The Edmonton and District Quilt Guild is having what we call a brown bag raffle to raise money for the scholarships we endow at the University of Alberta's School of Human Ecology.  For anyone asking what a brown bag raffle is, it is one of those raffles where one puts the ticket one has bought in the "brown bag" next to the prize one wants to win
This years raffle is asking members to make a set of 3 fabric post cards to be used as the prizes.  To help in this effort I have written up the way I make postcards and here it is.

Postcards and some thoughts on how to make them.

Post cards are fun to make and a great place to try new things, use up little bits of left over fabric that are too pretty to throw away and to add embellishments.

This is how I make post cards and why I do it my way. Search fabric post cards on line to find lots of tutorials, other advice and to see some interesting post cards.

1.  To send a post card through the mail it must be what Canada Post calls a post card.

Canada Post says postcards are a minimum dimension of  140mm x 90mm (5.6 x 3.6 inches) with a thickness no less than 18 mm (0.007inches).  The maximum thickness in 20 mm or (0.8 inches)  According to my notes from a couple of years ago Canada Post gave 0.2 inches as the standard acceptable thickness.  The 0.8 inches is from the table where it says maximum acceptable and I would guess the extra postage might apply so lets stick to 0.2 inches.  It needs to be stiff enough to withstand processing without difficulty.  That is actually been given a limit to the amount of sag.  So “The Great Canadian Snapshot” size of 4 X 6 inches meets the post office requirement .  It requires the same stamp as a letter.  To look at the regulation yourself go here https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGletterml-e.asp#1392028


Most books and tutorials about postcards recommend a heavy interfacing  e..g. Pelltex, Timtex etc.  I am not fond of them because they are hard to hand embellish and I find they can be expensive especially if you get the ones with glue on both sides.  So what do I use.
Top layer  Fabric of whatever suits my intended design or happens to be falling out of a box or needs a new home.  This is a good place to use things that can't go in a functional quilt that will require washing.  Who washes postcards?

Middle layer.  As likely as not I will use a scrap of batting.  It is often right there as it has been trimmed of something else.  It stitches nicely.  It allows your quilting to show.

Backing.  Now we have to think a bit about our choices.  It needs to be pale so it can be written on, and fairly sturdy.  I often use couple of layers of interfacing.  I buy it at a regular fabric store and choose the stiffest non woven available.  I use both iron on and non iron on or sew in.  Deco bond is one brand that is available.

I think of postcards as fabric or mixed media art and if I use these terms I don’t have to quilt it. Quilts are considered a 3 layer sandwich held together by stitching.  Timtex or other stiff material is often used as batting.

Ideas for the quilt top:
1. Applique: Machine applique using fusible web
Machine applique without fusible web
Other favourite applique method
2. Piecing. Any block that you like can be used.  The finished block has to be 6 inches or less x 4 or less.  A block that finishes at 4 inches square will require sashing on 2 edges.
3. Thread play, painting foiling, embellishment but watch the thickness.
4. Any other technique you want to try.
Search the internet for Fabric Post cards for tutorials.  Here are a couple of addresses to get you started.
http://killerbeedesigns.com/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/general-fabric-postcard-killer-bee-designs.pdf
http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/fabric_postcard.htm

Weekly Art Project Week 7 Pumpkin

Pumpkin.

This quilt was inspired by the season, Halloween and Jean Wells book Intuitive Colour and Design.  While reading the book it occurred to me that her technique would work for a quiltlet about pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns.  I couldn't find any carved pumpkins so went to the grocery and photographed the boxes of pumpkings wainting to be taken home for carving.  This is the picture I selected.

And then after pulling out a bunch of orange fabrics I decided I could add to the challenge by restricting myself to my scrap bucket.  After all I only needed small pieces.  And then I quilted it using my new 6 inch arc ruler on my Janome with the new ruler foot.  It was a fun exercise.

Weekly Art Project Week 6 The Hag

Weekly Art Project.  Week 6

The Hag

This quiltlette was inspired by the season, its Halloween here and it is quite a deal.  All the stores are decorated and selling candy and decorations.  It gets more commercial every year.  

I have a doodle that looks like a ghost (glued into my journal maybe 4 or 5 years ago)  and I drew the face to add to it.  I want to do a quilt of the ghost of sewing rooms past.  Maybe for next halloween!

Once I added the face to the background I couldn't figure our where to go next.  It finally came together slow step by slow step.

Weekly Art Project - Week 5

Fall Colours 4 - Left Behind.

There was a leaf on the tree behind my house all winter last year and there are a few still there this year.  While playing around in my journal to come up with a design it occured to me that I could use quilted lines made with my new rulers as a way to suggest branches.  The brown boarders got added when I thought it was a bit unfinished.  The blue fabric is hand painted.

This is the photo I started with.  I love the tree towards the left with the crocked truck.

Weekly Art Project.  Week 3

This is another interpretation of the same photo.  As the leaves on one of the trees I can see from my kitchen window changed colour they formed an arch against the trees behind them which were still green.  I found it hard to avoid making my piece releastic.  I kept wanting to add leaves instead of concentrating on the arch shape.  I will be interested to hear what you think.

Fall Colours 2.  Applique.

Hand painted and commercial fabric, coloured pencil (to make the sky blue so it would read as sky) machine quilted,  I added a few hand stitches to give more texture accross the lower front piece.  

Weekly art project

I have been inspired by Brenda Gail Smith's post about making a 6 inch quilt weekly as a creative exercise and to have fun. It is to be inspired by ones surroundings.  Here is my first effort for week 2.  It is inspired by the colours outside my kitchen window.  I live in Alberta, Canada.

Fall Colours 1 - Embellishment.

I used a small painted piece of fabric which was a test of Setacolour Paint on cotton poly fabric.  It was paler than on cotton but worked.  As well I used painted cheese cloth and embellishment.by hand and machine.

Summer Inchies

I am working with Inchies again.  Summer Inchies is going to EDQG for the brown bag raffle at the June Banquet.  This event is a fund raiser for the endowment fund at the U of A.

I was very pleased to recieve a third place for Earth; Home of my Homes at the 2016 Focus on Fiber Art Show, My Heritage 

All the firer art pieces are on display at the Enterprisr Square gallery until the end of |June.

I recently took a class at SPQG from Wayne Kollinger of Tuxedo Designs.  Really enjoyed the class.  It was about using traditional blocks made on a 9 patch grid to design other blocks.  It was especially interesting when we combined different blocks.  Here is my favourite design from the 4 blocks I made for the class.  Our first step was to cut our original blocks into 4.  I seem to remember that my original was called Calico Puzzle.

I had an enjoyable day yesterday teaching quilters at Sew Devine how to make inchies.  I love the way people get ideas for more that theycan do with them once they start making these little works of art.
i made a new piece as a sample for this class.