ALPHABET & “I SPY” QUILTS

There are many ways to make this style of quilt:

·     Letters can be appliquéd or embroidered

·     Objects and animals can be appliquéd or embroidered

·     Novelty prints

·     Include both the letter and an object beginning with that letter

·     Include both the letter and novelty print of an item beginning with the same letter

·     Two different pictures of the same object which the child has to match

·     This goes with that – foot and shoe, knife and fork

·     Use a single theme throughout your quilt (see note below)

Suggestions for Letters & Corresponding Objects:

A    Aeroplane, Angel, Apple, Apron, Ant, Astronaut, Avocado, Axe

B    Ball, Balloon, Banana, Bat, Bear, Bell, Bike, Bird, Boat, Boot, Boy, Bug, Box, Bulldozer, Bus, Butterfly, Button, Book

C    Cactus, Cake, Camel, Car, Carrots, Castle, Cat, Caterpillar, Chicken, Chocolate, Cloud, Clown, Corn, Cow, Crown, Cup,

D    Dad, Daisy, Dinosaur, Dog, Dolphin, Door, Dragon, Drum, Duck

E    Eagle, Ear, Egg, Eggplant, Elf, Elephant, Emu

F    Feather, Fence, Fireman, Fig, Finger, Flag, Football, Flower, Fox, Frog

G    Garlic, Giraffe, Girl, Glove, Goose, Grapes, Grass, Guitar

H   Hat, Heart, Hedgehog, Helicopter, Hen, Hippopotamus, Holly, Horse, House, Hammer

I     Ice, Ice cream, Igloo, Iguana

J   Jacket, Jack-in-box, Jaguar, Jam, Jet, Jelly, Jellyfish, Jeep, Jumper

K    Kangaroo, Keys, King, Kitty, Koala

L    Lady, Ladybeetle, Lamb, Leaf, Lemon, Lime, Lion, Lizard, Lighthouse, Lobster

M   Marbles, Monkey, Money, Moon, Motorcycle, Mountain, Mouse, Mushroom, Music

N   Needle, Noodle, Nose, Nuts

O   Ocean, Olives, Orange, Ostrich, Otter, Owl, Onion

P    Pea, Penguin, Pelican, Pen, Pencil, Pie, Pig, Pineapple, Pin, Pizza, Prince, Princess, Pumpkin, Purse, Picture

Q   Quail, Queen, Quilt

R    Rabbit, Racket, Radish, Rattle, Rainbow, Ribbon, Ring, Robot, Rope, Rooster, Rose

S    Santa, Scissors, Seahorse, Shell, Shoe, Skateboard, Snail, Snake, Snowman, Sock, Squirrel, Star, Strawberry, Sun, Sunflower, Saw, Surfboard, Sheep, Screwdriver

T    Tiger, tree, tire, truck, turkey, tent, thimble, telephone, train, teacup, teapot, tools, tomatoes

U    Unicorn, Umbrella, Unicycle, Ute

V   Van, Vampire, Vegetables, Violin, Violet, Volcano, Volleyball

W   Watermelon, Whale, Witch, Wizard, Wolf, Worm

X    Xray, Xylophone

Y    Yak, Yarn, Yacht

Z    Zebra, Zero, Zipper

Some suggested themes:

·      Animals - cat, dog, unicorn…

·      Games - marbles, dice, cards…

·      Fruit and Vegetables - tomato, orange, carrot…

·      Clothing - hat, skirt, shoe…

·      On the Farm - cow, pig, sheep…

·      At the Sea - fish, shell, boat…

·      Things around the House - flowers, keys, pins…

·      Sports – ball, bat, rope…

·      Fairytales - queen, dragon, castle…

NOTES

When choosing novelty prints ensure that the object to be identify is clearly visible. Busy prints can be confusing.

You don’t have to use all the letters of the alphabet – 26 is a very awkward number of blocks for a quilt.

Make it as simple or as complicated as you like but make it age appropriate for the recipient.