Isn’t it funny how shopping often leads to discoveries you never planned on? That’s exactly what happened to me.... I was browsing the art section, hunting for sticker albums for the kids (who knew they’d be so hard to find!), when something unexpected caught my eye. A stack of inexpensive, ready-framed canvases instantly sparked an idea: why not use them to mount some of my flower blocks? I may not be a painter, but this felt like the perfect way to turn my quilting into unique, personal gifts.
For just a few dollars, I bought three - probably should have bought more but I needed to test my theory first. I can always go back again... and I will for sure because look how well these turned out!
So here's what I did...
I wanted to frame my flower blocks with a blue border to make them stand out on the white wall. Blue was perfect for these particular flowers! This was not the only reason I framed them first.... The blocks also needed a little more fabric, as they were already made, they were not quite big enough for the frames. (In hindsight, I should have bought the frames first and made the blocks to fit.) In any case, it still worked well.
I figured out I needed an excess of 2" all the way around to give me sufficient fabric to pull around to the back of the frame, so remember this in your calculations when making your block to fit.
With the block face down on the table, I placed the frame face down centered over it. I then pulled the center of each side around the frame, working with opposite sides to ensure I didn't overstretch the block. The canvas made it easy to secure the fabric with pins. I could then flip it over to check the border was even on the right side before proceeding.
Once I knew it was correct, I used my staple gun to staple the centers of each side.
Then I worked my way along each side, working toward each corners.
I used pins to neatly fold in the corners, then stapled them securely in place after trimming away some of the bulk from the fold.
This was amazingly easy!
The last part was to add the small wedges in the back of the frame. These came with the canvas frame and are used to stretch the frame tight which of course finishes off very nicely for the perfect gift.
Perhaps I should start framing some of my new flowers (I have over 70 now).... they would certainly make wonderful gifts! Last week, I published the Camellia block and I may have an idea for what to make next. Which flower do you think I should make? I'm definitely open to ideas so drop some in the comments below.
