one-hour inspiration :: transforming a favorite quote into wall art

I would normally play it cool and never admit to a deep, true love of inspiring quotes but my beautiful new studio is a creative zone and sometimes in that creative zone I forget to play it cool.  so, I’m coming out into the open.  I love inspiring quotes! they make me really happy, I’m a complete, soft sap at heart.  phew.  feels good.

with that out of the way, I can introduce this one-hour inspiration project!  three new embroidery hoops holding inspirational quotes are hanging in my studio right now and while they are killing my street cred, I think they are pretty great. I figured I ought to pass on that good feeling.

so, here is how to transform your favorite quoteable into inspiring wall art to decorate and inspire your world:

~ gather the following supplies:

• wooden embroidery hoop, size is your preference
• iron
• scraps of fabric a healthy bit bigger than your wooden embroidery hoop
• glue gun
• iron-on light fabric transfers (I use these all the time for all kinds of things, I use this kind, it is an Avery product)
• computer and printer

~ decide on a lovely quote (I have collected some here) and print it onto fabric transfer paper.  the next step is simple but involves a few slightly tricky things so don’t skim over this.  in order to print your quote onto the fabric transfer paper go ahead and type it up in a pretty or funky font.  printing is pretty simple, just be sure to only feed in one sheet at a time into your printer and be sure to flip the text  so it prints out backwards.  if you don’t flip the text then when you transfer the image onto fabric it will come out backwards on your fabric. it’s easy to forget to do this (trust me), so let this be your warning.

~ now, cut your quote out of the fabric transfer page, close to the edges of text.  prepare your ironing area by laying down a bit of heavy fabric onto a table (an ironing board can be used but it works better on a hard table) 

~ place your cut bit of text face down on the fabric and use the embroidery hoop to be sure your text is in a good place and will sit in the middle of the hoop.

~ once you got it where you want it, press down hard with a hot iron.  push down, without moving the iron, for about 30 seconds making sure to get all the edges ironed really well. be sure to check the instructions that come with your transfer paper, just in case yours is different from what I have.

~once it has been ironed well, give a good 10-15 minutes to cool.  make sure it is nice and cool and then you can peel off the backing paper to reveal your quote! let the inspiration swell in your heart for a few minutes.

~now you can arrange the fabric inside the embroidery hoop so it is situated just right.

~ clip the back edges of fabric that appear on the other side of the hoop until they are around 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long.

~ glue gun around the edges to secure the fabric down onto the hoop.

~ hang it up somewhere you will see it and (heart swells, again) make several more, if you are so inclined.

I should add that the fabric transfer does leave a little residue/shine on the parts without text.  I don’t really mind it since this is a simple and quick decorating project for me.  also, I experimented with dark fabric transfers and wasn’t happy with them…they felt more plastic-like and were more finicky to work with.  that is why I patched on bits of linen to the darker colored fabrics I wanted to use.