Sunday, June 11, 2023

eggplant alphabet, based on a design by Alyce Blyth, top completed

 
Eggplant Alphabet
81 by 61 inches
Top completed 2023

My 8th alphabet quilt.
Alyce Blyth has a free quilt-along on her blog Blossom Heart Quilts from 2013, Easy as ABC.
https://www.blossomheartquilts.com/easy-as-abc-qal/

It has delightful chunky modern looking letters for which I used eggplant-range purple batiks on a subtle horizontal washed greyed pale lavender ground.
(I learned not to purchase batiks online if I expect a specific shade. The ground was purchased for another project and was not what I expected. It worked well for this quilt.)

I pretty much stuck to Alyce's letters with a few alterations and construction changes.
I did re-scale letters from a 2 inch (2 1/2 inch cut) grid to a 1 1/2 inches (2 inch cut) grid. I also changed construction techniques on some of the letters. I resorted to my nemesis of paper piecing (freezer) for the X and the Y.
You can read about how I scaled down Alyce's pattern and how I framed the blocks here.

With this alteration, my letters measure 4 1/2 by 6 inches,  finish 7 1/2 by 9 with the background, and my framed blocks finish 9 1/2 by 11 inches.

20 Vertical sashings are cut 2 by 11 1/2 inches.
Three horizontal sashings are cut 2 by 54 inches
One horizontal sashing is cut 2 by 43 inches (goes under ABCD)
One horizontal sashing is cut 2 by 21 inches (goes above YZ)
Top left corner is cut 13 by 11 1/2 inches (goes left of A after horizontal sashing is on)
Bottom right corner is cut 13 by 33 inches (goes right of Z after horizontal sashing is on

At this point, the vertical length of the top measures 73 1/2 inches plus seam allowances of 1/2 inches, so 74 inches
The horizontal width of the top measures 53 1/2 inches plus seam allowances of 1/2 inches, so 54 inches (*61 once side borders are attached)

I cut 4 inch borders
Cutting:
74 inches for sides
61 inches for top and bottom
I will bind with the light.

With borders, top measures 81 by 61 inches
I try to take careful notes as I sew, but be aware I may make mistakes in my measures.

Again, letters were designed by Alyce Blyth. She gets all the credit for her delightful design.
Scaling down and setting are mine--use at your pleasure.


3 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Looks terrific! It has to be pretty exact to show that well.

Nann said...

Interesting letters. What really intrigues me is the setting. Abcedary (alphabet) blocks are often a challenge to set because 26 doesn't divide well.

audrey said...

Great use of this fabric for these blocks! Looking so good!:)