Toddler blanket/quilt + applique question

[Halfasianmomma]

Hi mamas,

DD's DCP asked me to bring a blanket for when DD naps at the daycare. They are an air conditioned facility and I guess the kids get cold after they're asleep for a while.

So I thought of making DD a simple reversible blanket with a printed cotton on one side and plain flannel on the other side. It occured to me that since I need to put DD's name on the quilt, I could just make some applique letters and sew them on the blanket.

My question is this: I thought of sandwiching some light batting between the cotton and flannel, to make the blanket more cosy, and just do some cross-hatching to quilt. But what do I do about the applique letters? Do I quilt OVER them? Do I stop quilting when I get to them and then start again once I'm passed them? Or do I quilt the blanket first AND THEN sew on the applique letters?

Ideas? Wisdom? I'm certainly no expert here...

[sunnysandiegan]

There are several options:

1) Applique your letters onto just that piece of fabric first, then create the blanket. Do a pillowcase flip and topstitch around the edges. A child's blanket will hold up (even with a layer in-between) without official quilting.

2) Same as #1 and skip the middle layer. DD may got too hot with a three-layer blanket.

3) Sandwich all three layers and applique the letters in the center of the quilt and do all the quilting around it....radiating out from the center (sunburst) or encircling the center and widening the circle at each pass (spiral). Then add binding.

4) Like #3, but leave the "back" larger enough all the way around so that you can fold it over to the front to become the binding.

5) Make the entire quilt or blanket and then hand applique the letters on; only catching the first layer of fabric.

6) Make the entire quilt or blanket and then use fabric markers (or permanent pigment ink markers and heat-set) to write her name on one side (or both). You can write it as big or small as you wish; as plain or fancy as you wish.

[Halfasianmomma]

mama, you are my saviour Thanks for all the options!

I think I'll go for...option #5!

One last question: have you ever made applique out of minkee? Is that too risky considering how stretchy and fluffy it is?