New Name...Tips on Fusing Letters...and Project Quilting

"Pam Geisel Art Quilts chair back" 16" x 16", made by Pam Geisel for Project Quilting, Season 10, Challenge 5: Abecedarius, Mar. 2019 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Challenge recap for "Abecedarius":

Your project must be about the alphabet.

Before it was announced, I wasn't sure I was going to participate in this week's challenge. I recently changed my business name and there was a lot of work associated with that which was keeping me pretty busy, including new business cards, new hang cards for all my products that get sold in person, changing all of the internal links in this blog, and many more tasks.

Many years ago I made a director's chair back cover to go over the back of my director's chair when I do a show. I wasn't sure if I wanted to update that to the new name, and if I did I could certainly wait until closer to the next show, which is a ways off yet. Until this challenge was posted, that is.

As a graphic designer, I love the alphabet and letters and typography. I'd be able to take care of an item on my to do list and use this to announce my new name!

Why did I change my business name? When I decided to start this business, I got some advice that you shouldn't use your name because otherwise vendors won't take you seriously. And while this might have been good advice in the past, I don't think it is now. Branding and being found are important.

When I started my business, I spent a day and a half Googling name ideas to find one that wasn't already taken. Back then when I searched "For Quilts Sake" with and without quotes, nothing came up. And for many years, it only went to my website.

Now when I want to go to a website, I seldom type the www. or the .com. If you start typing "Home Depot" then that's what come up on the list below the search bar. A few years ago I noticed when you type in For Quilts Sake, Google asks if you meant "For Quilts Sale." So not only is my website not coming up, my competition is.

I also noticed that while there are other Pam Geisels out there, if you type my name and quilts, there I am. (The Geisel is important as there seem to be a lot of Pams who quilt.)

Anyway, here's the new website: www.PamGeiselArtQuilts.com. It's responsive so it looks good on your phone, also. It has most of my art quilts and framed art with links to my Etsy page (for the ones that are for sale); to my Pixels page to get the images on t-shirts, mugs, and more; and back to this blog to read more about the quilts.

The stitching on the back of the chair back where I sewed down the edges of the letters

A few tips if you're going to fuse letters:

1. The larger the better. Half inch tall letters are very hard to work with.

2. Upper case are easier than lower case.

3. Use a blocky font. If you're printing from your computer use a font like Arial and not one like Times that has all the extra serifs. But Pam, you used a script font on your project. Yes I did. It was only for nine letters and one of the benefits of this was it was only four pieces, since all of the lower case letters form one piece. (OK, five pieces if you include the dot over the lower case 'i'.)

4.If you plan on using fusible, print your text in reverse before tracing on to fusible.

5. Most fusible I've used aren't completely permanent so plan on either sewing down the edges of the letters or quilting on top of them with many stitches.

6. Batik fabrics don't fray as much as regular fabrics. If you have problems with fraying you can add some fray check.

I also have a coordinated arm caddy to use at shows. I made this a few years ago but it's handy to keep items I need close by.

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To read more about Project Quilting, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Abecedarius page.