New blog

Are you a closet quilter or seamstress?  Be sure to check out my newest blog, Quilting with Alison, for inspiration and ideas.  I hope to add some products reviews here, too.

Quilted cards

The first project of my blog combines quilting with rubber stamped cards.  I'm using the new Miss Moxie Soar With It™ cardstock set by The Angel Company™, Chicken Scratch stamp set, Green 3 cardstock by Die Cuts with a View, Blue Violets Monochromatic cardstock by Bazzill Basics, copper eyelets, green grosgrain ribbon, thread and a sewing machine.

To mimic a quilt, you'll want to combine dark, medium and light shades of cardstock with large, small and medium scale designs. Most of TAC™ cardstock kits include all the shades and sizes of these motives, so you don't have to do much thinking or planning.  If you find your design doesn't seem to work, try replacing one of the larger scale designs with solid textured cardstock.

A couple of important things to note when using your sewing machine with paper:  

1. Change your stitch length to a longer length than you would use on fabric.  You don't want to put too many holes in the cardstock.
2. I recommend a straight or zigzag stitch when sewing on paper.  You can use any fancy stitch, of course, but the ones that have the fewest reverse movements usually work best.
3. Loosen your tension slightly so the bobbin thread doesn't show through on the top of your project.
4. Be sure to change your needle when you're done sewing on paper.  If you're only sewing a few items, dedicate that needle to paper.  (It dulls the blade more quickly than fabric.)
5. I use an edge stitch foot for my work when I want precise lines.  You can line it up next to your paper and it will sew an even line for you.

I love using my sewing machine for paper crafts.  If you can't leave your machine set up, start a paper craft file for projects that require sewing.  Once you have time, you can do all your sewing at once (like I save up ironing!).  But I bet that once you try this technique, you'll love it and will want to make space for your machine, too.  Or maybe you need to buy a special half-size machine, just for your paper crafting!  Who am I to judge?  (I bought my kids a cheap-o machine so they would stay away from mine!)
Enjoy, and let me know if you try this technique, and whether you found my advice helpful.  I'd love to hear from you.