PIECING A WORD

 Here is how I'm going to piece a word for an upcoming project.  There are lots of ways to go about this.  You may have a way that suits you better.  This is only one method.

My instructions are to piece the word into an 18" square.  I started with freezer paper, mine is only 17-3/4" wide.  I cut an 18" length and drew a red line on one side of the short side to remind myself to add a quarter inch.

My word is 5 letters so I divided 18 by 5 to get the width of each letter - 3.6".  I then divided the paper up with pencil lines and drew each letter within it's area.

I cut the G from the square and then drew blue lines where there would be seams.  I hope you can see them.

I realized later I probably should have shaded the parts that would be the letter.

Then I went about making each section.  The width of each line could vary or they could all be the same, dealer's choice.  I started with the top of the G which contains two curves.  I tried several methods to make those, then decided to just make staight lines to indicate the curves instead.  I start with fabric pieces a lot bigger than I need.  I made a tracing paper template from my original drawing.  I cut out how the yellow fabric should be shaped and cut away the angle of the 'curve' and sewed black into it's place.

I added the black to the right.

I added the upper part.

I measured the next piece on the pattern and added a quarter inch to each side.

I made the next little section on the pattern and added seam allowance and sewed it all together.

For the next section I measured each piece from the pattern, cut out the pieces with seam allowances, first the yellow needed the corners to be black, I used the flip and sew method.  I cut two black squares, lined them up on the bottom corners of the yellow, and sewed diagonally down each, flipped the corner over to make triangles.  Then I added the side black section and the bottom black section.

Once I had the whole section together I added a long strip of black to the left side of the whole G.  I made that piece a bit wider than it needed to be, just in case.  It's always easier to trim it away than to add to it later if needed.

But I still had to make the bottom of the G have curved corners.

Then the same at the top, to give the G a rounded top.

I drew chalk lines where the 18" top should be and how I wanted the corner angles to be.

Using an oversized piece of yellow I set it on the corner.

Then I folded it over to match the angle line (somewhat) and finger pressed it.  Then took it to the machine and sewed down the pressed line.  Once it's sewn I cut away the undersides, leaving a quarter inch seam allowance and then cut away any excess on the top part.

And it's a G!  As you can see, there is a bit of extra at the top and bottom, and the left side.

I have four more letters to make and then I will sew them all together and make sure when that is done that they come out to an 18" square.