Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Needlework Tuesday - Fabric Postcard Binge

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.
This past week I dug into my scrap box, these are the pieces too small for practical piecing or that I am tired of working with.  They are perfect for making fabric postcards.  Add a bunch of fusible web and the stiffest interfacing I can find and I'm all set for fun.
 
First I want to share a postcard my mother made for me.  I told you in an earlier post, that she was also playing with the disappearing 4 patch.  She felt that the centre strips were just too narrow in this block, so she cut and fused and made me this terrific postcard.
 


I recently cut up almost all my floral fabrics for a couple of quilts.  Lots of little strips were left over.  I pieced two sets, one floral and one green.  Laid them over top each other and cut them into a zig zag pattern.  I really like how these turned out and plan to make more with different fabric combinations.

This time, I tried the same technique using four layers of fabrics.  I still have two more of these t put together though I have run out of the heavy interfacing.
Lots of little pieces are fun to put together, not knowing what the end will look like.  Add a bit of machine embroidery, those fancy stitches on my machine that I don't get to use often enough.
Flying geese seem to turn up in all sorts of quilt blocks.  This time I sewed together a bunch of strips to make a larger square which I then cut corner to corner both directions.  The square I started with was 3 1/2 inches on a side, which was too large, I should have used a 3 inch square, then I wouldn't have had to trim.  I have some strips already sewn together to try this one again.  Still can't decide whether to offset the geese or to line the up as close to straight as possible.

I sewed together a whole bunch more of these floral strips and using a template from Marti Michell cut these hexagons.  With Mother's Day approaching, I wanted to turn it into a bit of a flower garden.  The background white was already fused onto the stiffener, so I went with it. Next time I'll try some sort of green or a light brown.

I did make another, but it is a prize from an earlier contest, so I can't show it until I have sent it to the winner.

Have you tried making fabric postcards?  If so, what is your favourite method?  If you haven't tried them, what's holding you back?

Marie has requested that I put together a tutorial for making these cards.  After I purchase some more supplies, I'll get to work on that.


4 comments:

Felicity Grace Terry said...

As always, beautiful. I especially like the last two you show.

Debbie Rodgers said...

How charming! What's held me back is, I'm sure, that I hadn't even thought of such of such a thing. I will have to rectify that. :-)

Rikki said...

Wow, lovely postcards, Heather.

Marie said...

Heather, these are gorgeous. I love them all. Have you ever posted a tutorial for these? I can probably figure out the quilting part and machine embroidery, but I mean the actual assembly of the layers and whatnot. I'd love to know how you make these. I certainly have lots of fabric scraps around.