Postcard Challenge

In my last post I said I would show you what I'd been up to with my 20 minutes a day

and my free day.

Following on from making artist trading cards

I took up Leah's challenge of making a postcard a month.

Leah was also in the ATC swap that I took part in.

For January she challenged us to make a postcard

using a bird and yellow.

So this is what I came up with.

The bird is quite small

and attached to the background using free machining.

The background is machine embroidered.

Because the leaves are so small,

I attached them by hand.

I'm a bit late with January's postcard.

I think I was too busy with my hexagon quilt to get my machine out.

The theme for February was

'things we love'.

I was going to do something to do with chocolate

but decided against it.

Instead I chose

flowers,

bright colours, though I've only used red,

butterflies,

stripes,

stitching,

stars and hearts.

I suppose you could say the butterfly and red spotted fabric are vintage.

I've had them that long.

That must make me vintage as well!

I had fun making them.

Although the photos don't show it

I have finished off the edges of the postcards

but then left a border.

I thought I would frame them and use them for pictures for our walls.

After all we didn't bring any of our art work with us when we left Sweden.

It's still in storage there.

I really enjoy making something like this.

It does take me a while to think up the design,

and it doesn't help that I have a limited choice of fabrics here.

My main stash is also in Sweden.

The postcard size is only four by six inches,

so they make quite small pictures.

The postcard with the bird is nice close up with the detail,

but the bird is too small to be seen across a room.

The second postcard would have benefitted from being quilted.

It would have added more 'substance' to the overall look of it.

It's nearly March

and the theme is 'words to live by'.

I've already got my ideas for the next postcard in my head.

I'll show you how I get on with it

when I've made it!

In the meantime,

pop on over to Leah's to see who else has joined the challenge,

and how they have interpreted the themes.