Quilt Labelling: template trials

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

Last week, I took a bit of an unexpected break. I didn't post to the blog, I wasn't very active on social media, and I didn't do much sewing. All that is because I was helping my Mom get two new puppies settled into her home!

Poppy and Bruno are four months old and are a red heeler mix. They have settled in well so far and are getting along with Rosie, my parents' elderly dog, as well as my dog, Meara.

Meara and I will be going back to help again this week, but were home over the weekend. I used that time to get started on some more quilt label experiments and am excited to share an update!

Quilt Labelling

My last label update was back in May. At that time, I planned out the information I want included on my quilt labels and the layout I'd like to present it in. I also shared my intention of cutting custom stencils for these labels using a font made from my own handwriting.

While I still love this idea, I gave it a try and quickly became frustrated with the slow and tedious process of hand cutting small and delicate letters, so decided to buy an alphabet stencil instead.

I got this particular stencil sheet from a seller on Etsy called Mostencils, based in Austria. Normally, I try to buy from Canadian sellers, but most letter stencils are a much larger font size than what I would want to use on a quilt label, besides, the stencil is a really great quality and came with a cute bunny bonus stencil!

With this letter sheet, I am finally able to get started on my label making process!

I started off by selecting a scrap piece of fabric and drawing guidelines on it. It's hard to see in the photo, but the stencil is translucent, so I can see the pencil lines through it.

These lines help me to align my letters, keeping my words straight.

Once my guidelines were in place, I started testing brushes!

Initially, I had thought the sponge brush would work best for this, but the letters in this stencil are very fine and the wide foam brush wasn't very compatible.

My first attempt used way too much ink and turned into an illegible blob, the second one was much better, but the ink was still getting under the stencil and disrupting the lines. By the third attempt, I was using much less ink to avoid spill over, but the lines weren't getting filled very well.

After that, I switched to a fine paintbrush. After writing out the word 'Rainbow' and part of 'Quilt,' I felt much more in control. I was able to apply very precise amounts of ink and was experiencing very little seeping under the stencil.

After completing my test, I tried making a few real labels.

I typed up a sample of the text so I could see where the centre line would fall. Since I want the text to be centre justified, I thought it would be easiest to start with the centre-most letters and work outwards from there, typing this sample showed me which letter would be in the centre.

Now I'm ready to put it on fabric!

I decided to make three of this label simultaneously. This way, there is time for each letter to dry a little before I print the next one beside it, so I'm less likely to smear the ink. It also means I can pick the best looking label at the end, so if one looks really wonky or has a mistake, I won't need to completely remake the label because I already have a few extras.

I completed the first line with the quilt title, then got most of the way through the second line before stopping for lunch.

I'm really happy with how these labels are turning out so far, and am excited to finish them, but I did get a little frustrated with how slow and tedious the process was. It involved aligning the stencil with a single letter, inking, then cleaning the stencil and re-aligning it between every single letter.

And while working through this process, I thought of how much simpler it would be if I had a custom stencil for some of these words, like the phrase 'Designed, Pieced, and Quilted' or my name 'Valerie Anne,' which would be used on most of my future labels.

This got me back to thinking about making custom stencils. And if I were to custom order these common phrases, I might as well do it in a font made from my own handwriting.

So I've come back to my starting point when it comes to stencil making; I would like my stencils to feature my own handwriting, but this time, I'm hoping to take a digital approach!

I'm researching several Canadian companies that do custom mylar stencils, so hopefully I'll find one I'm happy with! If you have any experience with this yourself, I would happily accept recommendations and suggestions!

I hope to have some more label progress for you by the end of the Summer!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA