UFO-rphanage for Quilters I Spy Quilts Hints

Updated: April 21, 2011

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Overview: I Spy Quilts are a very popular choice for baby quilts, and can be done in a variety of ways. Each block can be an appliqued representation of the letter it represents, including the letter or not as the creator prefers. Each block can be a novelty print that shows the object, animal, etc. it represents. You can also do a 'concentration' quilt, where you have two squares for each letter, matching, or not, mixed throughout the quilt and the child can help match them up by the letter they start with. You can also do this by having a square with the letter on it, and a separate square with the print or applique which the child could match up. If you chose the variation including the alphabet, you might consider having all the letters around the edge or at the bottom so the child doesn't mistakenly connect them with the nearby squares.

Choosing the Style of Blocks: Once you choose the form of your I Spy Quilt, then begins the adventurous journey of finding the blocks. You can find paper pieced blocks of almost any item, so if you enjoy paper piecing that is certainly an option. You can also find lots of ideas for your applique, including coloring books. You could do a redwork or bluework set of blocks. Photo prints are an option too. If you choose the novelty print option, it may take a bit of searching for all the prints.

If You Choose Novelty Prints:

Choose prints that are not too busy. If it is a jungle print for example, is the animal clearly visible amid the jungle? If not, you might consider cutting out the image and appliqueing it to another background.

Avoid Confusion: When choosing your prints, be careful not to over-do in a way that might confuse a young child. For instance, having a lion, tiger, cat, and jaguar might confuse, as might a chicken, duck, goose, parrot, and bird, or a horse, zebra, and donkey, in the same quilt. Of course, this depends on the age of the child, on the prints you use, and the environment the child is raised in. In some cases having similar blocks might be a learning tool. Just think it through as you choose your fabrics.

Don't Cut Too Soon: Do not cut your blocks to size until you have all your prints. Then measure the largest item to be fussy cut, and work the other blocks to that size. In some cases, you have to cut smaller than that to isolate an item properly, but just add borders to the fussy cut item to bring it up to size. (In my case, when I finally found a 'J' in a jet plane print, the planes were the largest item, and if I'd precut the other squares, I'd have been adding borders to *all* the precut squares, then making the jet square look out of place.

Letter Ideas: A chart follows with ideas for each letter that might help you keep an eye out for the prints you need. You might also consider swapping with friends locally, at a guild, or on-line.

Letter		Ideas:
A		Apple, ant, airplane, angel, artichoke, apron, ark, armadillo, angelfish.
B		Blue, ball, bulldozer, bear, bell, bus, boat, bug, balloon, bat, basket, box, bicycle, bonnet, bluebonnet, blueberry, buffalo, bird, butterfly, button, banana, boot, ballerina, bone.
C		Car, cat, camel, coat, crayon, cow, cloud, cookie, chocolate, cranberry, cowboy, cup, candy, cake, coffee, chocolate, cherry, cups, computer, castle, chicken, coffee, carrots, corn, cucumbers, cabbage, clown, cactus.
D		Dog, duck, door, daddy (photo print), dinosaur, dragon, dolphin, duck, drum.
E		Elephant, eagle, elf, egg, eggplant, emu.
F		Frog, feather, fox, fireman, finger, flower, football, flag, flamingo, fence, fiddle.
G		Green, grass, gorilla, giraffe, goose, grapes, guitars, glove, garlic.
H		Hat, heart, holly, hair, horse, house, helicopter, hippo, hedgehog.
I		Ice cream, ice (skating)(cube), igloo, iguana.
J		Jack-o-lantern, jacket, jack-in-box, (family first name starting with J), jet (plane), jellyfish, jelly, jaguar, jeep, jam.
K		King, kitty, koala, kangaroo, keys.
L		Lion, lemon, lime, lizard, leaf, lighthouse, lamb, lobster, lady bug.
M		Monkey, marbles, money, music, moon, motorcycle, mountain, mommy (photo print), mitten, mouse, mushrooms, moose.
N		Nickel, needle, nose, newt, neon tetra, nuts, noodle, narcissus, nymphs, nautilus.
O		Ocean, owl, otter, ox, orange, olives, ostrich.
P		Purple, pickle, penny, princess, prince, pink, piggy, pie, pocket, pencil, pen, pineapple, penguin, pants, pelican, Pegasus, pepper, pizza, pumpkin, purse, peas, pine cone.
Q		Queen, quilt, quail.
R		Red, robot, rainbow, rose, ring, ribbon, rattle, radishes, rabbit.
S		Santa, strawberry, skate, sled, sock, squirrel, sun, snake, sunflower, snowman, shoes, scissors, skunk, star, shamrock, sunshine, sea shell, sand-dollar, surf-board, skate-board, starfish, seahorse, snail.
T		Tiger, tree, tire, truck, turkey, tent, thread, thimble, telephone, train, tea cup, teapot, tools, tomatoes.
U		Umbrella, unicorn.
V		Van, (family first name child knows starting with V), volleyball, vegetables, volcano, violin, vampire.
W		Watermelon, whale, worm, wizard.
X		Xylophone, x-ray.
Y		Yarn, yellow, yucca, yak.
Z		Zebra, zipper, zero.

Hard to find Letters: The letters that most have trouble finding a novelty print for are:J, K, N, Q, X, and Y. Do you have ideas to help with these letters? If so, please share them!

Q - Queen - Story book prints, medieval prints, and playing card prints.
Q - Quilt - Cheater prints, doll quilt panels, sewing prints, and some story book prints have blocks,applique like sunbonnet sue, or actual quilts printed on them.

Photo prints: Is there an immediate family member with a name starting with a hard to find letter? If so, consider a photo square of that person, with their name spelled, and the first letter accented somehow might be an option.

Themes: Think in terms of themes like:
Animals: Ant, bear, cat, dog or dinosaur, elephant, frog or fish, giraffe, hippo, iguana, jaguar, koala or kangaroo, lion or lady bug, moose, mouse or monkey, newt, owl, pig or penguin, quail, rabbit or rhino, starfish, turtle or tiger, unicorn, vulpine or vole, whale, x____, yak, zebra.

Clothing: Pants, socks, boots, gloves, hat.

Colors: Red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, black, brown, white.

Food prints: There are lots of veggie and food prints which include (as of Feb 1, 2004) radishes, garlic, eggplant, cucumber, peas, corn, cabbage, carrot, peppers (bell slices or chile), strawberries, raspberries, squash, apples, leaves that look like parsley, watermelon, grapes, bananas, pineapples, oranges, pears, cherries, and ice cream (banana splits or cones).

Sports: Baseball, basketball, bowling, football, golf, hockey, soccer or volleyball.

Help Keep this Page Current: If you know of a noun, animal, or other appropriate word for the 'Ideas' column,please let me know so I can add it!

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