New Postcards

I can't believe I got all of these done tonight but I am so glad to have this off my list!  I will be hosting a 4 month Postcard Swap at Quilting Adventures starting Friday, February 2. I decided to send the participants a card prior to the class. These will show some of the materials and techniques that can be used and I will use these cards as the basis for the discussion in the first meeting. As I said in a previous post, I decided on a monogram theme and I got the idea from a card that Suzanne sent me. The funny thing about this is that of the participants in the class, there are only 2 initials – C and D! Here are some of the cards.

 To make all of them, I started with fonts in Powerpoint. I printed the selected fonts in the largest size possible and them enlarged them further on the copier until I got the size I wanted.

Purple D

This one is very simple but I wanted to use Angelina in a card. I find that Angelina works well in simple designs. So I used a background of a purple/red batik and overlaid a lightly-fused sheet of Angelina. The “D” is cut from magenta Ultrasuede and stitched on (through all layers with a narrow zigzag stitch using shiny acrylic thread. The edge-finishing is a wide zigzag stitched close together. I’m thinking about adding some crystals.

Red D

It was a simple idea that didn’t execute as simply as I wanted! The base fabric is a metallic clothing fabric from my stash. I traced a reverse image of the D onto tracing paper and centered it on the back of the postcard. I used a Madiera metallic embroidery thread in the bobbin and white poly in the needle and sew-traced the D from the back. The “D” didn’t show up enough so I then zigzag stitched inside the D, again using the Mariera in the bobbin and stitching from the back. I still wasn’t happy so I switched to white in the bobbin and bright red acrylic in the needle and did free motion zigzag within the outline stitching. Now I like it! It’s finished with a zigzag stitch edge using black rayon.

Yellow C

I started with the hand-dyed background and decided to stick to a two-color complimentary theme. I traced the “C” to freezer paper, cut it out and fused it to the purple. I colored it with a Shiva paintstick. The flowers are leftovers from a quilt project from 4 years ago! I still have lots of these that are already fusible and cut out. I added the yellow ric rac and sewed it down with a purple ribbon and purple metallic thread. The mirrored sun was added last. The edge is purple metallic.

Orange C

On this one I wanted to show how to use scrap fabrics to create a background. You may recognize these from the recent blue/white Snails Trail quilt! The strips are fused to the Timtex. The “C” is cut from a fused hand-dyed fabric. I was able to stick the fuzzy yarn to the back of the “C” before I fused it to the blue. The C is outlined with a narrow zigzag stitch. I added the hot fix crystals as a final touch. The card is finished with seam binding.

You can't believe the mess that is in my sewing room right now!  But that will have to wait until tomorrow.......

 

Comments

[Terri]

Great cards Vicki! My favorites are the first and last ones.

[Nellie Durand]

FUN cards. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

[Sue B]

These are all awesome Vicki but my favorite is the top one. The fuzzy yarn under the C is a great touch on that card, great idea!

[Dianne]

Love the cards, and, of course my favourites are the "D"s....

[Lynda]

I like these Vicki, especially the metallic one. I love it when artists explain exactly what they did to make a piece. And I know what you mean about the workroom - when I'm in full swing everthing goes everywhere. Sometimes takes me longer to tidy than it does to create.

[Suzanne]

These are great! I'm not sure I can pick a favorite, though. I'm sure the ladies you have made them for will just love them!

[Maureen]

What a great idea for a postcard swap........Monograms!
My prefernce is the Angelina one and the purple and gold!