Christmas Card Club Challenge 6 - Quilts

Hello & Welcome once again to our Christmas Card Club Challenge. This week Margaret selected our challenge theme to be Patterned Papers. Received an order from Gina Marie with a quilt die that I wanted to try, and it seemed perfect for this challenge. First time I've used a quilt die, and the piecing is just as tricky as it can be with actual fabric quilts.

My first try was in progress when I realized I'd made the card base as usual: 4.25x5.5 while the die is a 4x4. Already had the frame adhered to the card base when the light bulb went off. So had to cut some more card bases, in a square format. Another realization was it's a good idea to use double sided paper, and you don't have to cut the die but once to get the 2 patterns. Of course if one was skilled at pairing colors, more combinations would work, but since it was my first effort, I tried to stay with just 2 patterns per quilt. Ahem...onwards:

 

Gina Marie 4x4 Quilt Block stitched Flower Burst die - using 2 different pattern papers. This was the first try. Cut the die 2 times using different papers to get the 'quilt blocks'. Another tip is to keep each paper's block all together before cutting the block a 2nd time. Saves time separating the quilt pieces! Embossed the card base on this one with an EF.

The 2nd card with the same die, different arrangement of the pieces changes the design. This is also a 4.25 x 5.5 card base. Embossed the sides of this one with a border EF, trying to place the pattern of the embossing so that it overlapped correctly. Then once the sides were trimmed, the side embossing doesn't show anyway....

- This card base is 5x5 and fits the square in a more pleasing manner, I think. This time I selected a double sided pattern, which means you only need to cut the die once to get the 2 paper patterns. (If I'd given any thought before cutting at the start, I would have realized this! DUH!)

Also 5x5 card base. You can see that some of the pieces & frames of the different papers were interchanged. Outline stickers were used for the sentiment, and perhaps a larger font would show up better. I wanted the quilt to be the focus, so the small sentiment is ok with me. Another option would be to add a circle piece in the center, or a decorative button.

Aside from the rather tedious 'piecing', which I did while watching tv, this is quite a fun die to use. Thought I'd gotten the pieces inlaid quite well, but the camera picked up some flaws that the eye didn't catch. I was inspired to collect some of these quilt dies by my friend Carol L, who makes exquisite paper quilts. So thanks Carol for enabling and also telling me about Gina Marie dies!!

Please do go visit my fellow teamies, whose blog links are on the side bar. Don't forget that tomorrow will be: TA-DA: Random Generator thing-y for Blog Candy 1. So check back to see if you're a winner.

In the meantime, have a lovely Sunday. Big hugs & prayers to those in need of them.

Edit: Thanks to one of my CCC team members I'm reminded these quilts will fit into the Snippets Playground, where I have been too long absent. I didn't say in the blog, but quite a few of the bits used in the 'quilts' _were_ snippets. So I shall be linking in with Mrs. A & Parsnip at the Snippets Playground, Week 273 & 274!