Colorways By Vicki Welsh ***No order will be shipped March 20 - 25***
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Fireworks Postcard

vicki welsh fabric postcard

I've had the idea of a fireworks postcard in the back of my mind for a long time but I couldn't quite figure out how to do it. That was all resolved recently as I've been using my longarm rulers to quilt Spirograph-type designs. Working on those helped me solve how I could stitch out fireworks. This isn't a thorough A to Z instruction for making fabric postcards but it will show how I stitched out this particular design and might give you some tips for stitching some designs that you've been wanting to do. 
vicki welsh fabric postcard
The card started with hand dyed dark blue fabric fused to heavy interfacting (Timtex, Peltex, Stiffy). There's no heavy interfacing more economical than Stiffy from Long Creek Mills. Their 35 yard bolt is not much more expensive than 10 yards of Timtex. I'm on my second bolt!

My process is to fuse Mistyfuse to the back of a fat quarter of fabric and then fuse the fabric to Stiffy. Then I cut it into 4" x 6" postcard pieces.There's nothing fused to the back yet.

I picked Superior Razzle Dazzle thread for my fireworks. This thread has to be hand wound on the bobbin so the stitching is done from the back.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
Draw or trace a circle that's about 2.5" in diameter. I had the perfect size longarm ruler that conveniently has markings to divide the circle into eighths. The eighth markings are key. If you don't have a template with the markings just cut out the circle and ​fold it in half, then half again to get quarters and in half again to get eighths. Use a pencil or something pointy to poke out a hole in the center.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
Using the circle template, position it on the back of the card in a position so that the center of the circle is where you want the center of your fireworks. If you want it perfectly centered draw diagonal lines from corner to corner on the card. Where they cross will be the center of the card. I placed mine off center so I didn't have to do that extra step.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
Find something with a gentle curve. I used another longarm ruler but you could use a salad plate or any other round template.

Draw 8 radiating lines connecting the center to the dots you made around the circle template. Carry the lines all the way to the edges of the postcard.

Picture
The decorative thread is in the bobbin so you are stitching from the back. You might want to do a couple of practice pieces on scraps so that you can get the tension right. In this image I'm using black thread but I switched to gold metallic because it did show some on the front of the card. The extra sparkle from the metallic thread looked better than the dull black.

​Stitch over all lines. I did it in 4 continuous lines from edge to edge, crossing in the middle.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
That wasn't enough stitching for me so I went back and added 2 spokes in each of the 8 wedges. I experimented with lines all the way to the edge, lines ending in loops and these lines that are back-tracked.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
This is the front of my first prototype card. With this one I decided to change to a brighter thread and to experiment with adding loops to the end of the added stitching. I did not draw the added stitched lines. They are done free motion and it's easy to eyeball the spacing.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
This is the version that I liked best. Here you can see it from the front after each set of stitches.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
Now it's time to fuse on the back.

For my postcard backs I pick out a light hand dyed fabric and fuse the whole thing with Mistyfuse. Then I cut the 4" x 6" postcard rectangles. I actually do several fabrics at once so that I have a bit of a stockpile of postcard backs when I need them.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
The next step is to stitch around the edges. I often use the edging to create a frame in a contrasting color but since this is a night sky I chose navy blue thread. I use a sating stitch with the zig zag setting on my sewing machine. I set it to a width of 4.0 and length of .02. I find I get the best results when I use the same thread top and bottom. If the tension is off at all you won't notice.

There's no rule that you have to finish the edges. I've gotten and sent postcards with a simple straight stitch close to the edges and that looks great too.

Picture
If your machine has an overcasting foot it's perfect for doing postcard edges. Look in the middle of the oval stitching area and you can see a pin right in the middle of that open area. As the machine zig zags the thread catches over that pin on the right side and that keeps it from drawing up the edges of your postcard (or whatever you are stitching).This helps me keep perfectly straight satin stitching.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
But my card needed a little more bling. I wanted a crystal right in the middle. The problem is that I had this huge build up of thread in the center and I knew that a crystal wouldn't stay fused there.

