The postcards were to be 4X6" and were to be mailed by March 17, no extras in them, keep it simple. What I didn't realize was that we weren't partnered up. I was given a name to make for, but she made for someone else, and my postcard came from a third person in the swap! Kind of like a Secret Santa exchange. We got one word as a jumping-off point. I gave 'water' as mine. It seems kind of odd, me being a Fire sign, Aries, but I have loved water, being in it, on it, by it, listening to it, gazing at it, my entire life, be it a river, a pond, a northern crystal lake, or the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, or the almost terrifying infinity of the Pacific or Atlantic. I know all those bodies of water well. Jen @hwksgirl who lives in Chicago, (just 4 hours' drive from me!) got my name. She made me this!
She said when she thinks of water, she dreams of a tropical location. Oh she knows me well! When I say water, I think tropical or summer too. The detail she stitched in is just exquisite. I especially love the fancy machine-stitch she did by the hand-embroidered grass tufts! Just wow. I also love the 3D effect of the palm tree, one of my favourite trees, đ and the pop of red from the cute button against the aqua. She packaged it with such care that it arrived in perfect condition. It's always a bit scary when you send something that you've made off into the post office's care... I've had three not-so-happy incidents over the past 2.5 months. Things come in threes, so I believe I am done, and can go back to all-is-well-and-arrives-safely post office encounters. Proof of this is that my aunt's quilt, Sunshine on my Shoulders, arrived safely at her house this past week.
Sadly, the postcard I made for my partner who lives in Oregon, is one of the three not-so-happy post office incidents. I wrote about it here when I hosted TGIFF, on March 15, which was the day I mailed it off to the other side of my continent. About two weeks later I got it back....incorrect postage. I don't know why the post office worker did not catch it; I had a small parcel to send at the same time, which is the third not-so-happy post office incident, so I personally gave her the postcard in its envelope with the other parcel I was mailing. Said parcel was sent off to Chicago (not to Jen, ha) taking three weeks to get there, what should have arrived in two days according to my receipt. (insert small scream) The first of the not-so-happy incidents? Helen's, of Midget Gem Quilts, Kona fat quarters and eighths that she and I traded for our Postcard from Sweden hop took six or was it eight weeks to get from Ontario to Ireland. About a week is the usual.
But back to the topic at hand, my postcard. My partner told me 'beach' for her word. Like Jen, I immediately thought tropical, and was scheming up possible beach scenes to create. And then, a little lightbulb went on in my head: maybe you should check out her blog to get a feel for the kind of beach she likes? So I did. And found she lives only a half hour from the mighty Pacific Ocean, and wonder of wonders not far at all from this very beach, Cannon Beach, a place, on a camping trip along the west coast in 2007 where we stopped to marvel, and someone else offered to take our picture against these incredible monoliths that rise up out of the ocean. (You can see that picture in my other post.)
I love sandpipers and other shorebirds, so I made three and appliquéd them on. One got rather hidden beneath the satin-stitching. I used Lara Buccella's Crafted Appliqué method, which is just so wonderful a method, especially for fine and/or tiny pieces. I'm glad I have a little stash of landscape-looking fabrics. I was so pumped when I saw the ocean water fabric! No clue where I picked that little fat quarter up, but it was perfect.
I sewed the ocean to the sky with a straight seam for the horizon, and the ocean to the sand with a gentle curve. From there I drew the appliqués and stitched around them.
Next was layering with some Thermore batting. I pulled out several threads, all Sulky rayons and one metallic Holoshimmer, and had some fun!
My mmm!quilts label is on the back with a personal message for her. I do hope it arrives in short order; it's been more than a week since I mailed it off for the second time... I know it has to go first to Windsor, and then up to Toronto, and then probably cross into the US back at the Windsor/Detroit border(!) and from there make its way across the continent.
I hope you will visit these other creative bloggers!
Denise @ DottieDoodle
Isis @ Creation d'Isis
Karen @ Run Sew Fun
Lynette @ What A Hoot Quilts
Laura @ LC's Cottage
Lisa @ Sunlight in Winter Quilts
Marsha @ Quilter in Motion
Michelle @ Creative Blonde
Paige @ Quilted Blooms
Patty @ Elm Street Quilts
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Susan @ California Fiber and Music
Valerie @ Val's Quilting Studio
I like the card you received, it suits you. Everything in three's so hopefully your postal troubles are over.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra. Both of these postcards are spectacular. I love them both. Thanks for including all the details.
