I like the "wonkiness" of the material. I agree with the "Where's Waldo?" type of educational aspect. I would use a solid border then finish as normal.

I agree with Rose, Julie and Jan. The panel looks great the way it is and a lot of cutting would make the blocks too small. A narrow and then a wider border should finish it nicely. :)

Just a comment on the backing. You are talking about a quilt for a 3 year old. I would not use anything light as it will show dirt, food, etc. I would take a color such as the red and back it with that.

That's really cute fabric. i think that I would use it as a center pannel. But if you could, I would cut out some of the letters of the name of the child & put it in a border.

I think it is cute as a panel and would also make a cute quilt if you used them individually. If you decide to cut them apart it might be fun to put the boy's name in the middle of the quilt.

just a thought you could possibly cut it up and spell his name if there are enough letters and that of maybe a pet or your name. Another idea into the mix

I would cut the blocks up or maybe 3-4 blocks,(letters) together and add sashing inbetween. I would use primary colors. Bright, bright colors.

I love the fabric, if it was me making this quilt I would find in my Ispy bin things that would go with A eg: A Apple B Bear make them into larger blocks of course you are going to end up with A larger quilt then I would use a bright multi strip fabric cut on the cross for the binding
Dale

I need help too. I can't find any Chicken blocks to make for my DH. We live on a very small farm and have even check out the local library 15 miles north but nothing to show color. I saw the chicken quilt t while back on here and have been looking ever since. Please help me if you can. Shirley Anne in Alger.

My first thoughts mirrored yours! ABC order and same size blocks! OCD; a blessing and a curse! :lol: :thumbup:

I agree. I like it the way it is, just add borders.

I'd use the panel as is! My grandchildren loved color more than organization at three -- and a bright panel was just as loved as something I had "created". As they got older, of course I made more 'personal' quilts for them.

Make it easy on yourself, and just add some borders to make it the size that you want your finished project to be.

I think Jan's idea would be great.

I agree to leave the panel in tact as is, add borders around to compliment colors. This will make a beautiful quilt!

I would do the same as Jan. :lol:

Since it is for a 3 yr old. And you have all these letters, I would cut them up and have them spell out the childs name.
Kids love their name. There are so many ways you could arrange the letters with sashing to creat a block with their name in it. It could be the focal point of the quilt. Then with the rest of the fabric you can cut it up for blocks, so none is wasted

I would leave it in one piece too, and quilt around all the letters, it will be beautiful and you can add borders to enlarge it some.

I would keep the panel as is and use it as an I SPY quilt having him search for the letters ( what a great letter lesson) Add a couple of solid borders.

I noticed that horizonally, it is even, which may allow for cutting up the rows if you want to make it wider by adding a sashing. Then you can add a border of the same or different fabric, depending on what you want the color theme to be. That is the point where you add the batting (wadding) and the backing. Then the quilting happens, followed by the binding...

Words are random letters put together. The alphabet is OCD. I wouldn't spend the time to cut all those little blocks apart and sew them back together! I MIGHT cut them in half from top to bottom, add what's necessary to even up the sides, add borders. Then I'd sandwich it & quilt around each square. A baby quilt doesn't call for rocket science.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions, I made a small quilt with a blue fleece backing - I will try to upload a picture!

I agree. Kids find learning to basics of reading and writing confusing enough without changing the order on them. To maintain some semblance of sanity, I think I would enclose the letters with various sizes of colorful strips to bring them to a uniform size.