“Don’t forget to make quilt labels for your quilt!” My daughter’s words echo in my mind whenever I finish piecing a quilt and am in a hurry to start quilting it. The last thing I want to do is take time to make quilt labels for each of my projects. But, she’s right. Someday, a family member may want to know who made the quilt and when. (Or some stranger who makes a great find at the antique store! -lol)
I have a beautiful, hand-pieced quilt top made by a member of my family, but I have no idea who that person was. (See photo below) My grandma gave it to me many years ago, and I think she told me who made it and that it was close to 100 years old.
My Family Heirloom Quilt
A Closer Look
Look at the small, even stitches!
Grandma’s been gone for a long time now, and neither my mother nor I have a clue what she told us about that quilt top. And, of course, there is no quilt label!
When my grandma passed the quilt top on to me, I was not fully aware of the value of a quilt. Don’t get me wrong – I realized it was special, but I didn’t think much more about it at the time. Now that quilts are a big part of my life, how I wish I’d paid more attention to grandma’s words! I want to get the quilt appraised and dated, so at least I’ll know that much about it. But, sadly, the hands that made it will be forever unknown to my family because my grandma didn’t know the value of quilt labels.
A quilt has a life that goes well beyond the years of its maker. I think it’s especially important to remember that fact whenever you’re tempted to skip the label part of the quilt making process. Family quilts are special heirlooms and, in my opinion, far more valuable with important information about its maker safely secured to the back in the form of a quilt label.
Now these words can echo in your mind, “Don’t forget to make quilt labels!” -Cat (In a future post, I’ll share some instructions on how to make an easy quilt label.)