Do you love patch work?....see an amazing wall quilt you would love to hang on your wall...but just don't have the sewing skills or the time...to do that?
I've seen and admired so many quilts...but just couldn't picture myself...cutting and sewing all those delicate squares...I was positive ...it'll be in the drawing board for ages! I think the only type of quilted sewing project I would be doing would be crazy quilting...I'm sure you would have heard of that...else let me know...I'll try and do an instructable for you :-)

You must be wondering how I did it...if no sewing and gluing was involved?? Well punch quilting is your answer ( and mine too!) :-D .
My first project would be just the basic...later I'll show you how to get a 3D look in another project :-)

As my first project I thought to try out Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'....aiming high ...I know....but I love the colors! Aren't they beautiful.

So here is my patchwork version of 'Starry Night' hope you like it...and my own art.. :-) ( I'm no Van Gogh or Michele Angelo )

Thanks everyone for voting for me... I'm ecstatic to be to be in the finalist from 888!

Step 1: Oh Scrap Fabric...where Are You!!!

yes...you would need loads of scrap fabric. I went for colors...I wasn't particular about the type of fabric...so I had loads of textures...silk, satin, hand-loom, cotton...you name it! ( Thanks mom!...yes...did I mention that she's a seamstress??)
I went for satin for the stars and moon as it gave an extra glow!

You also need
Styrofoam - minimum 3/4" thick...else you would probably cut through.
craft knife/ butter knife
batting/wadding/ synthetic padding
barbecue stick
Glue ( optional)

Step 2: Make the Painting Possible

At a glance the painting looks impossible...so I did a search for coloring pages and came across this picture here
I printed it out and made adjustments to make borders for the design.
If you can color it to decide what color goes where...that would make it easier.
Please pardon my picture as my son and daughter wanted to contribute to the coloring and It ended up being what it is :-)
Transfer the design to Styrofoam using carbon.

* i transferred using carbone paper... The ones slipped in bill books so the duplicate would be printed under.
As it fades ... I later went over some lines with a felt tip pen .

Step 3: System -1

There are two ways of doing this...I used both according to which was more appropriate.
This is the first system.
Cut the outline with the craft knife about 1/4" deep
Take a piece of fabric and start tucking in the outline..cut off excess fabric and tuck the whole edging in so that the frayed ends will be firmly in the Styrofoam.
I have shown a sample of the stars, which is much more difficult as there is an inner circle.
I also found it easier to do this for most of the shapes as it was quick and didn't require transferring of the design to fabric...
Which is a great time save.
The swirly sky was especially done this way as sometimes I would have to tuck in a bit more because of the curves..and keeping the fabric in the exact place would have been a headache!

Step 4: System-2

This system is less waste...but it's a real pain! Still I'll explain it to you ...just in case you run out of fabric!
cut your shape out with a craft knife.
Transfer the required shape to fabric and cut keeping a 1/4" border.
Place on shape so that the 1/4" border is around the outline...start tucking in :-)

Step 5: The Progress and Border

Just so that you know it didn't just come out at once...I'm posting pictures of the progress :-) I also drew in the doors and windows as I think it would be difficult to do such tiny details...as you can see...at first I used an ink pen...the ink smudged the fabric..so later I removed it and re-did it with a carbon pen. See...mistakes can be easily remedied!

To make a border...Cut wide strips of fabric.
Place on the edge of your picture...tuck it in.
cut a miter at the edges and tuck in...please refer picture.
Turn over and tuck in excess fabric.
Border done!

Now tell me...would anyone doubt it was a patchwork quilt?? :-D
Now that you have made this beautiful patchwork...you don't want to bawl in tears when it break..which Styrofoam will...if it ever get's bent! Accidents happen!
So glue it to a 1/4" wooden plank and hang it!
Let the secret of your quilt be with you and me :-)

Step 6: Project 2- 3D??

For my second project I thought to try a 3D effect. My daughter wanted to try it out with me ......so I thought ...why not ? :-)
I had a hardboard box...so I cut my Styrofoam to fit it..next I drew a picture on it with a felt tip pen...it's better if you draw on paper and then transfer....to avoid mistakes
I drew on the board at once...didn't like it ....so flipped it over and did it the proper way :-)
I drew a picture of a tree and swing....thought to do it more simple as I was doing it with my daughter.
For the trunk I placed a bit of synthetic padding ( some call it batting or wadding) and glued it to the Styrofoam (oops...glue...let me make it optional!) . I thined the layer for the back branch.
Place a long piece of fabric on the trunk and start tucking in....make sure the padding is well inside and out of the way of the tucks.
When you come to the end...go over edge and tuck in...sort of like the border we did in project 1.

Tree Leaves and Flowers

Do a border of green for the trees as picture....go over and tuck under as trunk.
Cut squares for the leaves and flowers...proximately 1" or less...I didn't measure :-)
I used 3 colors for leaves and 2 colors for the flower.
For the flower I kept the lighter shade under and the brighter satin yellow on top...wrap it over the sharp end of a barbecue stick and stab the Styrofoam and twist if needed.
You can do the leaves using 3 layers...but it would be fuller if you do 1 layer at a time.

Foliage/ Tiny trees

Tuck in tiny squares at the edge of your hills for foliage.
Tuck in various greens for your grass and hill like you did for the 'Starry Night'

Swing

Once you have tucked in your swing seat take a piece of jute rope and tuck around the the branch...this has to be directly above the front ends of the swing.
Tuck at the front ends of the swing.
take another rope and tie a bit above the front end. tuck on the other end of the swing....cut off excess

Tiny flowers

Make pilot holes on the grass area with a heated needle. or ...if you like.. you can stab and try making the hole bigger...but this would be pulling the fabric from the tucked in areas.
Cut about 1/2" squares of light green and light pink and dark pink.
Also cut yellow the same.
Stab the flowers as we did for the flowers on the tree.

Now that you are all done...go over the tucked in areas with a blunt end of a knife or barbecue stick neatening the edges :-)

Step 7:

I have not seen this craft on instructables or anywhere else...I learnt it years ago when I was a kid...I had to collect my pocket money for for it as my mom believed that when we spend for it we appreciate it more!...which is very true :-)
At that time I wasn't into it as all I was told by them was...take some fabric and stab it in with padding! Needless to say...I wasn't interested. :-)

The Craft contest on instructable got me thinking on what I haven't done or seen in ages...this came to mind...and I tried it for the first time after 16 years!
My mom was amazed as she has never seen me do it...yes... not even 16 years ago :-) she's after me to do a quilt pattern for her haha.

Thanks for reading. ...and if there is any questions...please let me know...I'll be happy to help :-)