I am realizing the Importance...

...of putting labels on anything quilted that I make.

Yesterday I got this awesome hand stitched quilt top. So awesome, that I had to drive back to the store today to buy 2 more. I washed it yesterday, hung it out to dry, and today am working on pin basting it to this sheet so I can quilt it to have when we go places this summer and need a blanket to sit on.

It's not particularly pretty - but very unique in it's own way.

And as I'm pinning it, I can't help but wonder when it was made, who made it, and what it's intended use was for. I'm also discovering the fabrics don't line up perfectly, there are some waves in it (I had to cut 6" or so off of 1 corner to make it sort of square), but I'm really liking it more and more.

The other 2 (above and below) I washed today - and I goofed on tossing 1 in the wash - a block or 2 totally fell apart - the remains of the fabric lead me to believe the fabric is the culprit why one of the blocks fell apart. But I will cut out a row, cut it down to size, and another picnic blanket will be in the works. Some seams also fell apart on me in the washing process - guess I should have quilted them before washing them to sturdy them up a little (or looked a little more closely before buying) - but I will do this one last, and make sure all seams are secure.

I'm not going to quilt any of these very fancy - I think just a straight line grid, or maybe wavy lines going across the quilt in both directions. I'll have to do some thinking on this.

But I do know 1 thing - I certainly don't want my kids to scrap a quilt that I put hours into - and for someone to have it 60 years down the road wondering who made it and for what purpose. So I will be making a bunch of labels like these, so I can attach them to quilts - or really anything - I have made and things I will make.

Kris