Thursday, July 11, 2019

A


Uppercase A and lower case a


If you are new to this process, please read START HERE, and perhaps look at a few other letters.  This blog is meant as a whole, an interdependent way of looking at improv letters.   I started with the center square, then added bits of scraps all the way around, following the numbers.

Having said that, this very first creation -- a lowercase a -- came out too small.  


Bigger center yields a better letter. There’s a truth in this somewhere. This would be a great place for a fussy cut bit of print.  I learned from this that all of the counters (empty spaces in letters) should begin with a 2" square.  I may end up trimming as I go, but that's better than having weensy letters.



Climbing into the capital now.  Begin with the cross-bar, bordered by a square on top and a bigger bit on the bottom. (It should be a rectangle, as that carved out bit in the lower right had to be filled in with another scrap in the end.)


I placed first the left hand side of the A, figuring out what angle I wanted.  I put right sides together, sewed a 1/4" seam, flipped it back and checked if it was what I wanted.

It was, so only THEN did I trim off the excess.

Repeat for the other side.

I cut larger rectangles (about 4" by 8") and sewed one to each side of the A.  I took my ruler and placed it so I could see  how it would look and then trimmed it down to size.

Other truths: you need a strong contrast between the background and the letters.  More advice is found in the reference books.


I'm encouraged.
I'm moving forward.


A is also for appliqué, Amish and All is Safely Gathered In


Sunshine and Shadow, No. 10 of Finished Quilts



All is Safely Gathered In: No. 91 of Finished Quilts