Alpha Fish Project

Several of my grandsons love fish. When the Alpha Fish line from StudioE came out I was very excited to see what I could create for them. There are two free projects available from StudioE Fabrics for the Alpha Fish line. One is using the panel. The other ia also a quilt and it uses the letters A-Z as shown here to write the name MAX. This project is focusing on just the letters to spell out the names of two of my grandsons.

I purchased an A-Z panel,  I also purchased 1/4 yard of the dark blue tiny fish as a background. I measured the length of the boys names, plus one extra block and added a couple of inches for the length. My background is cut  9 inches by 34 inches.

I layered the background with a stiff product, such as Lazy Girl Stiff Stuff, and a backing fabric. I stitched a long piece of dark blue Velcro Hook along the top  front about a inch from the edge. I sewed along the four sides and trimmed all the edges even. Then I used a solid navy to machine bind the long strip.

Next I cut out the letters of the boys names, leaving as much margin as possible between each one. One is named Finch and the other Smith. So I cut out the letters C, F, H, I, M, N, S and T.

I layered each letter with Annie’s Soft ‘N Stable headliner type foam and another fabric on the back. I sewed along each edge of the block at the color change. Then I used pinking sheers to trim all the layers even. Velcro hook was added to the back near the top and you can see the stitches in this picture. I thought about just adding it to the back so the stitches wouldn’t show but now I am glad I did it this way as it gives the boys something to grab on to when removing and replacing the letters on the background.

I also cut out one of the extra blocks included with this panel. I stitched velcro loop along the back near the top edge.

Here are the names in the finished product. They are so large, I have included them as a thumbnail. Click on each image to see it large and clear.

So the fun thing for the boys is to remove all the letters and replace them. Since they are velcroed in place it is easy to do. For a wall hanging, they could be rotated and the velcro oriented differently. I would love to hear from you if you use this panel in this way, or in another way! It is very versitile.