Did you know that collage quilt projects can take several forms? I love making art quilts but banners and pillows are also an option!

I recently had my granddaughter, Melanie, involved in a banner for her room. Big sister, Zelie, also helped! After printing off each letter of her name, we traced them individually onto pattern ease. I had so many pretty fused motifs in my stash from previous projects we went to work laying out (overlapping and underlapping) bright-colored flowers (mostly Kaffe Fassett fabric), birds, a couple of tuna cans (vintage Tula Pink), etc. Since it is a small project, we laid the letters on a table, took the paper backing off the motifs, and applied the tacky pieces. Afterwards, there was a final fuse and I cut out each letter. I used the same light blue background fabric (2017 Seeds collection by Cori Dantini, a Blend Fabrics) for each letter and applied fabric fusible glue to the bottom edges of the letters to adhere to the fabric squares.

Instead of batting, I used Pellon Fusible Fleece (987F) and fused each individual letter square with fusible fleece. Next, I layered the top, fleece and backing and machine-quilted around the motifs and outside edges of each letter to give it a little dimension.

Finally, I made binding using 2-1/4″ strips for machine sewing the binding to the sides and bottom of each letter square. I made extra binding to link the top edges together allowing for a long tail on each side. For the top edge, I folded the binding twice and sewed the left-side of the tail maybe 8 inches long, top edges of each letter, and finally, the right-side of the tail about 8 inches long. I kept the distance between each letter small since her name is so long.

My favorite letter is the “N” with the hummingbird. What is your favorite letter?