Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Seven Ways To Name Your Quilt

When you label your completed quilts, do you give them names?  I do.  Here are seven ways I come up with an original name for each quilt.

1.  Does the quilt remind you of a favorite food?  I have several quilts that I've named for different foods, and someday I must make a chocolate quilt.  I named this quilt Watermelon because that's what the color combination reminded me of.

Watermelon

2.  Does the quilt remind you of a place?  I designed Aquarium to evoke the look of the giant tanks at the Baltimore Aquarium, one of my daughter's favorite places to visit when she was little.  Cider Mill got its name because the color combination reminded me of a cider mill my family used to visit in the fall when I was a child. 

Aquarium

Cider Mill

3.  Name the quilt after the pattern designer.  I named Blooms in the Snow after the designer, Bloom and Blossom.  Well, her real name is Roslyn, but I know her by her blog name.  She called the design Sweet Menagerie when it appeared on Moda Bakeshop but I gave it the name Blooms in the Snow in tribute to the designer (Bloom) and the winter-themed fabric jelly roll (Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda) I used for my version.


Blooms in the Snow

4.  Give the quilt the same name as the pattern you are using.  I made this quilt using a pattern called Shasta Daisy and could not come up with a better name myself.  So, Shasta Daisy it is. 


Shasta Daisy

5.  Make an indirect reference to the pattern or fabric collection you are using.  I used a pattern called Ginger Belle and a French countryside inspired fabric collection called Rural Jardin... 




...to make this quilt (still just a flimsy).  I think it would be appropriate to use a French phrase for this one and  Thelma suggested I use the word Belle in the name.  I like that idea so have been trying to come up with a French phrase that includes Belle.  L'Etoile Belle is a possibility but I'm still brainstorming this one.

The quilt to be named at a later date

6.  Sometimes the fabric used suggests a name.    My mother brought back some fabric from a trip to Amsterdam so the quilt I made from it is called Dutch Treat.  The quilt below used a panel of small floral bouquets for the squares in the center of each block, hence the name, Tussie Mussie.

Tussie Mussie

7.  Don't rule out random inspiration.  Occasionally, a name just comes to me.  Someday, I'm going to make a quilt totally from stash and call it Inventory Control



2 comments:

  1. I love that pattern called "Shasta Baby". Where ever did you find it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have just finished a winter table runner. It has two snowmen squares and the center square is a square that just has tiny snowmen all over it with a snow ice cream recipe in the center. I am having a terrible time coming up with a name for my table runner. Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you - thanks for taking the time to leave a message.