New Goal: Catching Up on the Last Step

Labeling Quilts

This week I was refolding a stack of quilts that had been piled up on an extra bed and I noticed there are quite a few that are not labeled. It seems lately I've been so focused on designing and executing new ideas that, as soon as the last binding stitch is tied off, I move on to the next project. No wonder I had this nagging sense of unfinished business with these quilts!

Very often when I've run across an unsigned, unique, and appealing quilt in a history book I'm left with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I'm grateful to have documentation of quilts from all moments in time. It's wonderful to be able to draw inspiration and lessons from generations of quilters for our own work! Still, it leaves me wistful that historians are left to play investigator and speculate on the quilt's origins and creator.

Today it is recommended that quilters label their work with their name, date, perhaps a title or an indication of the pattern name, and even the location where it was created. That's a lot of information for future generations to ponder, . . . assuming the quilt survives loving, constant use and other threats that textiles face.  

It has been easy to let labeling slide because I have been energized by the creative process. But now I'm thinking that forgetting to label a quilt is the equivalent of not signing a painting or other piece of art work. Putting your name on your work doesn't necessarily mean you have a burning desire to call attention to what you created. It could just be a way of owning it as part of your creative journey. The last step in completing the project.

So, I have cut rectangles, drawn out the words, and collected several colors of embroidery thread to get some labels done for these unfinished quilts. It will be a good portable project to work on when I'm away from the sewing machine and want to be productive. I have my work cut out for me, there are 7 quilts from 2021 alone!

I don't anticipate my quilts will end up in a history book, but maybe future generations in our own family will be interested in the details of quilts passed down to them.