Easter Eggs on Fabric Postcards

Nothing gets me in the mood for lots of color and reflected light like Spring. For the past couple of years I've made fabric postcards of fabric colored eggs with sequined, beaded and embroidered details. If you're not familiar with fabric postcards, they are usually 4"X6" mini quilts with a middle layer of stiff material (like Timtex or thick Pellon) as the 'batting'. The very stiff surface allows marvelous detail to be applied without worrying about keeping the fabric taught.  Rumor has it that they can be mailed, but I've never put mine to the test.

 Above are three postcards in various stages of the process. I chose three fabrics that worked together for the egg image, and then cut through all three layers of fabric so I could mix and match. (I love having three slightly different 'canvases' on which to work because I can try out different approaches in the same color scheme. The far left card just has the background and egg image fussed (I use 'Heat n Bond') on one side.

The middle postcard is finished on the front with everything but some detailing on the background. I tried to use the embellishments to transition between the three fabrics comprising the egg. The wonderful sequins come from Cartwright's Sequins, Beads, Buttons, and Glitter. I stumbled on to her site many years ago when she first started online. Since then, Cartwright's has grown to be the largest selection of sequins I've seen anywhere. If you love hand sewing with beads and sequins, or use glitter, you owe yourself a trip to her site!
A little ribbon embroidery makes the fence and the butterfly, and that gate handle is the smallest eye (from a hook and eye closure) I could find. The fabulous bunny is a hand carved bone bead from China.

 The card to the left is finished. After embellishing the front, I iron fabric to the backside, with the front side placed on a deep soft surface so the sequins and other fragile items are not crushed by the heat and pressure. To bind the postcard, polka-dot grosgrain was folded over the edge and whipped down with a blanket stitch.

Voila! You now have a bit of art to send through the mail, or if you aren't finished admiring your handy work yet, put your eggs in a basket and watch people marvel as they pick up your 'Faberge' eggs.