Postcard quilt This quilt with its nostalgic postcard
design is just the thing to spark teenage dreams about faraway lands.
Size: To fit a single bed generously; finished size should measure approximately 145 x 205cm
Difficulty: for the experienced sewer Time: two to three weeks
You will need templates on pages 75-78 450 x 150cm white cotton fabric 210 x 150cm piece of batting 75 x 10cm piece of black and white dotted fabric for appliqué letters 115 x 75cm piece of stitch and tear fabric for Eiffel Tower template piece of floral or botanical print fabric for the postage stamp motif piece of fabric with aeroplane motif for the customs stamp motif fusible interfacing for appliqué details stranded black embroidery thread black top-stitching thread black and white machine thread invisible quilting thread dressmaker’s water-soluble pen or pencil ruler fabric eraser dressmaking pins with straight heads curved quilting pins sewing machine walking foot, appliqué foot and open-toed presser foot
NOTE The walking foot is for the quilting, the postcard’s spine feature and top-stitching the border into place. The open-toed presser foot allows for easy viewing while stitching the Eiffel Tower motif.
Fabric tip for motifs If you are not able to find fabric that is suitable for the postage and customs stamps, you could use the front of a ready-made cushion cover. Have a look
40 IDEAS 2015
at Mr Price Home in their cushion range. Or you could design your own postage and customs stamps using our motifs on pages 76-77, or the botanical prints, illustrations and graphics of your choice, and have them transferred onto cream- coloured cotton fabric using the transfer method of your choice.
To make NOTE A 1cm seam allowance has been included in all the measurements. 1 From the white cotton fabric, cut out the front piece 210 x 150cm and the back piece 230 x 150cm. Define and fold the front of the quilt piece into 2 x 75cm sections; the left-hand side is for the Eiffel Tower motif and the right-hand side is for the address section. Press the fold line in place. This line will be the spine line of the postcard design and can be marked with a dressmaking pen of your choice. 2 Now fold these two sections once again from the selvage to the centre to make quarters. Press the fold lines in place; these lines represent the centre of each section of postcard. 3 Turn to pages 75-78 for the templates and enlarge all motifs to the required size. Make a rectangular paper template approximately 75 x 10cm that contains all the letters for the ‘postcard’ wording. This will be your guide to place the spotted fabric letters for appliqué as well as tracing the letter motifs. 4 From the fusible interfacing cut a strip 75 x 10cm for the postcard letters and two squares to fit the postage stamp and the customs stamp. Apply the interfacing to the back of each piece of fabric. 5 Reversing the letters and using the template, trace the letters for the ‘postcard’ motif onto the remaining papered side of the fusible interfacing. Carefully cut around each letter, keeping the rectangular paper template complete as this will be used as a placement guide on the actual fabric at a later stage. 6 For the Eiffel Tower motif, trace it onto the stitch and tear fabric using a dressmaker’s pen of your choice. Find and mark the centre of the motif. Now find and mark the centre of the front quilt piece top and bottom and place the centre of the Eiffel Tower motif onto the marked centre front. 7 Pin the traced Eiffel Tower image on
the stitch and tear fabric and the front of the quilt piece together. Using the black machine thread and working with the open-toed presser foot, meticulously sew through the pinned section along the traced lines of the Eiffel Tower, avoiding where possible back or double stitching along these lines. When completed, remove the stitch and tear fabric gently by carefully tearing the fabric away from the cotton fabric, making sure that you do not damage the black stitching in this process. This completes the left-hand side of the front quilt piece at this stage. 8 Referring to the photo, start working on the right-hand side of the front piece. Use the paper template for the postcard wording and the Eiffel Tower as placement guides. Begin by placing the floral postage stamp at the top right corner; now place the paper template with postcard wording across the centre top below the stamp. Now place the customs stamp at the lower right-hand edge, placing it approximately the same distance from the bottom as the postage stamp is from the top. 9 The space below the postage wording is for the dash lines. Using your dressmaker’s pins with the straight head, pin five lines equally spaced apart in this space. Use the stamps as a guide to the outer margins. When you are happy with the markings, fuse the letters and stamps in place. 10 Using the dressmaker’s pen of your choice, draw the dash lines in place. These dash lines must resemble the address section of a postcard design when completed. Remove the dressmaking pins. Embroider over the guidelines using three strands of the black embroidery thread, working in small neat running stitches. 11 Now complete the appliqué sections using the appliqué foot. Set your sewing machine on a zigzag stitch with a short stitch length so it forms a satin stitch. It is a good idea to work a practice sample before you begin the appliqué work to make sure you are happy with the width of the finished stitch. 12 Remove the pen or pencil markings on the quilt with the fabric eraser and also remove any remaining pins once the appliqué motifs are completed. The front of the quilt design has now been completed.
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