ElemenoQuilt - a modern quilter's alphabet
If you've ever searched for an easy to piece, fun and modern alphabet so you could write on your quilts, but didn't find anything, I have the pattern for you.
Let me introduce you to ElemenoQuilt, a modern quilter's alphabet pattern that is your toolkit for any project that needs words.
Whether you're making personalized pillowcases for your grandkids, a wedding quilt or birthday banner, or a political statement, ElemenoQuilt has the full English alphabet and four symbols (a question mark, exclamation mark, plus and a period) so you can express yourself the way you want to.
Easy to piece
The blocks in ElemenoQuilt are 10" squares and easy to piece thanks to their bold, geometric shapes. They are traditionally pieced using just a few basic techniques, with no curves, FPP or applique, to make this alphabet accessible to more beginner quilters, too. It is labelled with 2 spools for difficulty, which stands for adventurous beginners and intermediate quilters, but some letters are definitely 1 spool friendly, too.
photo by Heather Derksen
Full alphabet
ElemenoQuilt has the full English alphabet, plus four punctuation marks or symbols so you can say what you need to say.
I created this pattern after releasing Holiday Spirit and having lots of people ask me for the rest of the alphabet. Instead of just making the remaining letters, I decided to put the full alphabet together in one pattern so it was all in one place, regardless of whether you owned any other lettering patterns I've released (or may be releasing in the future).
Leave me a comment if any special characters from other languages (or numbers?) would be useful to you as a pattern extension.
photo by Heather Derksen
How to use ElemenoQuilt
This quilt pattern is named ElemenoQuilt in part because of how young children sometimes think there is a letter in the alphabet between K and Q, called Elemenopee, but it's also a play on the fact that it is a set of elements for you to pick and choose just the parts you need for your project.
Each letter and symbol is a self-contained pattern with its own fabric requirements and cutting instructions to make that one block. So if all you need is a few letters, you don't need to read through a lengthy pattern or take apart the cutting instructions to find which pieces you need for your blocks. Just flip to the page with the letter you need, and all the information is right there.
The pattern includes instructions for the full cover quilt as well, if you'd like to make the entire alphabet as shown, with fabric-saving cutting instructions specifically for it.
Cover Quilt
The cover quilt for the pattern features all the blocks in a gradient of Kona solids from yellow to blue. It's almost a rainbow, but I thought I'd stay away from a full rainbow gradient for a change.
I chose to make each line a colour, going from yellow to peach, then pink to purple and ending with blue. The stripe at the top and bottom continues the colour scheme, being a shade lighter than the yellow letters, and a bit darker than the blue ones.
I used three colours for each line, making two blocks from the same colour. The pattern uses a maximum of a Fat Eighth for each block, so I used Fat Quarters and made two blocks from each FQ.
The Kona solids I used were Daffodil, Goldfish, Ochre, Grellow, Peach, Melon, Creamsicle, Honeysuckle, Camellia, Punch, Cerise, Berry, Dark Violet, Ocean, Copen, Regatta, and Windsor. The background is Kona White, and the binding is a 1/4" stripe I had in my stash.
The cover quilt was longarmed (and photographed) by Heather of Red Willow Quilts, using the Woven Hexagons pantograph by Molly Kohler.
ElemenoQuilt is available in the pattern shop as a PDF instant download, and as a printed booklet.
Project ideas for ElemenoQuilt
There are of course lots of projects you could make with letters from this pattern. Here are a few to get the creative ideas flowing:
- "His & Hers" lap quilts with names on them for a couple who likes to watch TV together
- A "Happy Birthday" banner to be used and reused as the kids get older
- Seasonal or special occasion table runners with words pertaining to the occasion on them
- Personalized pillows for the (grand)kids, or throw pillows with a family's initials
- Quilted totes for everyone in the family, with each person's initial (perfect for trips to the library, or the pool, etc.)
- and lots more...
So go ahead and express yourself! :-)