Quilted Letters Tutorial

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Quilted letters are a quick project that are great for toddlers and young readers! My four year old loves to play with the letters and spell his name and words he knows. I recently designed the Speak Love quilt and love how the letters are a great addition to gift with the quilt too!


Quilted letters tutorial


(If you're looking for the Speak Love pattern, you can find the digital version on Etsy and Craftsy, and the print version on Etsy.)

The first step is to make your letter and number templates. There are several options for this.

Option 1: Use premade letters like bulletin board letters.

Option 2: Use a Cricut or similar cutting machine to cut letters from paper or cardstock.

Option 3: Use a computer program (like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint) to make your letters, print them, then cut them out.

I used option 3 to make my own letters. I added "WordArt" into a document, chose a font I liked, and made all my letters the same size (my tallest letters are about 4" tall). I made all lowercase letters, numbers 0-9, and a few symbols and punctuation like #, &, and !.


Quilted letters tutorial

Once your letter templates are ready, gather the rest of your supplies. You'll need:

Letter/number templates
Fabric (1/2 yard for front and 1/2 yard for back)
Batting (18" x 40")
Basting pins or basting spray
Straight pins
Pinking shears


Quilted letters tutorial

I like to use a different fabric for the back of the letters than the front. It helps young learners to know which way the letters should go. I also prefer 100% cotton batting for this project (I used Warm 100 by The Warm Co.). The edges of the fabric/batting are left unfinished, so I prefer using natural fibers if a baby might chew on it. (The fabric pictured is from Sarah Maxwell's A Shout, A Whisper, A Text fabric by Marcus Fabrics.)

First, make a quilt sandwich using your fabrics and batting. I do this the same way I do for my larger quilts and use basting pins. (Basting spray is a great option for this too!)

I use blue painter's tape to tape the backing fabric right side down to my dining room table. I tape in the middle of one side then pull the opposite side taut and tape it down. Then I do the same for the other two sides. Last, I pull the corners taut and tape. (I'm using fat quarters. For larger pieces of fabric, I tape every 10"-12" along each side.) (You should probably press your fabric first too. Guess I should add "do as I say, not as I do." Lol!)


Quilted letters tutorial

I lay the batting on top of the backing fabric and smooth it out to be flat.


Quilted letters tutorial

Then I lay the top fabric on, right side up. I try my best to line up the edges with the backing fabric (I lift the batting edges to peek, then shift the top fabric if needed. Then I start in the middle and place a basting pin. I add basting pins moving out from the center about a hand width away. I smooth the top fabric as I go, making sure the fabric is taut.


Quilted letters tutorial
Quilted letters tutorial

Once the sandwich is complete, pin a letter template in one corner using straight pins. Be sure to place the letter about 1/2" from the edge. I was able to make my whole set from 1 yard of fabric (1/2 yard for the front and 1/2 yard for the back). Leave 1/2" between letters so you'll have room to cut them apart later.


Quilted letters tutorial

Using a free motion quilting foot (or darning foot), quilt around each letter template. At the start and end, I stitch in place about 3 times to lock the stitches in place.


Quilted letters tutorial

Quilt slowly, keeping the stitches just barely away from the edge of the templates.


Quilted letters tutorial

Continue for each letter, number, and symbol. If you are making the letters for a gift, make sure to include multiples of letters for creating the recipient's name. I also recommend uppercase letters for names and multiples of all the vowels. For example, if the recipient's name is "Sally", I would make two lowercase Ls and an uppercase S.


Quilted letters tutorial

Once quilted, use pinking shears to cut each letter out. Be sure to cut just outside the stitched lines.


Quilted letters tutorial

Enjoy!


Quilted letters tutorial

I love pairing these with my Speak Love quilt as a baby gift! I can imagine the parents have just as much fun spelling fun phrases with their new baby. I know I would have taken a picture with "I pooped!" above the baby! Ha!

Speak Love quilt with quilted letters

It's on my to-do list to make a set with fabric scraps where each letter uses a different fabric. I want to use airplane fabric for the A, bee fabric for the B, cat fabric for the C, etc. I think my boys would love the added "I Spy" effect. It would be a good way to squeeze in a little extra learning too! ;)

Let me know if you make any quilted letters!

(If you're looking for the Speak Love pattern, you can find the digital version on Etsy and Craftsy, and the print version on Etsy.)




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16 comments:

  1. This is SO clever! This is so much simpler than some of the ideas I have seen for plush letters for kids.

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  2. I love the idea of just quilting outside of the letters; what a fast time saver! Thank you for linking up.

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  3. This is a project I've wanted to do for a while, but I've put off thinking about tracing and cutting those letters. Your tutorial takes all that messy detail away! One idea that I would add is to make the vowels a different color/fabric/with trim so they stand out. Young learners would appreciate knowing where those vowels are! Thank you for this!

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  4. This is a great tutorial...I think I will book mark it and hope to find some time to get back to it.

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  5. Excellent tutorial! These are fast, simple, and so perfect as a gift for baby. Love your Speak Love quilt because it can be personalized so easily, and it's also fast to make!

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  6. What a clever idea, littles will love it! Cute baby, btw.

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  7. That is genious! My grand kids are young enough that I might actually have time to get one of those done before they are old enough to appreciate them. Excellent idea!

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  8. This is so cute! Thanks for sharing the tutorial with us.

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  9. What a fun idea! Thank you for the tutorial and for sharing on Midweek Makers!

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  10. Fantastic idea! I could do this for my adorable nephew and/or my godson. Many thanks!

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  11. This is a great idea! Love the baby on the quilt and yes, there could be a whole series of interesting comments made above the baby. The multi colored letters will be a big hit, with corresponding appropriate images on each letter. Have fun collecting for that.

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  12. A trick I learned a long time ago is to trace the shape you're going to quilt -- either a background quilting motif or something like these letters -- onto the non-shiny side of freezer paper. Cut them out and then just iron them down onto the surface to be quilted. They stick as if glued down, but can be easily peeled off and ironed down again. Hold your mouth right and you can get at least four presses before it won't stick any more.

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  13. Love this idea. Hreat to use up yhose those scraps.

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  14. Love this. Great way to use up those scraps.

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