Postcard

I needed to do a postcard (6" x 4" piece of textile art) yesterday and must admit I like working in this size as you can experiment with unknown techniques if you like and it really doesn't matter if you muck it up.

When I was playing with my Textile Journal last year I kept all the bits and pieces in a bag - how astute of myself.

I particularly liked the little squares of fused collage which I made using layered fabrics and a soldering iron. I had cut them up but didn't know what to do with them once I had so a double bonus.

Also in the bag were pieces of painted fusible (vliosofix /Bondaweb/WonderUnder) which also glowed.

I had already ironed some of the painted fusible onto a piece of red acrylic felt so that became the base.

Then I placed the squares on and stitched around the edges of the squares to make sure they were secure.

Then I used my favourite thread - 12wt Aurifil Cotton Mako in the perfect shade of purple - and  hand stitched with a running stitch. I love the way it sinks into the felted surface. I also use this weight of thread for machine quilting a lot when I want the stitches to show.

I fused the top and back fabric to a small piece of stiff interfacing with some Mistyfuse.

A quick run around the edge with a small zig zag stitch and a label on the back and it was done.

I have printed off a handful of my own labels with a custom thermofax screen (I can do one for you too) .

Here is the finished postcard. I really like it and now have more ideas using these simple techniques to create something larger. That's why I really like postcard sized projects and using stuff that is already on hand. I could actually make art for years without buying anything new but where would be the fun in that?