Make Patchwork Christmas Cards for Your Quilting Friends

This holiday season surprise your quilting friends with homemade, patchwork Christmas cards. Patchwork quilting, which has been around for hundreds of years, is the art of sewing scraps of fabric together to form a pattern. Using this technique to create Christmas cards is a great way for a quilter to utilize their fabric scraps and to show their creative side in a different form. Anyone can make these easy and simple decorative cards because knowing how to quilt is not a requirement.

Items need to make patchwork Christmas cards

-Blank white cards and envelopes (any size), or cardstock to make your own cards.

-Blank cardstock (can use any color)

-Scrap fabric (Christmas prints)

-Scissors (straight or decorative edges)

-Sewing machine

-Craft glue

-Computer and printer (optional)

-Glitter (optional)

Making your patchwork Christmas cards

First, cut the scraps of fabric into different shapes and sizes, such as small triangles, circles or squares. This is one of the easy parts, because the shapes do not have to be exact. You will need approximately seven to eight cut fabric pieces for each card. Stack the cut fabric pieces in piles according to their shapes.

Either hand write or print from a computer holiday greetings, such as "Happy Holidays to my Quilting BFFs", or "Merry Christmas to all my Quilting Friends", on the blank cardstock. Using straight or decorative edge scissors, cut out around the words in a circular, square or lopsided shape. Use cardstock in a holiday color such as green or red.

Arrange the cardstock with the holiday greeting on the front of the blank card near the center. Position the fabric pieces under and around the written greeting. You want to make sure that three-fourths of each fabric piece is showing all the way around the greeting center. When you have them arranged the way you want, apply a small dab of craft glue to hold everything in place, letting it set for several minutes.

Set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch. Open the blank card and slide it under the pressure foot, design side up. Stitch around the edge of the greeting cardstock, being sure the fabric pieces are caught in the stitches.

Add a personal greeting to the inside of each card and they are now ready to be sent your quilting friends.

Optional: To add a little sparkle to your card, apply a small amount of glitter to the top of the card, covering the fabric pieces.