Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Quilt Label Bliss




 There's finally a label on my quilts 
that makes me happy.


I used this saying as something to simply work with
while I was figuring out how to do curvey 
designs with Word. I sat there and smiled 
while I looked at it and worked. 
 I realized that I wanted to smile every time I saw
my quilt tags, and that's when this stuck. 
I like it, and it makes me happy.


These little baby quilts were for family, and I
wanted something with a saying and a date.
I found this on Pinterest, and thought 
it was so sweet! It's not my poem.
,

There are oodles of places to find sayings for quilt 
labels, but my favorite is at Quilter's Diary.

One I want to try is, 
"Blessed are the children, for they
will inherit the quilts."

And another,
 "In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there 
was in me an invincible summer.” 
-Albert Camus

They may not be your cup of tea, but the important
thing is we put some kind of a label on each of
our finished quilts. You choose what you want,
but name, date, receiver's name, and laundering
instructions are a few to consider.

I have several quilts to go back and tag. I 
knew I should do it, but was not happy with
anything I'd tried. A friend has gone on and on
about how easy it was to use her printer,
and I had seen the tutorials on many blogs.

I finally gave it a try, and I won't go back!

Instead of listing them all, check out these
Pinterest boards on 'how to print on fabric'. 

I'm going to give you a 30 second walk through.
You need common freezer paper.


Cut a piece of freezer paper to the same size
as your regular printer paper. Mine is 8.5"x11".
Cut the cotton fabric you are printing on
just slightly smaller than that paper.
Iron shiny side to the fabric until it sticks.
I used a medium heat iron.



I have a Canon inkjet printer, 
and I use generic cartridges.
Feed your paper in with the fabric
side facing down.


Work out your design in any program you're
 comfortable with. I used Microsoft Word.
Space the document so there is room
between each logo for you to cut them
into tags, or however you plan on 
using them. Hit print.


 Seriously! How cool is that?

Here's the next bit that works for me. I use 
iron on interfacing to back the actual tag.
I frame the tag in a fabric used in the quilt.


Sides first, then top and bottom. I used 1.25" 
wide strips whatever length to match.



I use a non-woven pattern tracing material called
Do-Sew, and cut a piece the same size as
my tag. Cut an X in the Do-Sew, and sew
it to the front of the tag.



Clip corners, and turn.



It's puffy at this point.


Use another piece of fabric to protect your
ironing surface, and lay the Do-Sew side on it.



Steam the Do-Sew to 'shrink up'
the backing, and you have a lovely
quilt tag that says exactly what you want.


Hand stitch on the back of your quilt.
Finding a simple, inexpensive way to
label my quilts has been a thorn in
my side since the beginning. I'm so 
thankful to have found this method.

I'll share a sneak peak at 
my design wall.
More on that tomorrow.




Until then..
Come on, Doxie Girls.
Let's go sew.

Linking up today with~


Sew Fresh Quilts 
Freshly Pieced Modern Quilts
Quilty Thankful Thursday
Design Wall Monday
Needle and Thread Thursday
Thursdays at Pretty Bobbins

Thank you for the link up opportunity!






12 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Does the inkjet ink wash ok? I was told you had to treat the fabric with Bubble set. I gave up on printing labels for my comfort quilts and designed a label that I sent to Spoonflower (no affiliation) and got a yard for $18.00 that gives me tons of labels when cut up (Kona Cotton). I just love your way of sewing the interfacing and turning so no raw edges. I will use that one for sure!!

SarahZ said...

Your labels look great!

Ruth said...

Love that Albert Camus quote. I always leave tags to last and only add them when I'm giving the quilt away. Must do better!

Andrea @ Mouse in My Pocket said...

I love your labels. I got some printed at Spoonflower once, which I was very happy with. I'm very bad about labeling my quilts as well. I'm going to have to go back and do that before the show coming up this summer. That, and handing sleeves. Everything needs hanging sleeves.

Lorna McMahon said...

Your labels look fabulous! And I love that rhyme you found about reading a story and getting tucked in at night. Thanks for sharing your idea for making the labels with no raw edges. That's clever!

Jasmine said...

I love the look of your labels. Great idea to add sayings.

Sue Daurio said...

Love the labels, thanks for the quick tutorial, I'll definitely give this a try.

Sandra Walker said...

Think my comment disappeared into the ether...apologies if it comes twice. I'm a label "nazi" to coin a phrase from my daughters, lol, did a tip post on it about a year ago. You should consider applying your label to the backing before you layer and quilt your quilt, so that your quilting goes through it, further securing it in case someone ever stole the quilt and wanted no ID on it...even better is to make a PART of your backing! I do not always go this far, but I certainly have for those extra-special, dear-to-my-heart quilts. I have never tried using my printer though - great instructions!

Julie said...

Linda,

A friend of mine, Marlene, decided to go this route, and to test the colorfastness she threw the same label into every load of laundry she washed for a week. One teenager, two little boys, and Dad produce a lot of laundry! She saw no distinct fading, bleeding, etc. I trust her completely. I'll do the same here with my detergent, Tide, and I'll let you know.

I will say that I have read all the reviews on Bubble Jet Set and the Bubble Jet to prepared the fabric. The shipping cost stopped me from trying it. Thinking about this right now, I wonder if the PFD or PFP fabrics would hold the inks any differently. They are basically sizing and chemical free. I do bring ALL my fabric home, and run in through a wash load with Dawn blue dishwashing liquid. I have been 100% successful to never experience a fabric bleed since. Dawn has held up in testing to Synthrapol as equal to or better in the case studies I've read. Synthrapol sets colors. I'm not sure how that would affect new fabric before printing, but perhaps it does impact it. We'll see.

I am so fickle as to what I wanted on my tags that I was afraid to go the route of a whole printing. Also, the cost was a factor. I think figuring out the most economical way to do something excites me, and being able to have it on hand when I want it is another factor.

My friend, Donna, is to thank for the Do-Sew idea.

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed your tips. I purchased a set of fabric transfers and they are quite expensive. This appeals to me as one who likes to follow the 3R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or in other words "Be Thrifty" . I also like Sandra's comment about using the labels as part of the back in order to protect your quilt from being stolen. Your instructions and pictures are great! Thanks, again. Martie

SuperMomNoCape said...

Your new quilt label is great. I tried this once but wasn't happy with how it turned out. I may have to give it another try. And I love the blues in the quilt on your design wall!

Karens Quilts, Crows and Cardinals said...

Oops I think my comment disappeared too... I just wanted to tell you I LOVE the way your labels come out Julie. I shared a similar tutorial a year or so ago because I was frustrated with trying to print my own labels (by hand). I was never satisfied with how they came out. Anyhow - I love printing them on the computer. Thanks so much for sharing. Karen