This is post number two in this “We’re All in this Together” quilt concept tutorial. See this post for the overview of this project.
Today I want to talk about how I made my letters. There are lots of ways to do letters, from using an automatic cutter to using a template to cutting letters with no guides at all. For me, a little bit of guidance was the easiest to do, but still leaves me with a free form look which I really love in a folk art quilt. Again, I am using scrap fabrics and just eyeballing the size. If you do a piece that’s much smaller than this your letters would need to be smaller, which may get very fiddly. However, I am never one to discourage someone from being creative, so you can still give this method a try. You could also decide to do your letters some other way such as embroidery. Remember- there are no rules here.
For my letters I cut a chunk of fabric for each letter and used my white Sewline fabric marking pencil to write my letter right on the fabric. You need to be sure you leave enough room for a seam allowance, which can vary from 1/8-1/4”. Since you also need to leave the space for the actual letter, I then will cut around the letter with at least 3/8-1/2” on either side of the line. If you don’t have a Sewline pencil, you can use a tailor’s chalk, or a white chalk pencil. It needs to be something that will eventually rub off, so always test before using.
You can also cut out the tiny spaces, like the opening in the e, but make it pretty small so you have plenty of room to turn the edge.
Below is an alphabet template I have in a couple of sizes. I’ve used them before and they make nice letters though they don’t have that free form look. Also, if you draw your own letters they will have the character of your own handwriting which I think is really nice. Feel free to mix up upper case and lower case letters. You can also try different styles of letters as seen with the ts below.
So now you can go ahead and cut your letters and start placing them on the background with the vine pieces from the last post. It might take a while to arrange them in a way you like, but do spend a little time on the composition. Also, keep in mind you’ll be adding leaves to the vine and perhaps flowers, birds, cats or any other animals to fill in around. Once you have the letters and vines arranged, pin them down. I always thread baste for applique when I have a lot going on such as in this quilt. I don’t like getting stabbed by pins or losing them in the couch.
For thread basting I like a long needle and inexpensive thread. I actually still have the very first spool of thread that I bought nearly 30 years ago. It was labeled as basting thread and I’ve used it for that purpose all this time. If you don’t have something inexpensive, use whatever you’ve got. It helps for basting to work on a table so you can be sure everything lays flat. I like to stitch down the middle of each vine piece, overlapping ends as needed. If you have two butt ends meeting on a long vine piece, don’t worry because you can cover that with a leaf or some other shape later. If you want to plan ahead for a long vine piece you can seam several strips together before using the bias tape maker.
Use a large running stitch to baste. I like to leave the knot on the top and when I get to the end of a line of stitching I just add one more little stitch and cut the thread (no knot). The tiny applique pins as seen below are really great for pinning before thread basting. They are so short they don’t catch the thread as much as you are working. So, get all your pieces that you’ve made so far and thread baste them to the background. While you do that you can consider what else you might want to include in your composition. Mine will have leaves and birds and perhaps some berries or flowers. You can also do a few sketches to try out ideas. Next time I’ll talk about doing the hand turned applique.
