How to Make a Photo Picture Quilt
Photo picture quilts are a great way to commemorate special times in your life and the lives of your loved ones. The quilts make great gifts and capture memories in a unique way. They also enable you to display your memories and meaningful photos in a creative and useful manner. You can pay to have these quilts made. But with moderate sewing skills, you can make your own.
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Things You'll Need
- Photos
- Computer
- Photo scanner
- Photo editing program
- Photo printer
- Fabric photo-transfer sheets (available at most fabric stores)
- Fabric (amount depends on size of quilt)
- Fabric shears
- Sewing machine or hand quilting tools
- Batting
Instructions
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Choose a theme for your quilt. Select photos that fit that theme. For instance, you may want to commemorate your college years or a child's participation in sports. Your photos shold be in digital form. Transfer photos from your camera memory card by inserting the memory card in the correct drive on your computer or via USB cord. If you have old photo prints, use a photo scanner to transfer them to your computer.
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Save all photos for your quilt in one special file. Use photo editing software to edit your photos to your desired size, brightness and tint. Use the editing tools to correct red-eye and crop pictures. Crop your pictures to the same approximate size and resolution to ensure continuity in your quilt.
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3
Follow the directions on the photo-transfer sheets you purchase to transfer photos to fabric. You will need a printer designed to print photos. Use fabric shears to trim your photos to the same size.
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Cut squares of different color fabric the same size as your photo squares. You will stagger these between photo squares to offset them from one another.
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Place your photo squares and contrasting fabric squares in the order you wish. Leave room for a 1/4-inch seam to allow for your quilting. Sew the squares together by hand or with a sewing machine.
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Cut two strips of fabric 2 1/4 inches wide and the length of the top and bottom of your quilt. Sew these to the top and bottom of your quilt. Cut another two strips 2 1/4 inches wide and the length of the sides of your quilt. Sew them to the sides of your quilt. This creates your quilt's border.
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Iron quilt top carefully. Turn your quilt top over and lay it photo-side-down on a large work surface. Place batting on the quilt top to provide padding and warmth. Cut a piece of fabric to the same measurements as your quilt top. Place it on top of the batting to create a sandwich effect. Pin the layers in place, and assemble the quilt with a sewing machine or by hand, as you would any other quilt.
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