"Cuttlequilting" tips

I so liked the look of this technique, that I decided to make a couple more panels ... and ended up making five! Crazy, as I have the next three weeks tightly scheduled to be ready for a craft fair I do at nearby Houghton College. But, I just got carried away ... and it was a great distraction from the election tensions! :-)

The sun was going down before I realized that I had not actually finished any cards, so I grabbed the first panel, this yellow one, and tried it with the black panel on a yellow card. Too busy. I expected black to be the best color, but after moving the panel back and forth between the two colors, I decided the sunny look of the yellow was the better choice. The camera photos seem to favor the black, but that might be the background colors. At any rate, I thought it was interesting how different each look is! Tomorrow I'll finish this card.

Anyway, in the process of making these, I decided I'd write a list of tips:

1. Use a piece of cheap cardstock as a base. Actually, use two: one for the background layout, the other to transfer those pieces one by one as you glue them. Layout is important because you don't want an edge that is a tiny sliver of a color, it tends to look like an error.

2. Make the cardstock at least an eighth of an inch longer and wider than you want the finished product. Then you can trim the edges of the scraps. Much less time consuming than trying to piece them flush with the edges.

3. When creating your layout, it will go much easier if you use repositional glue instead of just laying down the strips/pieces. Much more stable to work with, and easier when you decide you need to switch any pieces.

4. Make sure that you don't forget to note the size of your embossing folder ... you want to be sure the entire panel, including any edge you might want embossed, will fit in the folder.

5. Consider any images you will be putting over the top of the quilted panel: if a large part will be covered, you might want to make a mask about a 1/2 inch in diameter smaller, to temporarily affix to the spot it will be placed; if you have a complicated design, it will save time! I have to confess I kept forgetting to do that with mine, though most of them needed the entire panel done anyway.

6. If you've glued a piece on a little crookedly, don't worry. Just glue the next piece slight overlapping the angled piece; it will not be noticed. Even if it seems a little obvious as you are working, once the panel is cuttled it won't be noticeable. If your mistake is in having the strip angled inward, then a little marker in a coordinating color will take care of that.

7. Print papers are easily roughed up when embossed if the panel is too thick, so keep that in mind if you are planning to emboss a panel behind the quilted one.

8. This can be really time consuming; try to cut multiple strips together, don't obsess about perfectly straight lines, etc. Punches can make nice squares to save time. Tomorrow I'll post a card in which I just took one piece of paper, and attached a few punched squares. Very fast! Hmmm... I think I'll make one last panel as well with just strips of paper...

9. Notice on the card that the busier the pattern, the less the embossing shows. So be sure to include some really basic, near solid papers.