Review: ‘Let’s Get Creative with Quilt Labels’ offers inspiration, tutorials

Let’s face it. We love our quilts and hope those we give them to or inherit them after we’re gone, will cherish the quilts and always remember the occasion for which they were made. But we’ve all heard the horror stories of handmade quilts being sold at garage sales, or the tales of quilt appraisers giving a family the news that the family heirloom from the Civil War actually dates to the early 1900s.

Our quilts tell a story, but often that story is lost with the passage of time and generations. Shannon Ginchrich Shirley is on a mission to end that with her book  “Let’s Get Creative with Quilt Labels.”

The book is half inspiration, half tutorials. The basic concept is this: You need to label your quilts, and the label should contain as much information about the quilt as possible. Now if you can make the label a beautiful extension of the quilt, that’s even better.

Gingrich Shirley goes beyond the standard name and year most of us are likely to put on our quit labels. She includes the provenance, a fancy term for the story of why and for whom the quilt was made.

The examples are endless. There are four chapters on basic, to circular, to specialty shaped labels, complete with a full color photo and description of why Gingrich Shirley chose that particular design and information to include on the label. This section gets a little long if you’re reading through it, but it works well as an inspiration gallery to flip through as you’re pondering how to label your next quilt.

The tutorial section is packed as well. There are complete instructions on how to incorporate orphan blocks, computer printed fabric and embroidery in your labels. There are tips for preparing the label to be attached to the quilt in a multitude of ways, including the pressed edge technique that probably most of us are used to, as well as using fusible web and interfacing for a clean look. Gingrich Shirley dedicates an entire chapter to using hand embroidery stitches to embellish labels, complete with clear, easy to follow diagrams on how to do the stitches.

“Let’s Get Creative with Quilt Labels” is a great book to add to your quilting library if you don’t want future generations to wonder just who the quilter was when the label just reads, “From Mom with love.”

Schiffer Publishing Ltd. provided a complimentary copy of “Let’s Get Creative with Quilt Labels” by Shannon Gingrich Shirley for this review.