Quilt Cards

I wanted to make a beaded snowflake for my January card so I took a few photos to show you how I make mine Ashley.

First I find a simple drawing. This is an embroidered snowflake but I can use beads instead of thread.

The supplies I need are small eyed needles, I use quilting betweens, some beads - I used a tube that has different size beads...bought at Joann's (or Michaels), some thread. You can use beading thread show in the bobbin (at Micheals or Joann's) or you can use Hand Quilting thread - don't use regular thread because it's not strong enough. I also use a piece of batting as my work surface to keep the beads from rolling around.

I wanted the snowflake against a blue background but wanted some snow on the ground too so I made my background with some white at the bottom.
I drew some lines on my blue background to follow. I used a Clover white marking pen that shows up on dark fabric. These marks will disappear with steam if I don't cover them up completely.

Make a knot in your thread and come up where you want to place your first bead.

Use your needle to scoop up your bead - it's easier than trying to use your fingers to put it on the needle. Then you're going to go down with your needle --- the space between where you came up and go down should be the width of the bead you're using. This will be easier to do as you practice.

Here I'm going around to create a little inner circle like on my drawing (see first photo).
Now my circle is done and next I'm going to use small white beads and sew them right along my line.

Starting in the center of the circle and sewing one bead at a time, I'm adding the white beads right along the line.

Remember the space between where you come up with your thread and go down should be the same as the width of the bead.

Keep adding the beads in a straight line.

If the bead doesn't lay just right like the one below.
You can nudge it with your needle and pull the thread a little tighter before adding the next bead.

Here's my first line finished. I added a big bead on the end and some of the longer beads to the side like my drawing had.

Here I'm finishing up the second line - I went through the big beads on the end twice to hold them more securely.
Here I'm adding the longer beads - notice I'm leaving a wider space here between where my needle comes up and where it goes down - equal to the width of the bead I'm using.
And here are two of my lines beaded. You'll notice that I didn't get the beads perfectly straight...it takes practice and I'm certainly not perfect!

You can also use beads to fill in centers of flowers or in other applique cards like we have - they can be an accent or you can make the whole design beaded.

I hope this helps Ashley, let me know if you have any questions.

Mary

How do you put the beads on the cards? All of your cards look really good. I`d like to make one.
Thanks Ashley

Travis and Georgina left today.  It was good to see them.  But we're happy to be back to normal too.  It has been a busy month. 

Can't believe this year is almost over...hopefully for the 'PA' McLaughlin's it'll be a better year.

I got your snowman! He is too cute! Great job!

Mom's card was here when I arrived home and Ann's came today. I love both of them. Can you believe that this was the first ribbon embroidery Mom has ever done??

I got your card today and it is beautiful!  Love the beading!  It was great seeing you and the rest of the bunch this past weekend!

Mary and Aunt Rae, Thanks for my cards. They are great! I am planning on working on my cards one night this week or over the weekend (next weekend!). I bought all my fabric and they will be simple but cute (hopefully)!

Oh, I got the snowman from Aunt Rae. She posted the card earlier. And little christmas trees from Mary. My printer/scanner is getting fixed, so I can't post pics...sorry.

Mary I got your card today. Thank you , the tree is really cute. Such pretty fabric.

I mailed my December Post Cards today so everyone should be getting one soon. I posted pictures earlier.

Since sending cards to everyone was an option for December, I got mine done and they're already in the mail. I posted photos earlier - I made 4 different version...you'll have to wait to see which version arrives in your mail!

Well, it's December already!  Mary reminded me to post the exchange list for the month.  Again, with all that is going on with Uncle John's family...if you need to skip this month, please don't worry. We all understand.  Here is the list.

Thanks Nancy!  I got your really cute card today.  Keeping you and Uncle John in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks Heather but mine were a lot quicker to make than Mom's!

That's all I can say! Aunt Rae and Mary...WOW! They are all so creative. What a great job!

An online friend sent me these Christmas bulbs so I thought I'd make a couple more trees and put the bulbs on them.

Tried to add a star to the top of this tree but it didn't work... added this charm to cover the hole.

I love this Christmas tree fabric but it's too busy to do much with it...so I just added a single star embellishment. All these still need the backs and edges finished but I'm just about done with all the Christmas postcards.

Thanks! The trees are much cuter in person - the background fabric has metallic threads running through it that look very festive!

Both fabrics were from Joann's I bought a half yard of each and have plenty leftover. They were perfect for these holiday postcards.

Mary yours are really cute too, both the snowmen and the trees!

