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Monday, February 5, 2018

Valentines - Put a Little Love in It Blog Hop



Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  This year, I decided to send each of my Valentine's a fabric postcards.  This mini quilts - 4 x 6'' - are fun and fast to make.

You can do some for kids. I fussy cut the robot and the birds from other fabric and used my FMQ foot for some raw edge applique.  The message for the back?  What about "You are out of this world" for the robot or "Owl be your Valentine" for the owls!


Try some improv - I made this one from bright, bright pink fabric scraps.


Machine or hand-quilt them, or do both!  My star is hand-quilted and I did a combination of machine and hand quilting on one of the hearts.


Have I convinced you yet to give one a try?


There are lots of ways to make this little postcards - here is a brief tutorial on how I made mine.


Ingredients:
  • a 4 x 6'' mini quilt (or slightly larger if you plan dense quilting
  • (2) pieces of fusible fleece, cut slightly larger than 4 x 6''
  • (1) piece of stabilizer (example), 4 x 6''
  • (1) piece of white backing fabric, 4 x 6''

Starting with a mini quilt and fusible fleece slightly larger than the finish size gives you the opportunity to trim your piece after quilting.

Follow manufacturer's directions, iron the (2) pieces of fusible fleece to the wrong side of your mini quilt.  Quilt by machine and / or by hand.



 Make a sandwich with the quilt as the top layer, the stabilizer in the middle and white backing fabric as the third layer.


Secure with binding clips and then use a zigzag stitch on your machine to sew around all four sides.  I set my stitch length to 5 (width) and 0.5 (stitch length) to get the coverage on the edge that I wanted.


Trim any stray threads.   Flip the postcard over and write your Valentine message!


You can mail these cards as regular postcards (check with your post office for the right postage) or slip them in an envelope and mail them with a regular first class stamp.

Now enjoy a piece of chocolate and go visit the other quilters that I am sharing today with!


Thanks Carol at Just Let Me Quilt for organizing a fun hop!

I'll be linking up my Valentines with  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Let's Bee SocialMidweek Makers.  Needle and Thread Thursdays, Finish it Up Friday and Finished or Not Friday.



Have a wonderful day! Patty

59 comments:

  1. These are so adorable. Thank you, I will have to try your technique.

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  2. These are soo sweet! Thanks so much for the tutorial too!I might have to try this out!

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  3. Thanks for sharing the tutorial for the sweet, little postcard!

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  4. Beautiful. I want to make one. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. I have never made a fabric post card - These are so sweet!!

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  6. What a cute project, great for scraps!

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  7. Those are so cute! My favorites are the owls and the improv LOVE. The hand stitching really adds detail to the heart!

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  8. Very cute. I love them all. I had not heard of fabric postcards until reading your post the other day.

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  9. Great idea to make V-day keepsakes Patty.

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  10. How neat! I love mug rugs and one can never have too many!

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  11. It’s been years since I made fabric postcards. Thanks for making them and such a sweet reminder that good things come in small packages.

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  12. What a great idea. I have a young niece, and nephew who love to receive mail.

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  13. I can't even begin to count how many times I've said I'm going to make a fabric postcard. These are definitely inspiring me to try...so cute! What a treasure for someone to receive one in the mail. Thanks for playing along with the hop!

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  14. These are really cute. I have never made one and I would love to give it a try. Thank you for sharing and for the tutorial.

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  15. I have never made a post card yet, but I have received them before, how fun!

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  16. This is a great idea and something I think I'll try to do for my nieces if I can sneak them in!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for linking up with the Tips and Tutorials Festival!

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  17. Very sweet!! Love how you tailored them for each recipient :)

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  18. Great idea! I haven't tried making postcards yet but maybe it would be a way to use some of my scraps.

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  19. Those are so pretty and would be fun to see popping up in mailboxes.

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  20. Sew cute! Happy Valentine's Day!

