FMQ Friday and a Whoop Whoop! - Fabric Postcards for Christmas

Today is Free Motion Quilting Friday over at Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project.

The rules are simple:

1. Link up with a post that features something about Free Motion Quilting (FMQ). 
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back to Leah's site, or you can just post the FMQF button in your sidebar. 
3. Comment on at least a few of the other FMQF links. Share your love of free motion quilting and make this weekly link up a fun way to connect!  

I'm so excited to finally show you the fabric postcard I made for Carol for the postcard swap over at Quilt Cabana Corner.

I had bought this fabric at Sew Main Street over a year ago, but couldn't quite bring myself to cut into it yet.  When I saw the postcard swap, I knew immediately what I was going to do.

I started off by fusing a 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece of fabric onto a 4" x 6" piece of Peltex.  Then I lightly marked the path of my letters and pinned my cording into place. 

Using a narrow zig zag stitch, I couched the cording into the word "Joy."

Then I held my breath and FMQed all around the design with Sulky Sliver, a beautiful but sometimes challenging thread to sew with.  I used it on the snowflake quilt with a lot of cursing and breakage.  This time I turned the tension WAY down and went a little slower.  Voila!  No breakage or nesting at all!

I trimmed the top fabric to the 4" x 6" size of the Peltex.  Then I cut a 4" x 6" piece of white muslin for the back.  I drew a line vertically down the center and wrote POSTCARD at the top with a Pigma pen.   I drew horizontal lines on the right side for the address and filled that in.  Then I added my message to the left side. 

I used my Tulip Tool to add a little extra sparkle to the front. I love how this looks!  Last, I layered the back onto my quilt sandwich and stitched around the edge with a tight zig zag stitch twice.

I ended up mailing mine in an envelope because the line at the post office was insane, but I have had good results sending these through the mail.  Carol sent me this beauty, and it arrived perfectly with no envelope to protect it.  She also used metallic thread and did gorgeous FMQing.  I will be bringing this to work to show off and adorn my desk.

Thanks so much to Sandi for organizing and to Carol for my lovely postcard!  This was such fun.  If you want to see the others, you can visit the Flickr group Sandi set up.


Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  My big boy will be home tonight.  Nothing makes me happier than having all my chicks in the nest.  I hope you are surrounded by people you love this month.



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