Stitched Quilt Inspired Card by Ilda

Hello dear friends, Ilda here from I Love Doing All things crafty!
My card today is dedicated to all of you that inspire me on a daily basis. I am so thankful for all the crafty friends I have made and met because of this crazy Card Making/Papercrafting Community! YOU are all so amazing! I am inspired daily by all that I see from you on Facebook, Instagram, everywhere I look, there is SO much talent and inspiration.

So with that said, today I am sharing with you this stitched quilt card. This was definitely a labor of love to create as it took me most of the Summer to complete. The card was hugely inspired by the one and only Jennifer McGuire, the cardmaking Goddess!!! I have always loved her stitched cards but have never found time to try them. I now know why she does these types of cards while on vacation. Well, this Summer I spent 4 weeks in Portugal visiting my family. So to keep from having any crafty withdrawals, I took along with me some card panels that I had die cut with various patterns, embroidery needles, and a variety of colorful thread. The kids and I were so busy that I was only able to complete a couple of the panels as the only downtime I had was when we were at the beach. I just LOVE how this card turned out, and it was definitely worth all those beach hours!

To make this card:

• I ran the small square stitch die from the Stitch Border Die set through the die cut machine 20 times!!!
  Four times along the top and five rows down.
• I used masking tape to hold the square in place while running it each time through the machine.
• I eyeballed the spacing, so my squares aren’t perfect. If you want perfect, use a ruler to divide the card panel first.
• Next, find yourself a beach, LOL… or a somewhere where you have plenty of time. Start stitching away!
• I worked on one square at a time. I began with one color along the outer square and then switched colors for the middle square. To the inside, I used a flower like a stitch by always stitching from the center. (Sorry, not sure what these stitches are actually called, haha!) I also had all my needles threaded with different colors to save on threading them each time.
• Once all my colorful squares were completed, I then used a white thread to connect the squares together. Looks like some fancy stitching but it was stitched the same way as the smaller squares I promise. The spacing just makes it look that way!
• Once the inside was all done I then stitched along the outside of the panel, finishing off the edges.
• To the bottom, I created a little fringed trimmed edge by looping doubled up thread and tying it in knots. To keep the knots from unraveling I added a small amount of multi-medium matt glue to each of them.
• On a scrap piece of black cardstock, I stamped out the “you inspire me” sentiment from Japanese Peony set and heat set it with a white embossing powder.
• I then used the long stitched border strip to die cut the holes along the top and the bottom of the sentiment strip.
• Next, I attached the sentiment strip to the card, trying to line up the holes as best as possible as I stitched it into place.
• To attach the Satin Vinca flowers I used a clear thread and a sewing needle, I also used a Silver Dust Seed Bead in the center of each flower. Since I placed the flowers where no holes were pierced I made new holes with the needle as they would not be seen and covered up by the flowers.
• Now that the panel was complete, I added multi-medium glue to the entire threaded back and glued that to another piece of cardstock that I had trimmed a little smaller than the panel. I then placed it under a heavy book and set it aside to dry completely flat.
• Once it was dry I adhered the panel to a black card base.
• To the inside I finished it with the Thank You stamp from the Thank You So Much stamp set.

I hope this card has inspired you today just as Jennifer McGuire has inspired me with this creation.
Thank you all for stopping by, until next time… Happy Crafting!
Ilda

Supplies:
STITCH BORDERS | CREATIVE DIES
JAPANESE PEONY | STAMP SET
Thank You So Much | Clear Stamp Set
SATIN VINCA | FLOWERS
SILVER DUST | SEED BEADS