Mary that is just the cutiest snowmam fabric. I like the Trees too

Very cute Mom, some I hadn't seen before in that photo too. I started mine a couple nights ago and have 5 done...I need 3 more but haven't decided on what design to use for them. I did 3 of the snowmen and 2 of the tree. Both were fairly quick but especially the snowmen because I just used a cute print and added the snowflake brads. If I can't figure out something else, I'll just make more of these two.

Mother they are ALL so cute! You got very creative with those!

With the deadline looming I decided it was time to finish the backing and edging on my November Card. You saw the front but now it's done!

And for Nancy and her family, please, remember that deadlines don't apply to you guys. You're in our thoughts and prayers and if you get cards done and mailed out fine - if not, we don't want you worrying or even trying to catch up....there's always next month or the month after.

Please don't let this little bit of fun become something that adds additional stress.

Rebecca, your card is very cute!  And Mother, your Thanksgiving card is also very pretty.  Guess I better get started on mine!

I haven't made my October card yet...thank goodness it goes to Mary Ann. I'm hoping to have time not this weekend, but the next(15th). I'm going to get October and November's done. That's why I haven't posted what I did for October :-) Mom sent my card to Rebecca by accident. So, Aunt Rae was sweet enough to send me a replacement (for Mom). Thanks Aunt Rae! I love it!

Mary Ann I like your card too. Easy to tell it's October's card

That quilt card is very cute! perfect for the halloween theme!

How cute is this? Thanks so much Mary Ann!

I still have to finish my edges before sending my card out but I thought I'd repost the exchange list for November.

Mother's goes to Nancy

Nancy's goes to Deb

Deb's goes to Mary Ann

Mary's goes to Rebecca

Ann's goes to Heather

Heather's goes to Ashley

Mary Ann's goes to Mother (Aunt Rae)

Rebecca's goes to Ann

Ashley's goes to Mary

I got your beautiful card!  Thank you so much!  Look at all the beautiful silk ribbon embroidery, and gorgeous beading.Mine is almost done...I'll finish the beading around the edge tonight and it will go in tomorrow's mail.

I like this blog design too.

Thanks, Mary for putting it together.

And Mother, you're not stupid...I have trouble with this stuff sometimes too. I love your October card!

I was looking through all the cards we've made and put them in an album. Here's a slideshow - we've done some pretty cool cards!

You just don't know how to edit and delete posts - trust me - I have to do both all the time with my blog and the HeartStrings stuff. I deleted the September card you posted by accident and the October one that got posted twice.

Your October card is really cute!

Sorry I ended up getting my card on twice. I'll learn one day

Isn't it great?! You did a terrific job Ashley! Thanks you so much, I love your card!
I have started working on my Christmas cards. Yes, I know...Istill have to do October and November. But I thought I'd get a head start on the holiday cards.

Since I finished my October postcard before I went to Copenhagen, I decided to work on my November card tonight. The color is a bit off on this photo - the background is more of a burgundy than a pink. The edges still need finishing but I've got plenty of time before the November 25th deadline.

You can see I'm sticking to an Autumn theme rather than the holiday themes for Oct and Nov.

Mary also asked for November's list so here it is.

Mother's goes to Nancy

Nancy's goes to Deb

Deb's goes to Mary Ann

Mary's goes to Rebecca

Ann's goes to Heather

Heather's goes to Ashley

Mary Ann's goes to Mother (Aunt Rae)

Rebecca's goes to Ann

Ashley's goes to Mary

Nancy yours certainly expresses your 'job' lately...very clever. And Heather, your x-rays are very cool!

Mary I like your sunflower, very textural, the beads also add a little shimmer. I wish I were getting them all!

Mother reminded me I didn't post my card for Sept. I did the work theme, and since my job is quilting, that's what I did. Hand dyed silk with Angelina fibers quilted with a simple crosshatch. Traditional meets contemporary.

Thanks guys - this was fun to make and I bought those amber squares in the bead/jewelery isle especially to make a sunflower card.

I can't remember if I got them at Joann's or Michaels but they came on a string - there were probably 20 of them and they're intended for jewelry making. There are different shapes and different colors and as long as they have the holes you can sew them right on.

Since these were heavy I did use two strands of beading floss. I went through the center twice and now that I'm finished I wish I'd gone through all of them twice (that's 4 strands of beading thread) Next time I will but these should be fine.

Mary that is so beautiful. I like how you filled in with the beads at the bottom and you are right it does help balance the card. I do remember Ann doing one from that pattern. We had a great time working with the ribbon at your house.

We didn't get all the cards posted this time. I like to see them all.

Wow, that's very nice Mary! What did you use at the bottom? Are they gems or something?

I'm going off theme here for October and for November. I prefer Autumn themes to Halloween and Thanksgiving. Ann and Mom may recognize this sunflower as Ann did a version of it while they were here in July.

So all I need is Debbie to post the Exchange List for October and I'll be all set.

