Guide · Printing on fabric
How to make a quilt label on your computer and print it on fabric
Short answer: lay the label out at its finished size with a 1/4 in fold-under allowance, print it on paper at 100% to check the size, then print it on an inkjet fabric sheet. Let it dry, set the ink the way that sheet’s maker says (most rinse or soak it), cut it out, fold the edges under and stitch it to a lower corner of the quilt back.
What you need
- An inkjet printer. June Tailor says its transfer products and fabrics are coated for water-based inkjet inks and must not go through a laser printer, which uses heat to fix toner.
- Printable fabric sheets. Cotton bonded to a paper or plastic backing so it feeds like paper. They are compared below.
- A rotary cutter, ruler and mat, an iron with a pressing cloth, pins, and a hand-sewing needle with thread that matches the label.
- A label layout. The quilt label maker sets the wording at true size and adds the allowance, fold marks and a cut line, free for one label at a time.
Printable fabric sheets compared
What each maker says about its own sheets. The way the ink is set differs, and so does how well the print survives washing, so read your pack before you print.
| Sheet | Sizes | Setting the ink | Washing |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQ Printables Cotton Basic 200 thread count, plastic backing | 8.5 × 11, 11 × 17 and 13 × 19 in | Dry at least 15 minutes, peel off the backing, soak 10 minutes in room-temperature water (distilled is recommended) and rinse until the water runs clear. “Heat ironing is not necessary to set the ink.” | By hand, only when necessary, with a mild detergent; no bleach; lay flat to dry. |
| June Tailor Colorfast Sew-In Fabric Sheets 100% cotton | 8 1/2 × 11 in | “Rinse with water and press to set ink.” June Tailor calls this the colorfast treatment and “highly” recommends it. | Hand washable. June Tailor recommends avoiding detergents. |
| June Tailor Iron-On Quilt Label Fabric Sheets cotton with a fusible back | Two 8 1/2 × 11 in sheets | Fuses to the back of the quilt; follow the pack. | Follow the pack. |
| Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Sheets, cotton cotton percale, paper backed | 8.5 × 11 in (21.59 × 27.94 cm) | If you rinse it, wait 24 hours after printing. | Jacquard notes that printed labels are not washfast and that inks vary; do a wash test. |
Sources: Electric Quilt, Instructions for Printing on EQ Printable Fabric and Cotton Basic product page; June Tailor (AccuQuilt), Colorfast Sew-In Fabric Sheets, Iron-On Quilt Label Fabric Sheets and FAQ; Jacquard, Inkjet Fabric Sheets. Last checked 8 October 2026.
Step by step
- Lay out the label. Type the quilt’s name, who made it, who it’s for, the date and the place. Keep the smallest text at 7 pt or more; the label maker warns when it drops below that. Pick a fold-under allowance: 1/4 in for a label you stitch down, none for a fusible sheet.
- Print a test on plain paper. Choose 100% or Actual size in the print dialog, never Fit. Measure the check square printed beside the label; if it is off, fix the scale before you use fabric.
- Set up the printer. Electric Quilt recommends the Plain Paper setting (Thick Paper if your printer has it), Normal or Standard quality, and feeding one sheet at a time by manual feed. If a sheet won’t feed, June Tailor suggests a cardstock or heavyweight paper setting, or a strip of masking tape on the back of the leading edge.
- Print on the fabric side, then set the ink. Let it dry, peel off the backing and rinse or soak it as the pack says (see the table). Lay it flat on a towel to dry.
- Cut it out. Cut on the gray line with a rotary cutter and ruler. The short marks inside the allowance show where the finished edge falls.
- Fold the edges under and press. Fold the allowance to the back along the marks, mitering the corners, and press. Electric Quilt advises low to medium heat with a pressing cloth on its printed fabric.
- Sew it on. Pin the label to a lower corner of the backing and stitch it down by hand. The Quilt Alliance suggests a whip stitch with cotton thread, and on a new quilt, sewing the label on before the quilting so the stitches go through it.
A corner label in the binding
Cut a square label with no allowance, fold it in half on the diagonal and pin the triangle into a corner of the backing before you sew the binding on. The binding holds the two long edges; stitch the folded edge down by hand. Set the allowance to none in the label maker and put the words in the half that stays visible.
How many labels fit on a sheet
The label size is the finished size. With a fold-under allowance each label needs more fabric, so fewer fit. These counts use a 1/4 in printer margin and labels turned sideways where that fits one more.
| Label (finished) | 8.5 × 11 | A4 | 11 × 17 | 13 × 19 | 8.5 × 11, no allowance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × 2 in | 9 | 9 | 19 | 25 | 13 |
| 4 × 3 in | 5 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| 5 × 3 in | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 5 |
| 5 × 4 in | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| 6 × 4 in | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| 7 × 5 in | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 × 6 in | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Allowance 1/4 in on every side unless stated; no space between labels, so neighbors share a cut line. Calculated with the same code the label maker uses.
There is no standard label size, and neither the Quilt Alliance nor the Quilts of Valor Foundation sets one. Choose it from the wording: a name, a date and a place fit a 4 × 3 in label; a message of two or three lines reads better at 6 × 4 in or larger.
Transfer paper, freezer paper and laser printers
Iron-on transfer paper is printed as a mirror image so the words read correctly once ironed. June Tailor’s FAQ points to the printer’s mirror image, reverse image or t-shirt transfer setting; the label maker also has a Mirror for transfer paper option. Fabric sheets are never mirrored.
Freezer paper ironed to the back of plain fabric stiffens it. The Quilt Alliance suggests it, or fine-grain sandpaper, as a backing when you write a label by hand. If you run your own fabric through a printer this way, the ink is not set unless the fabric was treated with a product made for it, so follow that product’s instructions.
Laser printers are out for June Tailor’s products, as above. Check your sheet’s pack before trying one.
Writing it by hand instead
The Quilt Alliance recommends an archival, permanent, fadeproof pen rather than an office pen. The Quilts of Valor Foundation names Sakura Pigma Micron and Identi-Pen as examples of permanent ink designed for fabric. To combine the two, print a label with only the border and write the words yourself: leave every wording field empty in the label maker.
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