst working on that quilt so that I could answer all those questions. But then those people are professionals. I'm striclty (and very happily) amateur.

What I don't understand is...... going off on a tangent here..... that anybody wants to know how many hours anybody spent on a quilt. We are all different, some work fast, some don't, some are disciplined and spent 10 hours non-stop quilting, others have to change and do something different every half an hour, and - oh no! - some quilters have to work in order to generate enough income to pay the basic bills and just squeeze in a few minutes quilting here and there. Personally, I'm much more interested in why someone came up with a certain design. What triggered the use of vaguely Celtic shapes, for example, or what lead to the use of certain colour combinations (and don't tell me it's the old colour wheel, because according to that, anything goes, there are just different names for the various combinations). And going off on yet another tangent: Why do a lot of the prize-winning quilts have to be quilted so tensely that you can hardly see the fabric? That, for me, would be thread painting and not quilting..... Ok, I have waffled enough for one night. I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll just manage to get upstairs before midnight and so won't turn into a pumpkin.

Actually, Anna, I'm not "in the business".

I am only a regular (charter) member of TQS who volunteered to work with Sue to clarify some of the instructions in her first TQS BOM pattern, and after that she asked me to help with the others. I'm not on anyone's payroll, and quilting and monitoring the forum is just something that I do to keep from going insane!

I have taught a few classes locally, but don't do much of that any more.

I have entered quilts in a few shows and have been fortunate enough to win a few ribbons, but mostly my quilts are made to be used and loved to death.
Thankfully, the recipients are glad to do just that!

I think I get touchy about quilt labels cause it is the PART OF QUILTING I most dislike... do not know why ... just do.

I can understand how you need to label different because you are in the business. But I see a lot of quilts labeled like yours lately. I do not know if they were shop quilts or manufactures quilts.... so I might be out of the loop on how quilt labels are made.

For what it's worth, that label is not an example of how I label family quilts either!
That label was on a quilt was being used by TQS to encourage people to join TQS in order to access the pattern and to sell the fabric kits.
It was on public display at venues where lots of people were examining it for the entire year of 2011.
It needed a different type of label than what family quilts get.
But....every quilt I've ever made had been labeled according to how it was expected to be used.

I personally think the labeling of a quilt has gone .... WAY TO FAR

I put family stuff on the labels for the quilt I make... as that is who I make the quilts for... My labels read who the quilt is for when I made it... should say finished it because they often take more than a year. I also include who I am giving the quilt to and for what occasion.

THE information such as quilter/ long armer / fabrics GO on the flyer that is placed on the front of the quilt when displayed in shows. But I do not feel it is appropriate to have them on a family quilt... GIFTEEs do not care about who quilted the quilt but who made the quilt for THEM.

I will say I have never participated in a BIG SHOW or made anything other than family style quilts. I have never tried making the complicated SUE GARMAN / MARGO style quilts. Maybe I would feel different if I did.

I am not in the QUILTING BUSINESS. I do not keep track of the manufactures of the fabrics that go into my quilts. I just mix and match to the best of my ability putting fabrics that look well together. Maybe I would feel different if I worked in the business.

I do know that when I look back at the antique quilts .... I want to know who made the quilt / for what occasion and when was it made.

Lady Rags



.

Thanks! This is a good example for me to look at.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nancy

Here is the label I made for my "Beloved Beauties" quilt:



I included the designer of the fabric because the quilt is made up entirely with her "Beloved Beauties" line of fabrics.

And here is a tutorial explaining how I make my labels: [url]learn/projects/[/url]

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like my gut is on the right track. I will definitely include Karen on the label. I hadn't thought about the label yet so don't know if I would have thought of that on my own, so I really appreciate the suggestion!

Nancy

LOL....My son is an engineer, so I sort of know how you think, but copyright rules and laws can be really ambiguous.

I think that acknowledging Karen is important, and you might even want to make mention of her on your label! As for stencils, I personally think that falls in the same category as generic fabric. They are produced for the purpose of being used in quilting and other projects, and do not need to be individually recognized. Same is true for any background fills from Karen or Leah. They expect these designs to be used as part of quilt projects and that is why they put them out on public web sites.

If you make a copy of a design that is recognizable you would be smart to get permission from the original designer if you make it to be displayed in public.

Maybe someone with more experience can weigh in here????

Hi Margo -

Thanks for your thoughtful advice! I haven't had a quilt in a show yet, but hope to have my first this spring and I stress over the acknowledgements. I'm making a wholecloth quilt that was started in a Karen McTavish class and she will definitely be mentioned. I'm including McTavishing in the quilt in honor of the class. That part is easy for me.

I'm an over-thinker, so where to draw the line in the gray areas gets more difficult for me. For example, I'm using stencils to create the design of the quilt. Obviously, an artist designed the stencils and I'm using them as an integral part of my design, but I don't know the artist's name and I've never seen stencil artists acknowledged, so I'm guessing it's okay to leave that off. What about quilting designs? If I use McTavishing in a future show quilt, do I acknowledge her? I'm guessing not since McTavishing is recognizable enough that people see it and think of her already. What about other quilting designs that I might use? For example, I read Leah Day's blog. If I use one of her background fills do I acknowledge her? My guess is that if the fill is a significant part of the design of the quilt then I acknowledge. If it is one of many, then I don't. Is that right? What do you think?

I hope I don't sound nit-picky but I really do over-think pretty much everything I do and I get caught up in the little details (I'm a software engineer by day). Any suggestions/guidelines would be very much appreciated!

Nancy