Who made this quilt?

When I’m long gone I’d like to think anyone asking this question about a quilt of mine won’t be left wondering.  I hope they’ll easily find the answer  on the label. In her recent talk Dr Annette Gero  reinforced the importance of labelling, from the point of view of a quilt historian, and I’ve vowed to be more conscientious in doing this in the future, even with my more humble quilts.

I had to smile when I borrowed two of my quilts from my parents this week to display in a small exhibition of work at my club. I made these quilts in the last 7 years for my parents’ 80th birthdays, and the labels brought back memories of two very happy celebrations. This was my mother’s, and I forced myself to cut up some of my very favourite Robyn Pandolph fabrics for a special lady.Here’s the quilt label.

I made this bow-tie quilt for my father’s 80th after collecting plaids, paisleys and such for several months. Here are its two labels, created using photos and text printed on fabric.  It was a somewhat labour-intensive process involving soaking in Bubble Jet Set in the days before fabric printing sheets, but definitely worth it. Those are his wife (my mother), all his children, their spouses, and all his grandchildren. Helpers setting up our exhibition felt the labelling was such an important feature that we’ve pinned the quilts back so visitors can read the ‘stories’.