I Have a Little Meeting

I have a meeting this afternoon.  It's a small group and we'll be planning an activity for our quilt guild.  Since it's our first meeting, I thought I would make some name tags.

This is how they turned out.  Now let's walk through the process of making them.

I decided to make the name tags 4" x 6", so I used my scraps to sew blocks approximately 9" square.  That gave me wiggle room for picking out the most pleasing part of the block.

These are the rough blocks.  I trimmed them to 4.5" x 6.5", ironed fusible webbing on the back, and cut a hole in the middle.  Then I fused the block to heavy paper.  The paper that shows through the hole is where you write your name.  In the bottom row, you see manila and yellow file folders, then green and blue card stock.

Here's the bases for the name tags, neatly trimmed to 4" x 6".  When I ironed the fused fabric to the cardboard, I used a non-stick applique pressing sheet to protect my ironing board, since the block was a little bigger.  I figured it would be easier to trim the excess fabric than excess cardboard.

When I did a test patch of ironing fabric to the cardboard, it held really well.  When I ironed a pieced block on, the seamed areas didn't want to stick very well.  That's why I sewed a line of stitching around the perimeter and around the opening where you write your name. 

I used a thin ribbon for a neck piece, looped it through buttons on the front, and tied a knot on the back.

These are buttons I bought for one of my Watermelon Purses, but I didn't use them for that purpose after all.  It's nice to have a button bank at home one can dip into at will.

I picked different colored cardboard, depending on how well it coordinated with the block.  I thought this one was going to use blue cardboard, until I saw it with the yellow.

I made a variety of styles, some subdued, like this one.  It was fun finding favorite scraps from favorite quilts.  The leaf fabric across the top is from Spring Stained Glass Quilt.  The dark brown on the left is from Purple Box Quilt.

 

The name tags wound up looking like little faces - the buttons are the eyes, and the cardboard is the mouth, ready to speak the name.  The ribbons make for some wispy hair.

 

It was fun picking out different colored ribbons, but  I used orange thread on all the name tags - it made a nice neutral.

Today I'm in the mood for orange, so I'm going to pick this name tag for myself.  Gotta run - the meeting starts in an hour!