Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Postcard Tutorial

I was away from my sewing room for about six weeks and they were a difficult six weeks to be away.  I had some medical treatments that made me feel icky and quilting makes me feel better.  Sadly, I felt too icky to quilt.  International events made me want to turn off the news for a while and go sew something, but I was thousands of miles away from my sewing machine.  The steady stream of natural disasters kept me riveted as I prayed for those affected and waited to hear news from loved ones.  Sadly, natural disasters are coming fast and furious these days.  Finally, the ever-present political strife in the US has me calling for a time out.

When the events above and other difficult circumstances seep into my soul in a devastating way, I am learning to take a few minutes for myself and quilt.  As much as I love starting new projects, I don't do that; instead, I make a postcard.  The quilted postcard has several benefits:
  • It is small
  • It can be completed quickly
  • It can be mailed, and the peace can spread
Monday morning, I needed to get away from the political divide so I pulled out my LOVE pattern and started stitching:


The pattern is free on my website.  Click HERE.

After I finished piecing the front of the postcard, I pulled together a 5"x6" piece of stabilizer and a 5"x6" piece of white fabric.


I fused all three layers together, centering the top of the postcard on the 5"x6" backing/stabilizer.


I then trimmed it to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2."  I used my Postcard Trimming Tool for the job because it takes the "what is half of 4 1/4 inches?" question away:


I sat down at Hedwig, my Handi Quilter Stitch 710 machine, and stitched satin stitches along the edges of the postcard:


How perfectly lovely!


I can write a message on the back using a permanent marker:


I can stick a stamp directly on this card and mail it, but I prefer to mail it into a cellophane envelope:


To whom shall I mail this little bit of love?

I don't know much about much and am hesitant to give life advice, but when the world starts getting you down:



3 comments:

Vireya said...

That's what the world needs right now - more love being spread around! Thank you for being a ray of sunshine.

Chris said...

What a lovely post! Thanks for keeping up your blog. I know it's hard.

Crystal_235 said...

Love it! I need to make this one! I'm going to have to buy some clear envelopes and make some fun ones to send.