To solve that problem I first used whatever small tool was handy (screwdriver blade) to mash at the center to flatten it out. This thread is pretty flexible and squishy so I got it pretty flat.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
When I'm mailing cards with crystals I'm never really confident about the crystals staying on in the mail so I super glue them on instead. Loctite is my favorite brand of super glue. It seems to hold everything. I use it on glass and I've even used it to glue acrylic rulers back together. 

For these cards I first put a drop right in the middle of the fireworks blast to seal the mashed threads. Once that dried I put a drop on the back of the crystal and put it in place. Tweezers were critical here. 

​These crystals are stuck for good now.

vicki welsh fabric postcard
The crystals even make the rejects look fine. These didn't turn out the way I expected but they are still fine for birthday cards or cards for our Airbnb guests.

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Copyright © 2021 by Vicki Welsh. All rights reserved. Content from this site may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Vicki Welsh. You are welcome to link and share links to any page on the site.
  • Welcome
  • Shop
    • Hand Dyed Fabric
    • Glass
    • Just Plain Soap
  • Blog
  • Galleries
    • Customer Gallery >
      • Project Submission Form
    • Quilt Gallery >
      • 2023
      • 2022 >
        • Summer Sunset Quilt
        • Soundwave Quilt
      • 2021 >
        • A Big Green Quilt
        • Finally! Quilt
      • 2020 >
        • Jackies Choice Quilt
        • Penguins on Ice Quilt
        • Corona Cats Quilt
        • Kim's Garden
      • 2019 >
        • Indonesian Batik Quilt
        • Lost My Marbles
        • Remaking Flora's quilt
        • I'm Not a Snowflake Quilt
        • Where In The World Is My Cat Quilt
        • Fireworks
        • The Groovy Quilts
        • The Puppy Quilt
      • 2018 >
        • The Maine Quilt
        • Stars At Sea
        • Antelope Canyon Quilt
      • 2017 >
        • The Wedding Quilt Quilt
        • Rainbow's End Quilt
      • 2016 >
        • CSQ Challenge Quilt
        • Wholecloth Quilt of Valor
        • Luras Choice Quilt
        • Black Swan Quilt
        • 2016 Quilt of Valor Quilt
        • Non Unus Pluma Quilt
      • 2015 >
        • Snaps Quilt
        • Batik Crossroads Quilt
        • Wild Goose Chase Quilt
        • Fractured Fragments Quilt
        • Tell It To the Stars Quilt
        • Cathedral Window Quilt
        • Time In Place Quilt
        • Shaken Not Stirred Quilt
        • Pleiades Quilt
      • 2014 >
        • Spinning Stars Quilt
        • Fractured Spiral Quilt
        • Autumn Leaves Quilt
        • Sea Dreams Quilt
        • Woodland Star Quilt
        • Zombie Ball Quilt
        • Innova Angles Quilt
      • 2013 >
        • Murder For a Jar of Red Rum Quilt
        • Patroitic Quilts
        • Red Sunset Bedding Quilt
        • The Infamous Fish Quilt
        • Gratitudes Quilt
      • 2012 >
        • Illuminated Blocks Quilt
        • Kims Wedding Quilt
        • Crossing The South Anna Quilt
        • Coming Home Quilt
        • See Reverse Quilt
        • Overboard Quilt
        • Floras Fans and Modern Crumbs Quilt
        • The Patriot Quilt
        • On Point Quilt
        • Grinch Quilts
      • 2011 >
        • Star Struck Quilt
        • On A Whim Quilt
        • Catena Quilt
        • Zig Zag Scraps Quilt
        • Purple Keepsakes Quilt
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Journal Quilts 2011
      • 2010 >
        • Maggie the Messmaker Cross Stitch
