postcard quilt 2021

We all love quilt stories, right? At least I do, and I couldn't resist sharing about my participation in the postcard quilt experiment hosted by Zak Foster and Amanda Nadig. The entire project had the theme of "newness," and every step of the way, it indeed felt fresh and new.

So there were several steps involved to get us to the end result, and each was as surprising, and 'new' as the one that followed. First up, each participant was asked to create a postcard based on the theme. That took a bit of careful thought. My postcard included a 'scene' inspired by the lake view out my window, including string glued on to represent the screen I often few from.

All the participants were paired up into partners, and before long, my "newness" postcard was winging its way to none other than Heidi Parkes!

Of course, then I had to be patient and wait for the inspiration card Heidi sent to me! I love it for its simplicity, 'sprouts' of fabric hand-stitched onto the card.

After receiving Heidi's card, I spent several days mulling over how I could translate it into a quilt block for Zak and Amanda's quilt. When it came right down to it, my resultant quilt block borrowed several elements pretty literally, including turning the gray smudges into 'clouds.' The off-white fabric I chose for my background was slightly textured, just like the surface of the postcard; and the green print, as you see, included some white 'stitching.' 

In true Heidi fashion, some hand-stitching was definitely in order. 14" square, here is the 'block' I finally submitted to Zak and Amanda.

Meanwhile, Heidi was creating a 'quilt block' inspired by my postcard. Unfortunately, the card I'd sent looked a little different by the time it arrived to her!

Below is what Heidi created, and what she shared about it, "@aquilterstable mailed her beautiful postcard to me, and she’d glued a lovely thread grid on the surface that was almost entirely lost in the mail. This quilt block is in memory & honor of those lost threads, and a tribute to my ‘spring cleaning’ goals this year of letting go of things that aren’t serving me, to free up space & time for ‘newness.’" Though I felt a little bad most of the 'screen' element on my card got lost in shipping, Heidi affirmed it was meant to be. And as Zak first said, whatever happened during transit was indeed part of the quilt's story.

So after just a few weeks of inspiration, mailing, and creating, here is the finished collaboration quilt! 

With 378 participants from around the world (12 different countries!), it's an amazing, creative, beautiful digital work. Many thanks to Zak and Amanda for their vision for this project. You can see more about the individual blocks at #postcardquilt.

Final digital quilt photo by Zak Foster; the two prior, of my postcard and Heidi's resultant work, were by Heidi Parkes. All used with permission.

the postcardquilt project :: my quilt block

So shortly after I shared the postcard I made for Zak Foster and Amanda Nadig's #postcardquilt 'experiment,' I received an inspiration postcard from Heidi Parkes, and then the pressure was really on!

After staring at her postcard for a week or so, I finally got to work over the weekend, pulling fabric directly inspired by it, right down to that gray smudge. The off-white fabric was slightly textured, just like the surface of the postcard; and the green print, as you will see, included some white 'stitching.' It's the little things, right?

On one hand, I got pretty literal, when it came to the two 'sprouts' on Heidi's card. But then I got into some other improvisational green growing thing shapes, as well as a few gray 'clouds,' as that's what I determined that smudge must represent.

Just over 14" squarish, I was pretty happy with it. 

But something felt missing. And that was a little hand-stitching. You may have noticed that Heidi hand-stitched the fabric onto her postcard; and knowing most of what Heidi creates is hand-stitched, I felt I had to at least give it a go. 

If you scroll back to the first photo, you'll see a faint peach-colored postmark of some sort. That gave me the idea to add a little peachy detailing to the 'flowers' in my block. I left my little quilt - as there is indeed batting and backing - as I may add more stitching before binding, though I'm just not sure. But for now, I cropped it square, per Zak's request, and went ahead and submitted it.

I was surprised at the feelings that arose as I worked on this little project. The whole theme of the project was "newness," and I definitely felt that in all the green, just as I am in real life these days. Newness, spring, hope, all those things; yet still so much uncertainty. And that's why including the 'clouds' felt important.... maybe a bit of shadow over it all? At any rate, my piece is submitted, it was an enjoyable exercise, and I'm looking forward to seeing what inspiration Heidi found in the postcard I sent her, as well as the completed group 'quilt.'

the postcardquilt project :: my postcard

When I saw Zak Foster post about his #postcardquilt 'experiment,' I went and signed up right away! According to Zak, "This creative collaboration is designed to help us get our creativity primed and ready for a new season of making." Sounds good to me!

It's easy to participate, though the timeframe is snappy. Basically, you make a postcard, expressing the theme of newness. Then you mail off your postcard to your assigned collaborator. That means you'll receive a postcard too! And then inspired by the postcard you receive, you create a quilt block!  Once you post it on Instagram, you're done! Zak will use all the block photos to create a digital community quilt. See the nitty gritty about dates etc. on Zak's blog.

The project is co-hosted by Amanda Nadig. If you're interested in participating, be sure to watch the video she and Zak made about this creative challenge. Amanda gives SO many great ideas on how to let the postcard you receive inspire your block (and future work!). Be sure and sign up today, April 8, as mailing assignments will be emailed out tomorrow!

SO, I made my postcard last evening! Apologies to artist Frederick Stuart Church, who painted his "Girl with Rabbits" in 1886, which now hangs at the National Museum of American Art in the Smithsonian. I proceeded to cover his lovely art with mine.

I used a few scraps to tell my story of newness. If you've followed me on Instagram, invariably you've seen photos of the lake view seen from our home. Well part of the joy in the change of seasons is how the view changes. It feels new every day. Very simply, I portrayed the 'view' on my postcard - the colors of the lake, green trees, a rising (or setting) sun, and a 'sky' full of clouds.

I forgot to take a photo once I'd gotten that far, but something was definitely missing. It came to me that I see the view most often from the small screened window in our bathroom. I debated briefly how to add the 'screen' to my little art piece, and decided to try using the threads from a scrap of linen.

All of the fabric elements are just glued to the front of the postcard. We were told we could sew or otherwise apply them, but were challenged to use a method that wasn't our usual - such as glue. So it'll be interesting to see how my card travels through the postal system, but I'm looking forward to finding out. I'll report back once it reaches its destination and I receive my inspiration card. And don't forget, sign-up today if you want to join the fun!

It seems I've taken the prompt more literally than some, but that's OK! See the other cards folks are making at #postcardquiltwip.