Member Jennifer G arranged for Central Florida MQG members to swap fabric postcards with members of the South Florida MQG. Fifteen CFMQGers made postcards for 17 SFMQGers – two CFMQGers made two postcards.
The 4″ X 6″ postcard swap theme was “It’s a Small World.” Postcards were to be mailed on or near July 1, 2025.
At a recent CFMQG meeting, member Carol W gave a postcard-making demo and provided samples of products used to make them.
What follows are pictures and descriptions of postcards made by our 15 member-makers.
Anne G made her postcard with batiks and walking foot quilting.
Beth S modeled her postcard after a Dresden plate block. The fans are tiny houses sitting on a very small world. It’s quilted with invisible thread. Beth satin-stitched the edges with gold thread, but then covered them with the print, backed with fusible. She says, ” I think it overpowers the design.”
Betty S made her postcard with small squares.
Carol W made her postcard with “little lines.”
Cindy B used selvages to create her postcard sent to Jamie in Miami. Cindy said she put her postcard in an envelope to mail because “I just didn’t trust the USPS to not destroy it!”
Courtney S was inspired to make her postcard following a June trip to Svalbard, Norway where she, her husband and daughter hiked up a peak called Platjåfjellet. The Arctic summer was just beginning, and blooming amongst the scree and patches of snow were little purple flowers called purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia). I decided to use my postcard as a chance to practice some improv with the goal of abstractly depicting these plants. She says, “I found the improv a challenge, as usual. I pieced the front on my Featherweight and I used a Singer 503A to do the edge, which I wasn’t entirely thrilled with, but oh well!”
Dee A offered to make two postcards, since we couldn’t come up with two more members to “match-up” with swappers from SFMQG.
She was working on a flying geese quilt and thought the size of her geese were perfect for the postcard challenge. She added, “Also, I wanted to include some big stitch, and use these two funky fabrics. The project was fun!”
Gwen F used selvedges to make her postcard, explaining how much she loves this Moda fabric line from Zen Chic, and that she especially liked the saying “Creative minds inspire others.” She says, “That’s what the MQG does for me. I wanted to inspire Joan, my recipient, as we take this modern journey together!”
Irene R chose a modern design that includes a small piece of an old embroidery art called drawn thread work/hemstitching recycled from an old table top center piece. She also stitched very small sashiko stitches used in modern quilts.
Linda H has been making curvelet for months and decided these 1″ (finished) patches were the perfect way to say “small world.” It was also a chance to try out the mini arc template (designed by Fiona Johnstone) that goes with the curvelet template. (Note the center blocks with arcs). Linda added perle cotton hand stitching using 12-weight Wonderfil Spagetti, and edge-stitched with smoke-colored Invisifil thread. She successfully mailed her postcard to Punta Gorda, Florida as is, without an envelope.
Lora D used the freezer paper piecing method to create sun rays, and raw edge appliquéd the rising sun. She attached the design to fusible Peltex, quilted it, glued the piece to a postcard, and then satin stitched the edges.
Lynette K made this appliquéd postcard with tiny buttons to say, “‘Happy Birthday USA’ 4th of July!”
Peggy L improv-pieced her postcard, adding machine quilting and some big stitch hand quilting.
Michele K is another postcard swapper who made two postcards.
Rosemary V explained her choice of lemons for the postcard she made:
“Lemons have been around forever. Since the 10th century they have been used for culinary, medicinal and spiritual reasons, aiding in digestion, reducing stress, protecting us from negative energies. They represent growth and an ability to turn challenges into positive outcomes, just like modern quilters. They also bring joy.”
She continues, “So in my small world to another modern quilter, I sent a lemon to encourage optimism and a can do attitude.”
While this postcard swap was fun for each of the makers – and didn’t we see some beautiful, modern creativity?! – disappointingly not everyone who made and mailed a postcard received a postcard. As of July 27, five of our 15 CFMQG participants have not received their postcard.
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