Quilted Postcards Part Two - Quilting the Collage

All right, I get to finish part two before the end of 2007! My previous batches I went directly to quilting the collage, but this time I wanted to add some Angelina Fiber embellishment. I chose a blue and pink Angelina to coordinate with my theme - "Fire and Ice". I simply cut pieces out of a square of pressed fibers and tossed them onto my collage whever I liked.

I then pinned them all down.

Then I used my sewing machine with quilting foot to stitch them down around the edges. I did this because I wanted to just quilt over them, putting them in the background rather than making them pop off the top of the completed design.

When they were all stitched down I started quilting my piece. I used a pretty Madeira thread in the colors of my fabrics on the top and for the back I simply used up different bobbins that don't have a lot of thread on them. As long as its not going to show this works very well, though you do have to deal with changing bobbins more often!

As far as quilting designs go its all just doodling on the fabric. Right now I am really into using spirals so I've done a lot of those, some sunbursts, practice feathers, circles, clamshells. It really doesn't matter, and it makes the finished postcards a lot of fun because you never know what you are going to have on each card. It's a terrific way to just practice free motion, and let your imagination run wild.

After quilting I press the collage flat - on this one I had to press from the backside so I wouldn't mess up my Angelina embellishments. The next step is cutting. I put the quilted piece on the cutting board and measure it top to bottom and side to side, using this measurement to guide my choice on how to cut. This one was a little shorter than 18 inches across on one side, so I decided to start by cutting a 4 inch strip off the other side, and divided that into three six inch sections.

Then I rotated my piece and cut off another 4 inch strip and divided that into three more pieces:



Then another strip with three:

Coming up to the shorter side, I cut a 6 inch strip and divided that into four 4 inch pieces, and the last section is a 4 inch strip with only two cuts possible.

I got fifteen 4 x 6 inch postcards, plus a couple of smaller scraps out of this piece.

I then cut fifteen 4 x 6 pieces of fusible web, and fifteen pieces of 4 x 6 card stock. I had purchased a bad batch of fusible web, if you iron it on to fabric, it sticks to the paper and doesn't release. It works well, however, if you peel it from the paper first, then sandwich it between the postcard top and the card stock. It really is a bit of a pain, but at least it allows me to use this fusible web.

After cutting, the card stock is fused to the back of the quilts. I pressed these from the card stock side to avoid ruining the Angelina and to insure a good bond.

Next step, finishing the edges!

A very Blessed and Happy New Year to one and all!