Pat Rosenthal Shares Her Label Ideas

A MONTH FOR HEARTS  (#2004-5-128) commemorated  a momentous month that year
1) my 33rd wedding anniversary –we just celebrated our 43rd.
2) my brother’s 2nd heart surgery – he’s still going strong
3) our daughter’s 22nd birthday
4) Valentine’s day
5) I drew the 8 of hearts in a challenge at the quilt guild

Hello Melody,

I always enjoy your newsletter and then remember to check on your blog.   I live ½ time on Oahu now and love to be tied back to Puget Sound when I am away through your blog and other’s on the internet. I wanted to comment on your “Labeling Your Quilt” information.  I have always labeled my work because my grandmother who made many, many quilts in her lifetime NEVER did put her name on any of them.  My cousins and I all have one or more but when some have been passed on to children or grandchildren by my non-sewing or non- quilting cousins, the maker (Gramma Katie),  has been lost.

Most of the younger kids have no idea anymore who made the quilts that are passing on because they have no idea the time and love that Gramma put into her beautiful creations.  About 10 years ago I decided to make a quilt for every child under 12 at the family reunion at Lake Chelan.  Every one of the over 50 quilts I have given away to relatives there has my label on the back  -AND-  every child has received a simple print out to indicate their place, my place and Gramma Katie’s place in our large family tree.

I mostly wanted to tell you about a woman I met in Bath, England  in August 1999, at the quilt shop there.  She suggested I begin to label and keep a log of my work.  I told her I already did attach a label.  Then she suggested (rather forcefully) that I start to add a log number to each completed piece of work, from small wall art to king-sized bed quilts.

January 2000 I put my first log number ( 2000-1) on the first piece I completed in 2000.  In January of 2001 I decided to add a running count number so I would know the number of quilts for that year and the total number since I started counting. My last completed quilt (which was donated to Oahu foster children’s care) was numbered 2013-14-332.  That’s 14 completed quilts in 2013 and the 332nd since I started counting.

I make a lot of quilts for charities and family.    I don’t have a long-arm machine so I quilt by the ‘divide and conquer’ method. Since January 2000 only 3 very, very large pieces have been sent out to someone else to quilt.   The circle, oval, square, and spiral templates some long-armers  use are wonderful to sew  around and then fill in with whatever design I like.  

Your books are wonderful.  Keep writing and I’ll keep buying.
~Yours -- Always quilting or thinking about quilts,
                                                                                                                                                                    Pat Rosenthal

ANTARCTICA NIGHT   (#209-2-248) made to remember a MOST fantastic vacation to Antarctica

Back of ANTARCTICA NIGHT -label-photos of me on a black sand beach-and Mom and Les and me at the U.S. Antarctica Station