How to applique letters
 

Dear fellow quilters; I am making a very large quilted banner for our church (2 x 3 meters); and I will have approximately 2" tall letters on it for a Bible verse (both in English and Hungarian); plus some smaller (1" tall) letters; all in a celtic style font. I think I will be able to do the larger letters ok with either a needle turn or a fusible web type; but I am not at all sure about how to do the smaller letters. It needs to be a Celtic font (as our church is a Church of Scotland church), and the letters will be too small or too narrow to do appliqué easily. I am a novice with appliqué, but I think I can still do nice work. Any advice for me? Thanks! Carolyn

You could also look into fabric paints.

Paper pieced letters look so much better then fused on banners. Our church has many banners and the fussed ones look more like poster letters. There is a big difference when seen side by side.

I have never done appliqué letters but I love using Pigma pens (permanent ink) for lettering. Just iron freezer paper to the back for stabilization while you're working with it. It comes out looking nice and will last forever. You could even do the lettering using a stencil that way to get the Celtic look you want.

Have you thought of using felted wool then you don't have to worry about the raw edges with cotton fabric.

I like ManiacQuilter2 idea.

another option is fusible with raw edge. I did a large quilt with big letters (8") I fused them on then just free motion stitched around the edges of the letters with clear poly thread. When it was time to quilt, I quilted over the clear poly.

Just googled Celtic lettering and there sure is some beautiful versions available. I have always done the regular alphabet letters by fusible & then stitching around them with satin stitching or buttonhole stitching. Remember if you use the fusible method to reverse your lettering when you draw it on the fusible.

Using the felted wool would be a great option, as mentioned above, although it would also add to the weight of the banner.

Thanks, people! You have presented some options of which I had not thought. I will ponder these. It will be a little while before I get to the lettering. Carolyn