How to: Make a Quilt Label

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Jen

I used to attend a Modern Quilt Group that is local. I only went for a few months. It seemed hard to fit in and make my way into the very well established group. I am so glad I went for the few months that I did because I learned first hand a very, very valuable lesson. The lovely duo who run Suppose Quilt Boutique in Preston, Idaho came down and did a trunk show. One of the coolest things they brought was a doll quilt that was very old and had a crude label on it. Because this quilt that was over 100+ years old had a label, the mother of the Suppose Quilt Boutique team (I cannot for the life of me remember her name. 1,000 apologies!) was able to track down who the original maker was. It was a little girl who died early in life. The even crazier thing is someone in the quilt group was related to the girl who had made this little doll quilt. Her family had been searching for this quilt! How crazy cool is that?? It gives me goosebumps every time I think about it.

The biggest lesson I learned that day was LABEL YOUR QUILTS!!!!! It is NOT hard to take a bit of time to label your precious creations. Think of all of the hours you spend thinking over fabric combinations, cutting out fabrics, pairing them up, piecing your top, binding your quilt, not to mention the money you’ve spent on the fabrics, long arm quilting if you’ve chosen to do so, batting, etc. Please, please, please label your quilts. I am happy to share the method that works well for me, but please find some way that works for you. These quilts are part of your heritage you will pass on to your children and grandchildren.

Here’s what you need:

White fabric of your choice (I just use what I have on hand, which is usually Moda Bella 97)

Heat ‘n Bond Lite

Micron Pen

Start by cutting a square of fabric and a square of Heat ‘n Bond Lite. I cut my Heat ‘n Bond Lite about 1/2″ smaller than my white fabric so I don’t accidentally gunk up my iron (ask me how I know about this…….)

Write your label contents next using a Micron pen. These are archival quality AND washable. I always include my name and the date I made them. Sometimes I’ll include a little tidbit about why I made this quilt or something else I think might be worth noting.

Follow the manufacturer instructions and fuse this to a piece of quilting cotton that is about 2-3″ bigger on all sides than the written label. Here’s my big batch of labels I made to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

Next topstitch about 1/8″ away from the edge along your white label. This is also one of those quilts where I chose to elaborate a little more on the details of this quilt. (This is for my Metro Rings quilt.)

I choose to do this next step by hand, but if you have a machine that does a blanket stitch, awesome! Next I pick either a great matching embroidery floss or a great contrasting embroidery floss and use 3 strands to stitch a blanket stitch.

Once you’re done with your stitching, trim 1/2″ away from the newly stitched edge along all sides.

Then press about 1/4″ back to hide the raw edges.

Pin it in a corner of your quilt and whipstitch it down.

FullSizeRender

This really is such an easy step and truly an important one! I used to be really good about doing a label as I finished each quilt and then life happened. I enjoyed just making a large batch of 9 labels and it was very satisfying to know that I finally had truly finished each of these quilts!

#jensfillerblocks Maypole Dance

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Jen

This block is another traditional block that is so fun and can be so versatile, depending on your fabric choice and placement.

(4) 2″ x 3-1/2″ white

(4) 2″ x 3-1/2″ print

(4) 2″ x 2″ print

Place the 2″ x 2″ print right side down on top of the 2″ x 3-1/2″ white rectangles. Make essentially half of a flying geese (some call this an easy corner triangle). Layout the block, sew into quarters, then sew together. It’s another fast and easy block for your sampler quilt.

Mr. Chillingsworth Medallion Quilt

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Jen

I have wanted a medallion-esque quilt for at least 6 months, but the work and repetition of making so many of each block type just has overwhelmed me. I had this idea a few weeks ago to use Mr. Chillingsworth as basically a medallion and proceed from there, growing my quilt until it was a more useable size. There have been a few requests for info on how I did this, so here you go!

First Border:

Start by squaring up your panel. As you can see, mine was not printed straight and I had a tricky time squaring it up. I then added a border of black with gray dots (leftover from backing from my Tessellations quilt) to make it 25.5″ x 45.5″. Depending on the size your panel ends up being, you’ll need to do a little bit of math there. Guess bigger if you’re having a hard time and you can always trim it down.

Flying Geese:

(64) 3″ x 5-1/2″ assorted prints (I used black, gray, and various oranges)

(128) 3″ x 3″ white squares

Make your flying geese using your preferred method. Assemble 2 rows of 10 to go on the top and bottom of Mr. Chillingsworth and 2 rows of 22 for the sides. Pay attention to the direction the geese are facing if you’d like them to circle around like mine do.

Second Border:

(6) 3.5″ x width of fabric (WOF) strips.

Piece 2 sets of 2 together for the sides. Sew the bottom borders on first, then the side borders.

Economy Block:

(36) 3″ x 3″ for centers (here’s a great opportunity for some fussy cutting!)

(72) 3.25″ x 3.25″ assorted print squares, cut in half once diagonally

(72) 4″ x 4″ white squares, cut in half once diagonally

Use your preferred method for constructing an economy block. I like to do the top/bottom triangles first, press them toward the newest layer, then do the remaining two sides for each square. I didn’t take any photos of this step because I didn’t think that far ahead. 🙁 I imagine there are fabulous tutorials for constructing an economy block if you search for them. You will need 36 6.5″ economy blocks.

Sew 2 rows of 6 for the top/bottom and 2 rows of 12 for the sides. The proportions ended up slightly off for me and I had to add some white spacers on the ends of my top/bottom rows. The tutorial I found were supposed to be for 5″ economy blocks and yet I ended up with 6.5″. Instead of letting it bug me, I chose to make lemonade and just move on.

Final Border:

(3) 4″ x WOF

(4) 5″ x WOF

Sew the 4″ strips into one continuous segment, cut off what you need for the top and bottom borders. Then sew 2 sets of 2 strips for the side borders.

I hope that makes sense and helps you out if you’re wanting to make one of your own! As always, tag me on instagram and let me see what you’re up to!