Thursday, July 11, 2019

START HERE

START HERE: Making Letters, Words and Snowballing

My name is Elizabeth Eastmond and I made this Quilt Abecedary.

I started this project with the intent of learning how to make letters free-form, or improv, as it's known now.  I used several books to give me loose ideas, and they are acknowledged in References.  I've taken Quilt Abecedary as the title for my Trunk Show, and when I'm home during the off season, I thought it would be fun to keep the Trunk Show going, so I've included my quilt images at the bottom of each page.

All images are mine.  If you want to use them, please write and ask for permission (available only for non-commercial use): Elizabeth  at opquilt@gmail.com

Basic directions for the Letters

You need a strong contrast between the background and the letters, otherwise the letters disappear into the background.  Watch out for “polka-dot-like” fabric, which blurs edges.  Example: if the letter fabric is the same tones as the background (like white polkadots on a colored fabric being used with a white background), it will look strange.

Strips for the Letters

I cut a length of letter fabric 1 1/2″ wide, and a length 2″ wide and use these in construction.   I use the wider strip on the parts of the letters (also known as the stems of the letters) that need a bit more visual strength.

Background Fabric

 I cut a length of letter fabric 1 1/2″ wide, and a length 2″ wide and use these in construction.   I cut the same out of the background fabric, but kept larger pieces of background fabric handy, as you'll be cutting rectangles from that.   I also cut a strip of 1" wide background fabric to use for "snowballing" on your corners.  This gives the letter shape and roundness.  Sometimes you'll use larger squares for snowballing.  Please make sure you are familiar with this term and how to do this technique.  There are some instructions below.


Snowballing



I cut my snowball squares 1 inch, then sew them diagonally onto my letters in order to form “curves.”


Here you see snowballing in its various stages: from sewn on (upper left), to trimmed (upper right), to pressed to the back (lower left and right). Because I’m not doing paper piecing and am going freehand, sometimes they are a little wonky, but when they are trimmed, they will be fine.


I generally start with a 2 1/2″ square for building the insides of most roundish lowercase letters (also called "counters" in typography).  Think of these: b, d, p, q, a, and so forth.  


To form your letters into words, you’ll need to cut 1″ strips as spacers.


Sew them in between the letters; trim. I always press them so the seam allowance is under the letter.  That way, it makes the letters come to the foreground and lets the spacers sink into the background.


I added a Chuck Nohara block here for a little fun.  Notice how my letters are all sort of wonky in size even though I was actively working to keep them about 6 1/2″ tall (they’ll lose some in the piecing).  That’s how it goes with these free-form letters.

I hope you enjoy the fun of making your own wonky, improv, alphabet.

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1 comment:

  1. amazing, there's no comments!!! i LOVE these letter blocks!!! "snowballing" yay.... who knew????? xoxo e.

    ReplyDelete