ReplyDeleteI love both of these! I have been amazed at the real like landscapes. I enjoyed reading your previous post and how you interpreted the photo from long ago. Jen's beach scene is so clever. The palm fronds extending over the edge adds so much detail.
ReplyDeleteSandra, thank you for such a lovely post about the card I created for you. I'm so happy that you liked it. I had such joy crafting it in my very first postcard exchange. I'm happy to also have brought some well-deserved postal luck your way. I also wanted to say that your postcard is a wonderful interpretation of the gorgeous beaches of the Pacific Northwest.
ReplyDeleteAll of the postcards I've seen are just fabulous. Fun that the two of you both made postcards for your peeps with water scenes, and they are both amazing! By the way, have I told you that our daughter works with piping plovers? That's part of her field research work while in grad school for fisheries and wildlife. Cutest little birds ever :-)
ReplyDeleteMan I'm glad yours atleast got returned and not lost forever....both are so creative and detailed for such a small 4x6 project. Both are treasures!!
ReplyDeleteGoodness, that postcard has had quite the bit of traveling to do. I hope it is received soon and well enjoyed. The one made for you is adorable!
ReplyDeleteI’m drooling! These are both spectacular! I think the neatest thing is that the postcard you gave and the one you received were sort of the same theme but so different from each other in style and technique. What fun!! I do hope your postcard makes it there. The thing I dislike most about international posting is that (at least from the US) there isn’t a way to track small packages once they cross the border (At least that’s been my experience). And the not enough postage thing?? It probably costs way more to return things. I remember “in the olden days” we would sometimes get a tiny envelope from the post office marked postage due when mail came to us that didn’t have enough postage paid. (We had to pay the shortfall, not the sender.) Usually it was only a few cents. We’d put it in the envelope and in our mailbox for the mail carrier. Am I old or what?? Just a different world back then.
ReplyDeleteI've seen some great postcards from this swap, and these are no exception! They are wonderfully creative and will be treasured keepsakes, I am sure. I love the starfish button embellishment and the dimensional palm tree! And isn't if fun to play with the glitzy threads on these postcards?!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you've had such a bad posting experience but glad your card was not lost because you have done a fantastic job creating a beach. I also love your description of why you chose the prompt WATER. (I feel the same way!) The palm tree is gorgeous. This swap has really brought out some fun creativity!
ReplyDeleteAwww what a darling postcard you received! I hope your lovely artwork reaches its intended target sooner rather than later.... how stressful. I waited on tenterhooks after sending mine. I inquired about tracking but it would have cost 4x the original postage price. Thanks heaps for adding me into the hop.
ReplyDeleteBoth are very fun postcards. It's interesting the different beachy vibe you get from each.
ReplyDeleteSuch cute cards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all about the travels of these wonderful postcards. Hopefully the postal service with get yours delivered once and for all! Thanks for being part of the postcard swap and hop!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool project! I've been wanting to try out a postcard - I need to get cracking. Do you send it like a regular postcard, or package it up?
ReplyDeletepostcards are fun to make. I have made a few as birthday cards, but not recently. You have been unfortunate in the mailing department! Hopefully that run is over now. I must just check and see if my son and partner have got their Easter socks and chocolate I sent them. They had a parcel to collect I know.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to make and receive beach scenes! Both of them are gorgeous. Postal woes drive me nuts. Last month I sent something to my sister priority from Colorado to Idaho - usually takes 24-48 hours unless you hit a Sunday. SIX days later, she called to thank me. Come to find out, their small town was being rocked by a scandal that had people from all over the country sending death threats to several individuals, and telling shooters to target their one high school (which was flooded with armed FBI agents for a few weeks and parents were all told nothing would be held against them if they kept their children out of school for the duration), so every single piece of incoming mail was scrutinized and x-rayed. I had sent a mini quilt rolled up in a 2-ft cardboard tube. Bahaha~~!! Perfect size/shape for suspicion! It must have been awful to be those post workers. I can't imagine.
ReplyDeleteWow. You both knocked it out of the park. Amazing detail on both.
ReplyDeleteI love my postcard SO MUCH!!! I have it mounted on the wall so I can see it while free-motion quilting and it does look just like Cannon Beach. I grew up in Astoria which is close by there!!! I think it's awesome that we were both thinking of water!!! :^) Thanks again!!!
ReplyDelete