Quilt Abecedary

D

Capitol D and lowercase d

Capitol D was pretty straightforward: center rectangle, but make sure you get the parts on in the right order. I snowballed on the corners and declared it done–my fastest yet. I had fun choosing the fabric and fussy cutting the center. There may not be as strong as contrast in the fabrics as the others, but I think it will work okay.

This pop bottle fabric is directional, so you have to watch out for that.

The lowercase d ate too many pieces of chocolate and ballooned way out of size. I also didn't like the proportions of the stem to the circular part, also known as a "counter." The real definition is:

I made the lower edge strip fatter, and changed the proportions.

d is for D.C. Dots and Dithers and Doleket

D. C. Dots and Dithers, (No. 60), from here

Doleket, (No. 113), from here

E

Capitol E and lowercase e

I started this by a similar method to the letter a, if you want to refresh your memory, or the lower case b. This letter was harder to get the proportions correct. I changed the center square from 2" square to something a little more like a rectangle, flattening the square.

This is kind of roadmap, with numbered sections on how I built the letter. Since this is improv, I'm not providing measurements, but I do note tricks and tips in the post START HERE.

Here's another version of building a lowercase e:

The center section began at 2" wide by 1 1/4" tall, having been trimmed down from a square. The strips from letter fabric (pink) were cut at 1 1/2" wide.

Snowballing on those 1" squares for the corners, to give the letter some roundness.

Trim the excess, press towards the dark.

Trimming up.

I always like the look of a letter trimmed up.

I cut a rectangle and sewed it to the bottom of the unit.

The back strip was sewn on. Time for snowball corners.

The lowercase e letter, all trimmed up.

Here's how I put together the uppercase E.

I started with the green numbers, with strip #1 cut to 1 1/4" tall by 3 1/2" wide.

Strip #2 is cut 1 1/2" wide, as is strip #3.

Add on 2" strips to top and bottom, then along the left side. It always changes up after trimming, so if yours are different, I am not surprised.

I made the lowercase letter twice and remade the uppercase E twice as well. The problems were opposite on each: I kept getting the lowercase letter too large, and on the uppercase, I kept making it too small. I finally finished, and here they are:

e is for English paper-piecing, Empty Nest, Full Life and Elizabeth’s Lollypop Trees

Empty Nest, Full Life, (No. 56)

Completed when the last of the children left the nest and I went off to grad school.

Elizabeth's Lollypop Trees, (No. 132), from here

F

Uppercase and Lowercase F/f

I start by cutting my strips 1 1/2″ wide, laying them out like I think a lowercase f should look.

First up is the construction of the HST in the upper corner, using scissors as I go. I find that in wonky quilting, scissors often can be more helpful than always getting up to the workspace and using a rotary cutter. I cut off the corner and pressed it to the dark.

I’ve joined up the sections. I always press so that the dark letter part of the block sits “on top” of the background–that means pressing always to the dark. It kind of looks more "f"-ey now.

This is lovely skinny little letter–easy, peasy.

Remembering the hassles I had when I kept making my capitol E too small, I laid out with 2 1/2″ strips of fabric, with a 4″ by 4 1/2″ block in that lower right. I know I can always trim them down.

I trim as I go–that center arm (remember your typography terms) became narrower, maybe it’s now about 1 1/4″–I didn’t really measure but went by how it looked.

Trimmed and ready to join the stem, or the straight vertical stroke, of the F.

Almost there.

I used my E as a comparison as I went. Here is my F, before trimming.

And all trimmed up.

I could probably spell something now, I think. Bed. Cafe. Fad. Ace. Need to keep going so I can spell bigger words.

f is for fold, fat quarter, foundation paper piecing and free motion-quilting, Fiat Lux, Flying Through a Rainbow, and Field Flowers

Fiat Lux, (No. 57)

Flying Through a Rainbow mini quilt, (No. 153), from here

Field Flowers, (No. 222), from here

G

Uppercase and LowercaseG/g

I decided I was tired of the neutral “low-volume” backgrounds so decided to break out a bit. I used a large-scale light-colored print and a flat-looking fabric for the letter so there would still be some contrast. I hoped.

The first thing I did was create that little serif (anyone who is a graphic designer, please feel free to correct my terminology, but I hunted and hunted and that’s the term I came up with for that little jutty-innie thing on a G). I set my two 1 1/2″ strips at right angles, drew a line and sewed. Then I trimmmed and pressed it to the dark.

I’m using bold fabric, but that serif totally gets lost in this piece of fabric. If you decide to use large-scale prints for your background, be aware of where the print motifs fall in your construction. Like that double-loopy purple bit, above -- it obscures the serif.

So I re-cut that 4″ background square. Better.

I sewed on the bottom purple strip, then snowballed a corner onto the lower right corner. I sewed a strip on the top of this unit, then snowballed a corner onto the upper right corner. Lastly, I sewed a long strip to the left of that first unit, and yes -- I snowballed corners top and bottom on the outside.

The lowercase g begins with a small 2 1/2" square for the upper part of this letter. Border it on two sides (L) and (R), with 1 1/2" strips, trim. Then make the top and bottom, with snowballed corners (I cut 1″ squares), using a 2" strip on the bottom, to give the letter some weight.

It's almost like making an "o" except you only have three snowballed corners, instead of four.

The lower section begins with a rectangle, 2 1/2" high (although you may end up cutting it down). On the right side, border it.

On the left lower side, put a snowball corner made from letter fabric.

Repeat the steps that you did above, again, using a 2" wide strip on the bottom. Snowball on your corners.