a pile of finished quilts for the cottage

Of course getting a new cottage last summer meant that I "needed" new quilts for every bed (and any other possible surface).  And it just so happens my girls have a pair of bunk beds in the "girls' room".  Four twin quilts were in order!

I decided to do coordinating but not matching quilts.  They will all be in one room so I wanted a bit of a colour theme but not looking too....orderly ;)  Keeping it carefree! So, I planned two quilts using Briar Rose for The Middle Child's bunks, and then two quilts in a variety of yellows, oranges, pinks and greys for the bunk beds for Last But Not Least.  I got 3 of the 4 pieced by last November's Loon Lake retreat....but then they sat...and sat...

Well,  while enjoying a lot of this over the past few weeks...

....I have managed to baste, quilt and finish these three!

Only one of the Briar Rose ones done, but here it is:

Did a bit of a lattice, and quilted it with an all over daisy and loop pattern.  Bound it in some Flea Market Fancy green seed print and made a simple but cute cottage label, just using a Sharpie.

Then it was on to LBNL's quilts.  I kind of favour these, I admit.  First, a granny square quilt with some stippled quilting:

Loved how the orange binding on this quilt matched the front and AMH back so perfectly.  Again with a label.

And finally, a fun equilateral triangle quilt!  Straight line quilting along either side of the seams for this one.

A happy yellow Kate & Birdie binding and one of my favourite backings...love those big pink flowers! And another label!  Go, Me! ;)

And here are the two coordinating ones together.  Love how they compliment each other.

Phew!  Now it's time to sit back and drink some wine and have a rest, wouldn't you say??  Back to the lake I go!

quilt labelling

We know we should do it.  But it is the last thing we ever get around to, especially if the quilt is staying at home with us, right?  Which explains why, when I went to make a label for my parents' new quilt the other day, I took a tally of my quilts still needing labels...and the total was eleven.  Gulp.  Not including mini quilts.  So, about half of my finished quilts!

I decided to tackle a few at a time.  I like to personalize my labels, write a small inscription, along with my name, the date and location that is customarily what quilt labels entail.  So just and "OCD" tag doesn't do it.  I figured out a fun and easy way to make some professional looking personalized labels and thought I would share them with you!

First off, I am completely devoid of any computer graphics/computer scrapbooking talent.  But I recently bought an app called Rhonna Designs that is awesome.  Best $1.99 I have ever spent on an app!  It is meant for embellishing your photos, using a bunch of pre-made graphics.  But it also has a small selection of non-photo backgrounds, my favorite of which looks like lined paper.  There are also a bunch of great text fonts to choose from, which you can layer onto the graphics/photos/backgrounds.

So, my first label, for my Good Folks king quilt, was made just simply using the lined paper background and text:

My next one was for my parents' quilt.  First I made a base design, with the "handmade....etc" in the red bracket thingies, which I saved for future use, then I added the personalization:

Next I decided to use a non-Rhonna background for the label for my Retro Christmas Quilt.  I found this free Christmas lights background just by doing a simple google search, downloaded it onto my iPad and then uploaded it as a photo into the Rhonna Designs app to add the text.  Simple enough!

Finally, I downloaded this cute free printable off the internet for my Ghastlies Halloween Quilt that I personalized for a label (not using the Rhonna app at all).

Now, how did I convert these pdfs into tangible labels?  I bought a product called Printed Treasures by Dritz some time ago.  It is inkjet printable fabric that you can then sew on or piece into your quilt.  It comes in packs of five or twelve 8.5 x 11" sheets.  It is available online at Amazon, and also in Joann's or Fabricland. Not cheap, put I can get multiple labels per sheet.

So I opened a simple word document, inserted my pictures/labels that I had created (I did 4 labels to a sheet), and printed them out.  Trim to size, follow the instructions by removing the paper backing, run under cold water to remove excess ink.  Piece into quilt (if you are organized enough to do your labels at the time of making your quilt), or press edges over and hand stitch onto quilts after the fact.

I have used this product multiple times in the past, the fabric is a decent weight and I find them to be fairly colourfast.  Here is an example of one I pieced into the back of my niece's quilt, using simply Word and no graphics whatsoever:

And here is one I pieced into a larger label for Kiera's quilt, which was then hand stitched on after it was completed (my favorite and most likely way to do it):

So now I have a few labels set and ready to go!  Just need to plunk myself in front of the telly and enjoy some quiet hand stitching :) Hope that helped demystify quilt labels somewhat!

not my normal style....

I am a firm believer that if you are making a quilt as a gift, you need to make it to suit the recipient's style, not just make what YOU like and then pass it off on them.  I try to really consider the person's tastes, style and color presences....really, who wants to do all the work and have a "meh" reaction?

So, when it came time to make a quilt for my mother-in-law, I followed the same principles.  She is an amazing woman, not to mention a very talented crafter herself, who can sew, knit, crochet and has now taken up some quilting!  She celebrated her 60th birthday this week, so I decided a quilt was in order.

Being more of a traditional type of lady, I opted to try a log cabin pattern, from a jelly roll quilt book (can't recall which one at the moment).  I loved the inclusion of the little stars at the junctions between blocks!  The fabric choices is where I really left my comfort zone.  My in-laws' home has a lot of browns and earthy tones, not colors I gravitate to normally.   My MIL loved the colors....to be honest, not my favorites.  But, it's not for me!  Make for the recipient, right??

The back is just a taupe sheet, which is very calming as the top is quite bright.  For quilting, I did swirls again, like on my retro Christmas quilt...might be my new favorite?

The quilt has been gifted and was appreciated :) On to the next project!