Adding Lettering to the "H" Quilt

I have been anticipating this step toward finishing up the "H" quilt with great pleasure! I'm at the point where I get to cross-stitch the inscription onto this memorial quilt to my Uncle Hal.
I am using 14 count waste canvas with the letters drawn onto it with gel pen...this after spending a day doing a paper mock-up (I made b&w copies of the canvas to use as my graph paper). I had to make sure all the words would fit in their alloted spaces.

I chose my font from this wonderful book that Sharon Boggin pointed us to awhile back on her blog. (Sorry I can't find the exact post, but if you Google Linn Skinner I know you can track down this book.) My font's design is attributed to a German named Schonsperger, possibly from the early 1500's.

Here is the paper mock-up of the first corner's phrase. If you click on the picture you should be able to see it better. It says, "IN MEMORY".

Glad I did the mock-up first, so that I could adjust for little spacing issues before permanently marking the waste canvas with my gel pen. Here is the canvas, basted into place and ready for stitching.

I decided to use yellow thread so it would be very easy to read the lettering against the black background. (Remember, the canvas will be gone.) The yellow stitching also picks up some of the yellow/orange in the main section of quilt quite well.

Rather than using a double strand of silk floss, I am going with a single cotton perle, very fine, sold under the name "Flower Thread", by DMC. I'm using a nice fine milliner's needle, too, as it has no bulge at the "eye" end, thus enabling me to pull the needle through those itty bitty squares in the mesh quite easily.
So the next week or so will have me spelling out my love to my Uncle Hal. This is really bringing him close...it is wonderful!