Finished another top and thoughts on labels/quilt backs

I feel so prolific--two tops done in one week! This latest one is the quilt I've named "Lady's Choice." There are over 40 different fabrics in the top--all from stash. The colors were all chosen off of one inspiration fabric--a black Jacobean style print. It is not a quiet, calm quilt! And maybe that's why I like it so much. Finished size 96" x 96"--it's going on my king four poster bed.

I used one of my favorite rulers of all time to make the 1/2-square triangles that are in the quilt and that form the border. It's Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day 6 1/2" Square Ruler. It does fantastic 1/2- and 1/4-square triangles--really accurate and soooo easy to use.

Now I need to make the back--I call myself the Frugal Quilter (not to be confused with the Frugal Gourmet--he's got issues) 'cause I am almost compulsive about using up all the scraps and unused blocks on the back. Here is my stack of leftovers from Lady's Choice:

I print my quilt labels on my little Epson printer. This is one of the coolest things: my printer uses Epson DURABrite inks--these are pigment-based water proof, washable inks. (I've tested labels with multiple washes in regular laundry cycles with detergent and saw no fading!) I just iron fabric on to freezer paper and run it through the printer on a slow speed using the setting for heavy paper stock. I heat set the ink with an iron. It is a lot of fun to use neat fonts when designing the label! It's usually the label that gets surrounded by the fabric leftovers in some artistic :) manner. The quilt label, then, is quilted right into the quilt. This is something I picked up from Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.)--I couldn't imagine whip stitching a label on the back of a quilt ever again. Here are two examples of my no-scraps-left-behind mentality for piecing quilt backs and labels:

The top example is from my daughter's quilt--one star has all the usual quilty info in it, and the other star has the words from the bedtime song I sing to her every night. Kind of a nice way to record that memory--her baby song on her first quilt from mama.