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  21. Thanks for sharing your post cards, Patty. Canadian Quilters association is doing a post card challenge as a fundraiser at their upcoming show in Vancouver BC, so I've been working on "nature themed" postcards. These little bits of art are fun to do.

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  22. I love the postcards, Patty! I really need to make some of these. So cute! Thanks for sharing.

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  23. What a fun, clever and gorgeous idea. What lucky recipients your Valentines are!! Thank you for showing us this wonderful idea. I certainly have a couple of friends who would cherish this sort of thing. You've definitely given me food-for-thought! Kudos to you.

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  24. Love em...I used to be in a couple of online fabric post card swap groups. The post office got so stinky about what they would and wouldn't mail and the postage went thru the roof. So the groups just kind of fell apart. Too bad, because I had "sew" much fun with them.

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  25. These are all fabulous - love the robot! Thanks for sharing

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  26. How cute. This idea is one I should do for the grands for V Day next year - I've already completed this year's cards. They would love them and the hand-written greeting is perfectly wonderful. Thanks for sharing. Happy Heart Day.

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  27. Great idea — especially like the robot!

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  28. I am very fortunate to have a small collection of fabric postcards. They are a joy to receive. So glad you shared this mini tutorial. It's all about sharing the love.

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  29. I am loving your postcards-what a wonderful idea! Loving the red & pnk fabric showing up all thru this hop! Thank you for sharing, Susan

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  30. Adorable! Each is special in it's own way. Love the heart and star postcards!

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  31. Those are such fun postcards, so quick and clever! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  32. Patty, honey, your postcards are just adorable! What a fun project! Thanks for the little tutorial, too! I always wondered how to make one! XO

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  33. So, so cute! I made fabric postcards a long time ago...you inspire me to get back into making them!

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  34. These are too cute, thanks for sharing the tutorial!

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  35. Such cute postcards. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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  36. So many cute Valentine postcards for your family!!! Want to adopt me????

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  37. These are a great idea. So very awesome!! Have a fun day! angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  38. Now I think I need to make some fabric postcards! These are so sweet and making them one-of-a-kind, they will always be treasured by the recipient. Thanks for the steps!

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  39. I love these. I've seen some cute quilted postcards before, but yours are the best!

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  40. So cute! I have never made a fabric postcard before. Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

    -Soma

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  41. Lovely and fun fabric quilted Hearts postcards. Thank you very much for Hopping...xo

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  42. These are sew fun looking!! I can see why some people participate in the postcard swaps. I'm thinking I should make some for my grandkids for Valentine's Day.

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  43. What a great way to brighten a young Valentine’s Day! The robot is perfect for boys, not sappy at all! I hope to remember this when my grandbabies are old enough to exchange Valentines! I really love the red heart with the chunky big stitch quilting. I would use that one myself as a mug rug! Thanks for the inspiriation!

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  44. I haven't made Fabric postcards for years. Sew Cute!!

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  45. Wow! You can actually mail these? Very fun, and pretty. Thanks for sharing how to make them. : )

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  46. Your post cards are adorable! I'm sure the recipients enjoy getting them. Thanks for sharing.

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  47. Those are just the cutest! I need to make my kiddos one as well.

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  48. The little red heart with the hand stitching around is so sweet. Thanks for the tut.

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  49. These look like so much fun to make and receive!

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  50. The robot! So cute. :) These are all really sweet. Thanks for detailing how you make your postcard quilts.

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  51. Love all the postcards, such a cute and fun idea. Thank you for the tutorial on makng them also.

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  52. Those are so cute! Perfect little postcards

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  53. I love fabric postcards. I like that you took the old fashioned kid's Valentine's Day cards and made them a bit modern.

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  54. These are so cute! Love the robot! Thanks for the tutorial as well.

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  55. These are very fun pieces of art. I love the robot! I wish I could be a fly on the wall when these are delivered! :)

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  56. I've made mine, although it is not Valentines. When are you sending the info for mailings?

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  57. Ah, those cards. I love them all.

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Thanks for visiting Elm Street Quilts. Looking forward to hearing from you!