Project #4 for August
Fabric Postcards

You are going to love this project. I will show you how to make fabric postcards. You really can send these throught the mail if you wnat, or you can decide to use and envelope instead.

For our purposes we will start with 4 X 6 inch postcards.

Materials:

• Peltex or Timtex  - 1/4 yard  (you can use cardboard instead) I prefer Peltex as it is not as heavy as Timtex and I can get it at my fabric store

• Fabric scraps

• A few pretty threads

• Glue stick or white glue

• Embellishments if you wish. (If you are going to send it in the mail, you need to keep the thickness less than 1/8 inch.)

I made 3 postcards to demonstrate 3 techniques. I am sure that you can think of more to try.

For all postcards, you start by cutting a 4.5 X 6.5 inch piece of Peltex (Timtex, or cardboard).

Postcard 1 - Somewhat Zinnias

Cut out a fabric motif by fussy cutting on the very edge of the design. I combined motifs from two fabrics, one for the flowers and one for the leaves

Select a background fabric and one for the back of the postcard, cut both the background fabric and the backing fabric to 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 ", the same size as the Peltex.

• Apply a fusible to the back of the two pieces of fabric and to the motifs.

• The motifs are fused to Steam a Seam 2 in the picture above.

• Set the backing piece to one side. You will not put that on the postcard  for a while.

• Fuse the backing fabric (black) to the Peltex. Then fuse the motifs in place.

• Stitch the motifs in place. I used a satin stitch, but you could use a straight stitch, zig zag or any stitch you like.

I also used decorative variegated threads for extra effect. After you are through stitching the motif down to your satisfaction, then fuse the backing to the back of your postcard. Do a little bit of quilting to add more detail to your postcard. Trim the postcard to 4 X 6

To finish the whole postcard, you can bind the edge, or if you like to bind about as much as I do, then a decorative satin stitch does a nice job of finishing the edges. If your satin stitch looks a little uneven, set it just a bit wider and go around again.

By the way the postcards are rectangular, it's just the photos that are not.

Postcard #2 - Oasis

The trick here is the fabric. Choose fabric that will add illusion to the scene you want to make.

Add Fusible webbing to the back of all your pieces. In this case, fuse the sky to your Peltex and then overlap the land fabric over the edge of the sky and fuse it in place. Fuse any detail pieces in place. In this case a floral and a grass field. I then used a satin stitch to stitch down the top of the "mountains". Use quilting type stitching to define the contours of the land and also to sew down the floral and grass fields.

Fuse the backing on the back of the postcard, trim the whole postcard to 4 X 6 inches and satin stitch the edges to attach everything together..

Postcard #3 African Lion.

By this time, I was really having fun!

I marked the mid point of all four sides, Then draw lines connecting the dots and making a diamond shape. Then I drew lines at half inch intervals on each side of these lines. The center of this area is a diamond. I cut a window in a piece of freezer paper and used a very light water soluble pen stroke to mark the edges of the the window area on my lion fabric and then cut the lion fabric about 1/4 inch larger than the window. I put a little glue on the Peltex and pressed the lion fabric in place. Then I pulled some 1" strips from my scrap basket.. I put them face drown on the edge of one side of the diamond and stitched along the edge of this 1/4 inch from the edges and then folded the strip back opened so that covers the next line marked on the Peltex. Go around the diamond several times, applying a strip to each side in turn until you have covered the whole postcard. Be sure to fold each strip back open a press it as you go. Trim the card to 4 X 6 ". Then once again satin stitch the edges.

Deb in Kentucky has great postcard instructions on her blogsite.

 http://debrichardson.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-make-fabric-postcard-debr-style.html

Postcard Quilts