Life's a Kick on Route 66: Panel Quilt

Hello lovely people. Have you ever gotten your kicks on Route 66? Well I must say I got a kick out of making this panel quilt and giving it a fun punch by adding the 8 state names (that Route 66 passes through) all around the panel using the Crafter's Edge Alphabet die cuts not only made the cutting of the letters fast and easy, but they look fabulous too! 

My good friend bought 2 of these Life's a Kick on Route 66 fabric panels; one for each of us. She wanted me to come up and idea of what to do around the panel. The panel sat marinating in my mind for about 9 months! I had some ideas, like make a Twister border or partial border around the panel, but nothing really sounded that great or looked good in my mind. 

Meanwhile, I applied again to be on the Crafter's Edge Design team and got accepted again, yay! So I knew I wanted Alphabet die cuts in order to create this panel using the 8 states along Route 66. I didn't plan all the math, just figured the names would fit. Well, when laying out the state names around the panel onto the black border, no matter how I configured the names they wouldn't all fit! So that's when I decided to make 2 of the states in smaller sizes. It worked! So 6 state names were made with Crafter's Edge Alphabet die cuts, and 2 were not. It adds more interest to the quilt, right? LOL!

I was born in one of these states, grew up in another of these states and have lived in New Mexico for almost 1/4 of a century! Yikes that sounds longer than saying 2 1/2 decades.

My Life's a Kick on Route 66 panel quilt with the 8 states that are along Route 66.

Had to use smaller alphabet letters to fit the big state of Texas onto the border of the quilt. 

The Land of Enchantment is home to me and the place I have lived longer than anywhere else in my life (and I moved a lot).

After living in The Beaver State (Oregon) for a few years when we moved from MO, I grew up in The Sunshine State (California). Didn't leave CA until I was in my early 20's.

I was born in the Show Me state, but moved when I was a toddler so I don't remember anything.

The Crossover II Fabric & Paper Cutting System.

I used the various die cut letters that I needed to create this quilt, from letter A to...

...to letter Z.

Thanks Crafter's Edge for making it so much easier and faster to cut out all those letters! I still have the letters for Texas and Illinois cut out of the larger Crafter's Edge Alphabet die cuts, so I might be using those letters for another project one day.

Now as for my friend, I showed her this finished quilt and she loved it, but I have no idea if she will want to do the same thing around her quilt panel or not? I guess I will wait and see what she decides to do. Tara, if you want the bigger letters I already cut out of the states of Texas and Illinois, I can give those to you if you want them. Let me know.

Happy die cutting, sewing, appliqué and quilting!

Pin It Now!