Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Military Post Cards




We send Postcards to all Men and Women in the Military. Our group will have 3 or 4 shows during the year and we ask for addresses to send the cards to these people. The Elks Lodge pays the postage. We sent over 20 cards to the Army Reed last Christmas and were all rejected because it was sent to "Any Soldier". The Vintage Quilting Society hand embroiders the postcards. I finish the postcards putting Timetex with Stitch Witchery on both sides. It is then ironed on to the front of the embroidery. Then the back is ironed on. Trimmed up and squared, use a wide zigzag and smallest stitch to have the edging nice and filled in. The back uses Bubble Jet before the typing is done. Bubble Jet is a chemical solution to adhere printing. I have used all kinds of material and Kona Cotton from JoAnn's works the best. It has a high thread count. Cut the material 1/2 inch larger than a 8 x 11 1/2 . Wash the material in plain water then soak it in Bubble Jet for 5 minutes. I use a dish pan to soak the fabric and usually do about 5 sheets. I pour what is left from the dish pan back into the bottle. Let the fabric dry, iron it to a sheet of freezer paper cut to 8 x 11 1/2. Iron both sides making sure the top is ironed good. This is one of the problems people have getting it stuck in the printer. Trim off the excess material and threads. NO THREADS should be seen as this well also jam printer. You are ready to print. I usually do a test copy with plain paper and see if it lines up with what your are going to print. When I do labels for the back of quilts I print the picture first on paper then material. Then I type in what I want on the label and print again on paper with the picture. Just keep lining it up till you are satisfied then print on material. After printing let it set for 30 minutes. Swish printed fabric around in cold water with white vinegar or Bubble Jet Rinse to set the print. Because this is a chemical use gloves and in a well ventilated room.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What a lovely gesture! The postcards are lovely. :)