Saturday, November 17, 2012

Postcards from Norway

The Internet group of which I am a member, the Material Mavens, continues to thrive.  The quilt based on the latest theme of Travel was due November 15.  I chose this theme because traveling, next to quilting and reading, is one of my passions!  (Members take turns choosing our themes.)

Below is the first quilt I made for this theme.   I eventually chose my second attempt at a travel quilt for my Material Mavens travel quilt, but now I wish that I had chosen this one below!

 For it, I decided to print four different scenes from Norway (which we have cruised to twice) as mock postcards and arrange them in a collage.  I fused these with Misty Fuse onto a background of the Norwegian flag.  (I fused the flag elements as well, but used Wonder Under.)  I have  a postcard stamp, and so I stamped the back of a postcard onto white fabric and filled in the message and address areas with a permanent ink pen.  The back of the quilt is a travel-themed fabric from my stash that I have used in other projects.  For the first time, I tried the fused binding.  Nice and quick, but I made it too wide!  Still, it gives the quilt a look of a flag-decorated desk blotter, with postcards tucked into the edges, which is a serendipitous effect that I ended up being happy with.

The quilt, entitled "Postcards from Norway"
Below the photos of the quilt back below, I have reproduced the images of the "real" photos used in the quilt.  My new HP Photosmart 7510 printer does a nice job of printing on fabric (I used June Taylor Computer Printer Fabric), but still the sharpness and clarity of a photo printed on fabric doesn't equal that of one printed on good-quality photo paper!  

I tried using TAP, highly recommended to me by another member of the Material Mavens, but results were unsatisfactory.  No matter how long I held the hot iron to the product, not all of the ink transferred to the cloth.  Obviously I need more practice with TAP!  I'll not give up!  

As is was, I had to make many attempts to print the pictures I finally used.  And my package of June Taylor Computer Fabric is old and the fabric is very thin.  Thus you can see through the photos to the flag below.  In some ways I like this transparency--as you CAN see the flag, but a real postcard would never allow this!

the quilt back



Magdalene Bay, approaching the Polar Ice Barrier--lower right on quilt

This is the scene in the upper right of the quilt.  Taken on our first cruise to Norway, in the spectacular
Lyesfjord near Stavanger.  

The Hanseatic Wharf in Bergen, lower left on quilt.

The river that is fed by the waterfall in Geiranger upper right in the quilt.  This river reminded
me of the Animas River in Durango, Colorado.







4 comments:

  1. I have enjoyed studying both the quilts! Sorry about the trouble w TAP.
    I love the fused binding.

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  2. Love that you started with the Norwegian flag background and think that the transparency of your postcards is brilliant, even though it was not intentional!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I do love the transparency effect, even if it was unintentional! I will remember this about the thinner products on which one can print photos!

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  3. So clever and beautiful, Alice. I too love the ALL NORWAY approach...the flag, the beautiful scenes. Great creative work, as usual, Alice. ss

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