Aphabet Soup: Say it in Fabric Letters

Wanda's letters

Whether it's a baby quilt, an art quilt that needs to say something or a journal quilt that depends on words for design, it's good to have a fabric alphabet. We'll explore some of the ways we can do that, both on and off a quilt.

The ideal thing is a beautiful printed panel of alphabet letters. These letters were a panel piece that was fussy cut sewed onto another  layer of cotton with bat between. Pinking sheers make the cool serrated edges. Our resident MacGyver, Wanda, made the batch above.

Of course the alphabet is an endlessly interesting toy, and every little kid would like to put it in their mouths when they're not spelling with them. So nice play with cotton letters are a great use of scraps and always appreciated.

Happy Together Creates

There are some great tutorials on making cloth letters. Jessica, on Happy Together  has made rag letters that have frayed edges that soften when washed.

Threading my way

Pam from Threading My Way has another tutorial that shows sewing the cloth letters onto felt. Both of these processes involve blowing up a letter on your computer to a 8 x 11 inch size and using it a a pattern. Choose a font that's a bit bulky and not to complicated, as you'll be cutting them out. Both of these alphabets are cute as buttons.

cut paper letters

There's also another way of cutting letters. This is an old primary teacher trick for free cutting letters out of paper. I found it in the New Zeeland Digital Library, but it was something I learned from my teacher mother. It's another great way to cut out letters.

Of course the same letters you cut separately for a child's toy can be appliqued anywhere.

Whatever you choose, it's a great toy for a toddler, a great use of scraps and a lot of fun for you.