Paper Quilt | Tutorial + Template

7/15/2022

In this post I'm sharing how I created this hybrid page, inspired by this quilt pattern, featuring the digital papers from the black & white scrapbook kit. This kit has fourteen incredible classic & modern paper designs that are perfect for accents, backgrounds, and pairing with pops of color. This is definitely going to be a kit I continue to pull from a lot.

Quote card from the Pieces Kit, Ali Edwards Design Inc.

Black & White Digital Scrapbook Kit 

First...let's talk a little color theory.
According to Adobe, some consider white to be a color, because white light comprises all hues on the visible light spectrum. And many do consider black to be a color, because you combine other pigments to create it on paper. But in a technical sense, black and white are not colors, they're shades.
Did you know that black has a grounding effect that gives the eye a place to rest? Interior designers use black accents for dramatic results. It enhances the colors that surround it and highlights the negative space surrounding pieces with hints of black. Have you ever wondered why colors pop when used with black? Not only does black have depth, it's also versatile and complementary with pretty much every color in the spectrum.
Using white, as a contrast provides a soothing effect, making other colors stand out, particularly brighter ones. It's no surprise that when we think of colors that go with everything, most think of the neutral trio: black, white, and gray.

Making my digital quilt.
In planning out my page, I decided I wanted this to be a page that would live outside of a page protector. I created a new design in Canva sized at 7 x 8.25 inches. And then just started playing with triangle "frames" to see how they would fit together to recreate the quilt pattern. This did take a bit of time to get the sizing correct. Once I was happy with how it looked on my page, I played around with dropping the digital pattern papers into the design. If I didn't like the placement, I simply dragged & dropped in another paper. I also added two of the digital prints from the July Stories by the Month kit and loved how they pop with the black & white.
Next I added a second page to my design, then used one of the digital flowers in the kit to make a template for my stitching that would go on top of my quilt.
Important tip: remember to allow for space to punch the holes. I wished I had checked this before I started my stitching. But good thing that I caught it, as I was able to make some adjustments on the flower closest to the bottom set of holes, otherwise I would have punched right through where my stitch would have been.

Scrapbook with Canva Digital Hybrid Kim Hurst

DIscover Canva

FREE CANVA ACCOUNT

Once I was happy with the design, I downloaded it from Canva as a .pdf and printed the page on my HP7155 printer then trimmed the pages to size.
Want to try this template? Find the design here.

Stitching on Paper
Here's a photo tutorial of how I punched the holes for the flower design stitches.

I used paperclips to hold my page in place.

Backside of page to show detail of the punched design.

Evenly punch holes around each flower.

White floss cut to approx. 24" and separated in half with 3 strands each.

Important tip: use a sharp point needle. The needle I first picked (shown in photo) was too large and had a blunt point. I quickly discovered that it was making the hole too big when I stitched through the page. I switched to a thinner, and sharper needle and that worked great.

Flower design created with a simple embroidery backstitch.

Backside of page. Ends are secured in place with a thin strip of washi tape.

If you'd like to incorporate more stitching into your scrapbooks, you should check out this fun class called Playing with Paper, by Pam Baldwin. It's awesome!

I finished off my page by adding one little chipboard circle from the "Pieces" kit. I just love how this turned out, and just might become the opening page in a Pieces of Life album I've been wanting to start.