Imagine if your grandchild or toddler cuddled up with the quilt you made, and with a click of a cell phone button, she could listen to the sound of your voice telling her how much you love her, and how every time she wraps herself in that quilt, it’s like you’re wrapping your arms around her.
That idea has been brought to life by the family who started Story Patches.
Several months ago, Michael, the owner of Story Patches reached out to me. He told me all about his family business that helps quilters make sure that the stories behind our quilts are never forgotten and that our voices are literally heard. Because every quilt has a story.
QR code
Story Patches are pre-printed labels that can be easily attached to your quilt. Sounds pretty normal, right? Now here comes the magic. Using the Story Patches website, or their mobile app, you can record your voice leaving a personal message to the recipient of the quilt, and that person can listen to your recorded message, using their cell phone and the QR code on the label, anytime they like. The good news?Michael emailed and told me that his little family business is exploding into something wonderful. He was excited to tell me that they’re being featured on Massdrop right now, with a great bundle of story patches. You can click HERE to see that Massdrop Special. I’m so happy for them.
I often think about the vintage quilts I buy. There are dozens of hours and an immeasurable amount of love, tears, hope or joy poured into it each one. They’re rarely labeled, of course. I sit and wonder about the women who made each quilt, and the history of that labor of love. And I’ll never know their stories.
Do you label your quilts? Every time? Once in awhile? Pretty much never?
I wrote a blog post quite awhile ago, before I learned about Story Patches, about how I typically make my quilt labels. I love my method. But the problem is, it takes awhile. I don’t know about you, but it seems that by the time a quilt is finally finished, I barely have time to wrap it up and make it to the event in time, much less, sew and slave over a quilt label.
Story Patches has suddenly made it easy for us. All you do is take one of their premade labels, write your message with a Micron pen (I like sizes 1, 3 or 5), fold the edges under, and either fuse it or stitch it to the back of your quilt for a polished, but personal look. You can lay a piece of lined paper under your label so you can see faint guidelines when you write your message, like I’ve done on this picture on the left.
I also like to have a list in front of me, a cheat sheet of all the things I need to include on the label, so I’m less likely to forget to include something. Here’s the cheat sheet I pinned so I can use it whenever I need it.
I find that it’s easiest to fuse the labels onto my quilts. I use a little double sided Pellon double-sided fusible web, because that’s what I have on hand, as well as my trusty Goddess Applique Sheet, so nothing sticky gets on my iron.
Then I just press and fuse it right onto the back of my quilt. (Don’t spray with starch! Your ink will run if it hasn’t been heat set yet).
After Michael and I spoke for a few minutes, I was sold on his idea, and his family business. He asked if I would design some of their pre-decorated labels, and I was thrilled to collaborate. I sent him several, and these are the two he chose to print right away.
Buntings are the universal symbol of celebration and happiness, and fit on just about every baby quilt I can imagine.
The second one, Continuous Arrows, has a more modern feel, and would work perfectly for just about every contemporary quilt. You can’t get these labels in the Massdrop special, but they are available on the Story Patches site.
If you give these patches a try, please let me know how they work for you! I provided you with a few affiliate links in this post (although I do not directly benefit from any of the links directly to the Story Patches site), because these are truly things I use and love. I hope you’ll love them too.
11 Comments
I’ve heard of these labels but I’ve never known anyone to actually use them. I like your tip for using lined paper behind the label as a guideline. I’ll have to try that next time.
I know! I heard about them last year, but didn’t quite understand how they worked, so I didn’t give them a try til now. But I love the idea! To be honest, I’d buy the cute predesigned labels even if they didn’t have the cool QR code feature on them.
I love how the QR code can go to a voice recorded message. And I don’t really label my quilts (bad, Yvonne, I know). Your printed designs look great!
I love your label designs! Congrats!
Thank you, Cheryl!
Right now having a QR code on a quilt which will take you to a recorded message sounds like a fun idea, but it’s highly unlikely the owner of the quilt 50 or 100 years from now would be able to access the recording. It is much better to put the information onto a label on the quilt itself, using a pen that will not wash out or fade with age.
I totally agree, Sandy. I like using a micron pen and heat setting it on these labels. It’s quick and easy, and I’m much less likely to procrastinate putting the label on by having pre-designed, pre-cut bits of fabric… the QR code is just a fun bonus for as long as the QR concept lasts.
Stephanie, are you watching me??? Did you know I’m just about to finish my binding and start thinking about a label? I do label my quilts and usually just do it on the computer and add a personal photo (that’s the scrapbooker in me) but I love this idea too! Your designs are perfect! I will check out the website and see what’s available to Canada. tfs…
Thank you Angie!!! I love your emails and comments. <3
This is a wonderful post about a great product. Your label designs are perfect, too. A friend of mine just used these on two high school graduation quilts. The recipients loved them and enjoyed the QRI link where there was a personal story in addition to the info on the printed label.
I got my packet in the mail. What a lovely surprise.