Postcards Finished!

I finally finished my postcards for the "Fibreart For A Cause" sale at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I really wanted to finish something to be at the festival...if I can't go, I wanted my quilting to be there! I used two starting points...one a "dislike" and one a "like", based on an exercise taught by Myrna Giesbrecht in her Quilt University class "Self Expression". My dislike start was a piece of painted and stamped fabric that I considered a "reject".

Using shapes similar to the stamping, I cut bits from my scraps and laid them on the fabric. When the pieces were on, I thought it looked like a communications tower and after putting a layer of tulle over everything, I machine quilted lines out from the tower. Then I added some beads radiating out from the center and couched a fibre called "Marabout" around the edge. This is the finished postcard called "Radiant Fairy Tree".

My second postcard was inspired by a photo I took in my sister-in-law's garden this summer.
I painted most of the fabric for this card using Pebeo Setacolor paints or Canon D'ache water soluble wax pastels. And I found out when heat setting the paint, that a cotton setting will melt tulle!~ This is how the leaf looked after I ironed it....
the tulle I was using for the leaves melted, so I had to sew on a second layer of unmelted tulle! And I kept the iron away from it!I had to quilt more around the edges of the card because it wasn't laying flat. I should have quilted the background before making the flower and I'll know this for next time. Then I spent some time doing one of my favorite things...beading!I added beads to the center of each of the petals and some in the center of the flower. I finished the edge of this one with satin stitching by hand using DMC floss (3 strands). This postcard is called "Lantana", which is the name of the flower.
I have mailed them away and miss them already!Hope they find a new home with someone who will take good care of them!