Heather I like your card. You did a great job coming up with the work theme . I'm thinking of all of you today.

Heather, the postcard looks great.

Keith and I will be thinking of Uncle John and all of you tomorrow.

I really had so many different things I could have done. But this is supposed to be a viewbox with x-rays on it. Talk about procrastinating and trying to make a deadline....I finished it tonight. And it will go in tomorrow's mail.

Nancy's postcard arrived yesterday - I did see it last month when were were visiting her and Uncle John but I was excited to get it! Isn't this just perfect?

You're welcome Ashley, I'm glad it arrived safely!

I enjoy making the cards,and I am having lots of fun. I can`t wait until next month. Mary I got your postcard in the mail and it was really good. BYE-BYE Ashley

 Ashley, they look great!  Isn't this fun!

Ashley's cards look great, she did a great job. I love the school bus.

Ashley's cards look great - Debbie's lucky to get the first one she's done for our exchange.

I'm still working on my card for this month.

Very nice Mary, I liked both cards.

I used pinking shears to finish the edge of some of my Christmas cards. I like the look but it is hard making the cuts, maybe my pinking shears are dull. I looked for the decorative blades at Jo Ann's but they only had the pinking blade, but I'm hoping to be able to find the ones like Nancy has. I'll keep looking.

My work is making HeartString quilts so I decided to make a string block and add some hearts.

My first postcard was a reject so I had to redo it. Can you guess which is the good one?



I also used my pinking shears for the edges rather than doing the zigzag. First I stitched around the card with my quarter inch foot (making sure not to sew into the corners) and then pinked the edge. I had a problem with the first card because my hearts were too close to the edge and I didn't get a nice straight line for my edge stitch because my foot kept bumping into the heart brads.

A woman who reads my blog forwarded this link to me because she knows we're exchanging postcards. This might be an easy way to make some of those extra December cards using some pretty Christmas fabric and buttons.

Post Card Tutorial

I also received Ann's postcard while I was gone - it's even cuter in person! I'm re-posting her photo in case you didn't see it.



I need to work on my September card - remember they should be mailed by the 25th.

Deb...yes I got your awesome card! Thanks a bunch! I had seen that you were mailing it on the 18th of August and after several days I was checking with Kurt to see if he saw it in the mail. It finally came on the 25 or the 26th of August. It is amazing!

Today, Ashley showed me her Septmeber card, and I think it is wonderful! Very impressive. I think she's a natural! Mary Ann is going to post a pic of it very soon.

Ann, your cards for July and August are great!

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day!

I got your postcard today...it is really cute! Thanks a bunch. And Heather, I was wondering if you got my card...it was mailed before the last storm.

Now it's pouring from Gustav here...more rain we don't need, but...at least we won't get a direct hit from this one.

Mark your calendars - we're in the process of planning our 2nd Family Reunion on Saturday May 9th, 2009.

We'll meet again at Kevin's and we're looking forward to seeing everyone.

Also, we looked up the dates of the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival and it's February 26th through March 1st this weekend. Mom, Ann, and Mary are all planning to attend and hope you can join us.

Both are really cute Ann!

First, everyone's cards look terrific! Cute quilt too, Mary Ann.

And also, before I forget again....If anyone would like to make postcards for everyone in our group for Christmas feel free to do so. It would be great to get one from everyone! BUT, I do want to stress that this is OPTIONAL. Only if you want to, please don't feel you have to. I look forward to getting my assigned card each month!

And I want to welcome our new participants, Rebecca and Ashley! Way to go girls!

OK, on to September's assignments. If you are working with the theme...it is "WORK" for this coming month. And here are your mail to assignments...mail by date is Sept. 25th.

Mother's goes to Mary Ann

Nancy's goes to Mary

Deb's goes to Ann

Mary's goes to Ashley

Ann's goes to Rebecca

Heather's goes to Nancy

Mary Ann's goes to Heather

Rebecca's goes to Aunt Rae

Ashley's goes to Deb


Have fun!

Mary Ann your card and your Mother's are both very cute.

I love your wall hanging for Logan, thanks for sending a picture

Heather I got your card today it's very cute. Thank you!

Heather, the Olympic Rings look great - I'm sitting here watching again tonight doing yet another binding so I can really appreciate the sentiment behind this one.

I'm afraid most of my ideas come from books - I usually modify the designs somewhat but they certainly aren't original. I have to say I did LOVE my postcard from this month and it was hard to mail it to your Mom!

Hello ladies....I actually decided to do a postcard different from the theme. So, since the Olympics are underway, I chose to make the Olympics Rings. I love all of your wonderful postcards! You are so creative! I wish I could even think of some of your designs. Enjoy your weekend!