Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Easy Paper Pieced Quilt

Today I am sharing the full sample from the little peek I did Monday of my pieced jammies. (Did you noticed the little dimples on the baby's hand here? TIP: Just put a little dot or dash of your darker flesh color below each of the finger lines, I just loved those tiny little divots in my boys hands!! )
I pieced the baby's arm with the flower print by drawing a line just under the wrist and cutting and attaching, then wanted to bring more of these yummy Basic Grey Two Scoops prints into my card to make a blanket background. This card uses 4 different papers from the pack. You can create this same design with squares if you don't have the Labels One dies, but if you do, why wouldn't you??I just love these dies!
Start by cutting out a label in the same size from two different prints.

Then divide them each in half, and half again to make 4 sections. It is easy to find the center of each side with this die cut since it has that "point"in the middle. Now you'll use two diagonal pieces from one and the opposite pair with the other (which will leave you with more more pieces to make another card!) These alternating coordinating prints just look so fabulous together! (Two contrasting bold colors would be really sharp on a different type of card, too, kind of a harlequin look, very regal) :)

Now I really liked these pink and green darker stripes going through the plaid paper and thought this would look good as a border underneath and between each of my pieces, no need to sew or faux stitch! TIP: See how I chose a place on the paper for my die before cutting so that they intersect in the middle with horizontal strip going though both points of the die on either side, same thing for the vertical? (When you look at the finished card you'll see each piece frames up the stripes perfectly, it really makes the card look more pulled together than if I had just die cut the shape out of any part of the paper, especially with a plaid or stripe, you want to make sure the lines are "square" with the die!!)

I made a couple snips from the scrap left over to either side following the curve and punched the bottom of it with Threading Water to make a nice border for the inside (see the last photo).

I attached my finished "quilt" to a larger white scalloped die cut and then attached it all to a So Saffron square base. (Which do you prefer, the top one on this post with the scallop on the outside, or this? hmmm) Instead of the greetings from my "Hand-in Hand" set, I pulled out my "Rectangle Greetings" because I thought it would be fun to use my scalloped punch and piece the rectangle border with more of that plaid paper. It's popped up on a dimensional (the ribbon is SU! Sage Shadow grosgrain)

For the inside I stamped a sentiment from Rectangle Greetings over the same hands image I had stamped in Versamark. The layering of these looks so soft and sweet, and this sentiment goes so well with the image, too!
It is COLD here (for here!) but this card makes me feel "snuggly". Thanks for stopping by today! oh, BTW, my BLOGAVERSARY is coming up! They will be prizes and other fun stuff, so get ready!! :)

11 comments:

  1. That is a great card. Thanks for sharing it. I love the quilted cards as I used to quilt myself, sewing type quilting that is. I miss it as my machine was stolen and I didn't replace it. I can do it this way now and have a lot less hassle! Linda Crowder

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  2. What a neat idea Mel! Love the quilt you made! Awesome sentiment to go with your set too! I prefer the first picture myself, really makes it seem like a quilt more to me.

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  3. This is so sweet, Melanie!! I love your piecing and quilt background!!

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  4. Beautiful card! Lovely quilting you did on it, looka so very nice! I also love the way you did the inside of the card.

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  5. You have made the prettiest cards lately. I love that new set. Great job.
    I love your paper piecing too.

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  6. Was that a wedding sentiment? Great use of it! I'll have to go check out some of my wedding sentiments to see if they will work for babies! Thanks for the idea

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  7. Great card! I love the little dimples in the baby's hand too. I have a grandson that just turned a year old and I'm loving every minute of it, and reliving my own kids' infancies. Ah, the memories. Anyway, awesome card!

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  8. sweet card! love the inside with the decorative border. will have to get the threading water punch now - great!!

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  9. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! I LOVE this!!!!! I LOVE this!!!! I LOVE this!!!! OMGosh!!!! The piecing work with some of my FAVE BG dp!!!! Ohhhh just precious as can be!!!!! I totally wish I knew how to quilt!!!

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  10. I really like the first card with the scalloped border behind it, but the second card with the scalloped border behind it and then the square card behind that just really seems to POP for me. I simply fell in love with the second card. Thank you very much for the inspiration!

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