When Patty of Elm Street Quilts announced her postcard exchange I thought it would be a great project for me. Online participation had been scant for me for a couple of years but I figured one little postcard should be do able. I liked the fact that we had to make a postcard only and didn't have to fuss over other things.
This was my first postcard and the exercise was not without challenges, but I was up for them! My partner Kim, gave the word Halloween as her prompt. This was the first challenge. I don't tend to make holiday projects, so I was going to have to stretch myself here. Kim doesn't have a blog, and she was new to instagram so there weren't a lot of clues there on what she might like, other than a couple of posts with wool felt applique in them. This was challenge number two. I am not a fan of applique.
I needed to come up with something that would be true to me but that I thought she would like. I let it float around in my head for a while and then I remembered I had seen a pieced block on the internet at some point that would fit the bill. I googled Halloween blocks and after a bit of sleuthing I was lead to this tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman. I had thought it was cats but it turned out to be Barn Bats.
I picked some fabric that hinted at Halloween and set to piecing part of the block. I used the tutorial that Patty posted on her blog to make my postcard.
The piecing and the quilting went together nicely but I had a bit of difficulty with the edging. Edging a postcard is kind of like applique. I put it in the mail well ahead of the deadline, and then the hard part came, waiting. It seemed to take forever to receive my postcard and even longer for Kim to receive her postcard.
Here's the postcard I received from Isabel. It came all the way from New Zealand. It was definitely worth the wait! My prompt was sunny, and I saw lots of postcards on instagram that could have fit the bill. I think a lot of us were longing for the sun.
I was expecting a yellow postcard but here it came all blue, my favourite colour and it meets the theme in it's title New Zealand first to see the sun. How cool is that! You can see that Isabel loves applique and is a master at it. I had a lot of fun participating in the postcard exchange and I would do it again. I'm sure I'll be better at the edging the next time. I might even try applique.
Here are the bloggers participating in the hop.
Denise @ DottieDoodle
Isis @ Creation d'Isis
Karen @ Run Sew Fun
Lynette @ What A Hoot Quilts
Laura @ LC's Cottage
Lisa @ Sunlight in Winter Quilts (thats me)
Marsha @ Quilter in Motion
Michelle @ Creative Blonde
Paige @ Quilted Blooms
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Susan @ California Fiber and Music
Valerie @ Val's Quilting Studio
Dione @ Clever Chameleon Quilting
I'm looking forward to seeing their postcards. Let's go check them out!
23 comments:
These are just gorgeous, lovely to meet you on the blog hop today. x
Both postcards are stunning. I love them. It's amazing to see such variety ♥
This was my first postcard creating too. I found it to be a fun process! Both postcards are sure to be treasured!
I would participate in the postcard swap again it was fun! Your postcard is lovely as is the one you received.
The barn bats is a great idea for a Halloween postcard! What fun and a great addition for any Halloween collector!
The card you received from New Zealand is a beautiful landscape piece of art...wonderful keepsake!
You did find the perfect pattern for a Halloween postcard. The directional fabric you chose really adds interest. Well done! And, the landscape you received is beautiful!
I'm glad you participated, Lisa! The postcard you made is a lovely nod to Halloween - the spiky print especially makes me think of all kinds of Halloween related things.
Oh what a TERRIFIC postcard you received Lisa!! It is perfect for a blue-loving sunshine-loving girl like you (and me) :-) I love your bats, in your modern fabrics and with sunshine yellow background. So cool how many similarities and parallels I'm seeing in this hop!
Love the fabric postcards! And thanks for the inspiration. I haven't made any for years and I have a couple of birthdays coming up that would be the perfect occasion to send a special card.
PS I'm your newest follower...I also added your to my bloglist on my sidebar on my blog. Looking forward to following your creative journey.
I love your bat postcard, and the one you received is just lovely! What a fun exchange; I may have to join in next year (if I remember)!
Thank you Lisa. What a lovely job you did of the Barn Bats card. Its great and such an ingenious idea to fit the theme given. I am glad you like the card I sent. New Zealand has such stunning scenery its easy to find inspiration! I love making these small artworks.
Great fabric choices for the bat you made. I love how you chose to quilt it as well. This is one of my favorites.
Well done on finding the block you knew you'd seen..... that can be tricky sometimes! And isn't Isabel's interpretation of your theme word clever and unexpected?! I love her card too.
I like your bat, especially the use of the Carolyn Friedlander triangles, which works perfectly. I also like that you pieced something, which leaves you with lovely clean lines and a very graphic look to your card.
Isn't it fun to do challenges that really do challenge? You rose to the challenge beautifully and I think your Halloween theme was very clever. I thought cats when I first looked at it also. You did get a beautiful "sun" postcard in return.
Go Lisa - you embraced this challenge. It is funny because so many things can intimidate us. I think your postcard is perfect and the one you received is lovely too!
What wonderful postcards you created and received! Thanks so much for being part of the swap and the blog hop!
looks a lot of fun. I have made fabric postcards before, the outer edge is what I find the most difficult too.
What a fun postcard project. I have to say, I thought your pattern was cats, too. Barn Bats, Barn Cats—either fits the Halloween theme in an appealing subtle way. The landscape quilt is subtle, too. How neat that the sunlight can be depicted in blues!
Wow. Both postcards are awesome.
Great postcards in very different styles. I really like the simplicity of the barn bat block and your fabric choices are great. I've tried edge stitching in close zig-zag once before without much success, if you learnt anything that might be useful please pass it on!
Excellent choices you made I think. I really like the stitched/bound edges. I've done that before (on small things) - I learned it from Monica Kinner-Whalen a long long time ago.
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