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Here’s a free applique alphabet pattern!

You can use these to add words to any pattern. This post shows several different layout possibilities you can use with any Shiny Happy World pattern – including several that add words.

Add a name, a birth date, a gift date, animal sounds – even a poem or quote!

I especially love this version of the Wild Flowers pattern that adds a quote from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Let your imagination run wild!

These letters are skinny-ish, allowing you to fit more letters in a standard block. They’re also very irregular so you can easily just shave a smidge off individual letters if you need to skinny them up just a touch to fit in a block and don’t want to go to the hassle of resizing them.

If you do want to go to the hassle of resizing them “properly” there’s a post here with the info you need.

Also – after many requests – this alphabet includes capital letters, numbers, and some punctuation. Yay!

There’s a post here with more info about adding half-size blocks to your quilts – perfect for adding words. The nutshell version is to cut your blocks 6 x 11 inches, then trim them down to 5 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches so that when you sew them together with a quarter inch seam allowance they finish at 5 x 10 inches – exactly half the size of one of my square blocks.

If you need more than six letters, I recommend cutting a larger block. That’s what I did for cock-a-doodle-doo up in the corner of this quilt. (This sample uses an old, chunkier alphabet that I don’t use anymore – but you get the idea.)

So. Here are the super basic instructions. Find more detailed fusible applique instructions (with videos) here.

Download the pattern here. It comes with all the letters the right way (for needle-turn applique) and reversed (for the applique with fusible adhesive technique I’m showing here).

Trace the reversed image of the letter onto the paper side of your fusible adhesive. Roughly cut around it.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and fuse it to the back of the fabric.

Cut it out as neatly as you can.

Peel off the paper and fuse the letter to your finished piece. Stitch around it if you like. Some adhesives require stitching – so read the label before you decide to skip it.

Use this free applique alphabet pattern to add words to your quilts, pillows, tote bags and more. Add your kids’ names to everything they own. Have fun with it!

If you like this pattern, sign up for the Shiny Happy News! Members get a weekly email with tutorials, patterns, sewing news, fun stuff and things to make you smile. 🙂

Happy stitching!