Quilty Christmas Postcard / Beauties Pageant 197

Have you ever made a quilted fabric postcard? My guild—the New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild—recently participated in a postcard swap with the Capital District MQG. Having never quilted a postcard before, I decided to take part, and the beauty you see pictured here is what I sent to my partner in New York.

I referred to Sara Ruiz’s Quilted Fabric Postcard tutorial to determine my game plan. She suggested using postcards to explore new techniques, so I took that as a sign to give tiny paper piecing a try and purchased Berene Campbell’s HSL Tinies Christmas Pack.

For materials, I used what I had on hand and fell within the recommendations from Sara’s tutorial and Berene’s pattern: Art Gallery Pure Solids, Michael Miller Cotton Couture, 80 weight thread, and Peltex 71F.

The tiny paper piecing was super fun and satisfying. The pattern came with some helpful hints on how to get great results, which I really appreciated. The fireplace and wreath weren’t substantial enough to fill up the whole postcard, so I included a little lavender border and decorated with simple embroidery stitches. The edge stitching didn’t come out as nicely as I would have liked, but I’m sure to improve my technique with future postcards.

Swap participants were encouraged to send their creations as true postcards—that is, without envelopes. My partner sent the card she made for me as is, and it arrived in perfect shape. I chose to play it safe,  however, and sent mine in an envelope. 

If you’re considering trying your hand at a quilted fabric postcard, I recommend Sara’s tutorial. (She did a 100-day project making these mini masterpieces!) Some other suggested resources, from the swap organizers, include these:

Fabric Postcards: Easy Sewing Tutorials with Rob Appell of Man Sewing

Fabric Postcard Tutorial by Quilted Cat

I also recommend the HSL Tinies Christmas Pack. This wasn’t the first time I followed a Happy Sew Lucky pattern. You might remember my version of Berene’s Hello, Friend pillow which I translated into doggo lingo, pictured here:

Pattern Giveaway

As I mentioned last week, I’m providing content to Melanie Meyer’s Advent calendar. My first door, on day 7, includes a coupon code and chance to win a digital copy of Irish Twist. Click here to visit the Advent calendar, and comment on this post to add your name to the pattern giveaway. : )

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