The Name's A Game

Project X became Falling for Stripes

Lately, several people have commented to me that they like the names I choose for my quilts and asked how I come up with them.

I'm not going to go into why we should/shouldn't name quilts because well, I'm just not gonna. If people want to name their quilts, cool. If people don't want to name their quilts, that is just fine by me too. To each her/his own.

I have fun naming my quilts, but it wasn't always like that. There is one quilt several years ago that I named for its intended recipients because I just couldn't think of anything else. Then I made it into a kind of game and now it's one of my favourite parts of the quiltmaking process.

Pretty much as soon as I start the quilt, I start mulling over the name. While cutting, piecing, and quilting, I'll play with different ideas:

• The dominant aspect of the quilt e.g. stripes, bold colours, shapes, value shift (e.g. Falling for Stripes. Clockwork Orange, Jelly Belly).
• Plays on the pattern name, fabric line, or fabric motif (e.g. Seeing The Forest, Su{Brrr}nova, Just Me and My Peeps).
• Plays on words or popular expressions (e.g. What the FMQAYGQAL? started out as a joke, but it stuck).
• Current events (e.g. Save Big Bird).
• The techniques used (e.g. Snow Crab Nebula).
• Whatever random inspiration comes along.
• If I'm really stuck, I ask someone their impression of the quilt (e.g. Snow Crab Nebula).

Occasionally, the name pops out at me right from the beginning. In other cases, like Project X a.k.a. Falling For Stripes, it doesn't come until the quilt is finished.

Mostly, I just try to have fun with it. I also figure that I can always change the name, if I think of something better down the line.

How do you come up with names for your quilts? Any ideas to add to this list?