Alphabet Letter Set

Before Christmas I was thinking about making an alphabet set of letters made from fabric for my granddaughter.  She's getting close to 2 years old and I thought that it would be a fun way for her to learn her letters and begin to spell simple words, when she is ready.  

I looked at what people were doing on Pinterest and Etsy and came up with a plan.  I found a font on my computer with basic letter shapes and enlarged the letters to 500 points.  Then I made the letters an outline instead of fill so that they didn't use up all of my ink when I printed them.

The letters are about 4 1/2 inches tall.  I cut them out, traced them onto pretty fabrics and sewed on the line.  I used disappearing ink so that after I sewed the outline, the ink would disappear.  

To make the "quilt sandwich," I ironed some stiff interfacing to the fabric.  This step keeps the letters from fraying quickly.  Then I put a layer of felt next and a white fabric for the back.  I sewed each letter along the lines and then cut them out, keeping about 1/8 inch along the edge.  The white back is so that she will know if the letter is backwards.  

For some of the letters, I made 2 or 3 of them, especially the vowels and other letters depending on what she would need to spell her name and some simple words.  I made sure that there were 2 "N's" and "A's" so that she could spell Nana!  

Today I made a small basket for her to keep the letters in so they wouldn't get lost.  

I quilted the bag and added some handles so she can carry her letters around with her.  

The fabric that I used is called Just Another Walk in the Woods.  I had a couple of layer cakes (10" cuts of the fabric line) and picked out cute, bright fabrics for the letters.

This week I'll stop by Michaels and pick up a board and wrap flannel around it so that the letters will stick to the flannel like the old flannel boards that we used to have in Sunday School years ago.

I can't wait to give her this gift and start teaching her the ABC's.  Would I make another one of these?  Originally I thought that I would make two sets for her, one for here and one for her home.  Now I'm not sure.  It took a lot longer than I thought to make the letters.  I could have easily made a baby quilt in the same amount of time!  Lol.