Blocks 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, and 144 of 368

I knew ahead of time I wanted to add some blocks with letters to make words.  I love the art style taking typography and mixing it up to make words.  This project lets me play with typography styles and with quilting styles.  For letters you can do lots of things - transfer of graphics, like magazines - paint - bleach dying - applique - thread painting - the sky is nearly the limit.

For the first word play I chose 'create'.

 I love the mixed media look of the letters.

The C here was done with thread painting.  I like a trapunto like puffyness, so I took a layer of batting and some stabilizer with the letter sketched on it.  Using free motion on the back of the fabric I outlined the letter with a straight stitch.  Then, I cut away the excess stabilizer and batting.  

Then, I made my sandwich with a full square of batting and a backing fabric.  Free motion quilting around the edge in a wavy straight stitch and voila!

This R was made essentially the same as the C.  I used a different font, and instead of a straight stitch I used a dense scribble with more thread at the outline of the R.  By using a bright red thread on a dark background it makes a lovely new design.

 The process for the E's are in my process block about applique letters.  I am a big fan of playing with the decorative stitches on your sewing machine.  They can be used in surprising ways.

 The letter a was made with fabric paint.  This might be a new favorite technique.  I outline the process in this blog, but essentially you can vary the amount of paint for different effects.  I really love how this came out.  The bright but dark print background is a great frame for the white.  By using a large font and a simple letter, its very simple and graphic.

 Ah, the T is done in the root of quilting.  The T is paper pieced based on the pattern from the Quilter's Cache website.  You don't get a much easier paper piecing design than the T, and the straight lines in most letters lend themselves to paper piecing.

 This E is also from my series on applique letters.  A different font, different fabrics, and the blanket stitch gives a very different look!

Together these remind me of graffiti art.  You can expect to see other words in this quilt!
Linked to lizzie lenard whfmfg blog.