        • Fiberactions Challenge Quilts
        • Wootten Memory Quilts
        • Teal Tomorrow Quilt
      • 2009 >
        • Shereen's Peaceful Garden
        • TShirt Quilt Commission
        • Three Generation Quilt
      • 2008 >
        • Flora's Quilts
        • Monkey Baby Quilts
        • Citrus Quilt
      • 2007 >
        • Snails Trail Quilts
        • Quilts of Valor
        • Other Quilts
      • 2006 and older >
        • Scrap Bin Quilt
        • Flora's Dutchman's Breeches
        • The Gift Quilts
        • Reversible Quilts
        • Spectacular Scraps Quilts
        • Foundation Pieced Quilts
        • Art Quilts
        • Kathy's Memorial Quilt
    • Symmetry Quilt Gallery
    • Dyeing Gallery >
      • Tie Dye Gallery
      • Shibori Gallery
    • Postcard Gallery
    • Fused Glass Gallery
    • Mosaic Gallery
    • Zentangle and Spirograph
  • Tutorials
    • Save My Bleeding Quilt
    • Postcard Tutorials >
      • Silver Christmas Tree Postcard
      • Easy Framed Motif Postcard
      • Trash to treasure postcards
      • Holiday Ornament Postcard
      • Postcard as a Door Hanger
      • Plaid Tree Postcard Tutorial
      • Button Tree Postcard
      • Fireworks Postcard Tutorial
    • Quilting Tutorials >
      • The Gift Quilt Pattern
      • Keepsakes Quilt Pattern
      • Blocking a Quilt
      • Facing A Quilt Tutorial
      • Veterans Quilt Tutorials >
        • Allegiance Quilt Pattern
        • Gratitudes Quilt Pattern
        • Strength Quilt Pattern
        • Blockade Quilt Pattern
        • Redoubt Quilt Pattern
        • Regiment Quilt Pattern
        • Bars and Stripes Quilt Pattern
      • Rainbow Quilt Free Pattern
      • Binding a Quilt
    • Surface Design Tutorials >
      • Ice Dyeing tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing basics tutorial
      • Snow Dyeing Mandala
      • Sun Printing Tutorial
      • Lamp Printing Tutorial
      • Dyeing extra large fabrics
      • Hold the Retayne
      • Painted Shower Curtain Tutorial
      • Metallic Paint Effects on Fabric
      • Curing Metallic Fabric Paints
      • Zentange Pens
      • Leaf Printing Tutorial
      • Printing On Fabric
      • Life of MX Dye Concentrates
      • Testing Soda Ash in fabric dyeing
    • Color Theory
    • Placemat Tutorials >
      • Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial
      • Coming Home Placemat Tutorial
      • Mineral Pool Placemat Tutorial
      • Sugar Maple Placemats
      • Fat Quarter Placemat Tutorial
      • Merry Mats Placemat Tutorial
    • Basic Tutorials >
      • Custom Sewing Table
      • Liquid Spray Starch Recipe
    • Crafts and Small Projects >
      • Surgery Drain Bag Tutorial
      • Drawstring Bag Sewing Tutorial
      • Large Tote Tutorial
      • Big Fabric Flower Tutorial
      • The best potholders pattern
      • Notebook Cover Tutorial
      • Pillowcase tutorial
      • Wide Brim Sun Visor
      • Trash To Treasure Holiday Ornaments
      • Pet Bed From Scraps Tutorial
      • Framed Metal Quilt
      • Shooting Shirt Tutorial
      • Making Paper
      • Making Soap
      • Favorite Soap Reicpes
      • Lotion Making
      • Bowl hot pad pattern
    • Longarm Quilting Tutorials >
      • The longarm machine does matter
      • Double Wavy Crosshatch
      • Wavy Crosshatch Longarm
      • Quilting Letters on a Quilt
      • Centering a Quilt back on a longarm
      • Quilting Snowball Blocks
      • Easy Longarm Piano Keys
      • Using Channel Locks
      • Sewing/Serging quilt backing to zippers
      • Adding backing on the longarm
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy