How to Make a Photo "Guest Book" Wall Hanging for Your Wedding

May 23rd, 2009 in sewing, embroidery, quilting, memory making

Jennifer Stern, contributor

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If you have a square ruler, you can quickly see the best way to crop your photo into a square.

Fold the square into quarters and press the folds to create creases that you can use as guidelines to center the photo.

If you have a square ruler, you can quickly see the best way to crop your photo into a square.

Photo: Jen Stern

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How often do you plan on dragging out the guest book to remember good times? Probably not very often. I had a very nice guest book at my wedding, and I don't even know where the darn thing is! I discovered another way to collect names and sweet nothings from your guests. While looking for picture frames for Mother's Day, I saw a large wall frame with a white mat that was designed to be signed by guests—perfect for the occasion of a wedding. I thought about it, and decided to create a wall hanging "guest book" project for quilter and sewing brides-to-be! Here's how to make a fabric version of the frame I saw in the craft store...

What you'll need:

A digital photo of the couple
Inkjet printable fabric sheets (I like iron-on Printed Treasures, www.printedtreasures.com)
High-thread-count muslin
Decorative threads of your choice...maybe the colors of the wedding
Warm and White cotton batting (or other low-loft batting)

Print the photo on a sheet of printable fabric. I like iron-on Printed Treasures because it stays nice and flat against the base fabric after it's been appliquéd on. Crop your photo into a square (or whatever shape you like).

If you have a square ruler, you can quickly see the best way to crop your photo into a square.

Consider how many guests will be attending the wedding. You want to create a wall hanging with enough space for everyone to express themselves around the photo without it getting too jammed up. (You also want to leave a few extra inches around the edge for framing it later.) I ended up cutting a 28-inch square to appliqué my photo to.

Fold the square into quarters and press the folds to create creases that you can use as guidelines to center the photo.

Peel the paper backing off the photo.

Fuse the photo to the center of the square of muslin. Use the creases as a guide to get the photo in the center.

Use a satin stitch to sew a border around the photo to appliqué it to the base fabric. Choose the zigzag stitch. Set the width to 6.0 mm and the length to 0.6 mm. The goal is to zig onto the photo and zag just off the photo. To make a neat corner, stitch until you are at the every edge of the photo.

Stop with the needle down in the corner of the photo.

Lift the presser foot and pivot the fabric so that you can continue sewing down the next side edge.

Now the fun begins. Look at the photo and the fabric that surrounds it. Imagine the white space filled with signatures and little notes from friends and family. Add some interesting details by creating a second border around the photo...and fill it with free-motion stitching (that will create some space between the photo and the writing). You can leave it simple like that, or add more details such as channel quilting, embroidery, or more decorative stitching—just be sure to leave enough "blank" fabric for guests to sign! (Note: Add all your decorative stitched details before you put batting behind the fabric and start quilting.)

Use a wash-away marker and a curved ruler to draw a frame around the photo.

Draw guide lines for decorative stitched borders

You can do a simple design as I did here, or create a fancy curved frame (or even multiple frames, depending on how intricate you want your overall design to be).

Pick a built-in decorative stitch on your sewing machine and stitch along the frame. (The reason why we're doing this is to create some space between the photo and where guests will sign the fabric.) After you're done decorative stitching, add a layer of thin batting behind the fabric and start quilting.

I stitched the base of the decorative stitch along the guideline that I drew.

"Fill-in" the area between the photo and the second border with free-motion quilting.

I used a metallic white thread to give the free-motion quilting a little sparkle.

Free-motion stipple inside the decorative stitched border

The area around the second border is too much for the number of guests who will be at this wedding, so I'm going to add some channel quilting in the corners.

I'm always amazed at how great a few rows of equally spaced lines of quilting can look. You can channel-quilt as close together or as far apart as you like. I'm going to stitch rows that are 1-1/2 inches apart here. Take a minute to play with it on a scrap; 1/4-inch spaced channel quilting is really elegant! Use a quilting bar or draw lines with a wash-away marker and a ruler to guide you.

I channel-quilted away from the corners until I had a 5-inch space running around the photo for guests to fill in.

When you've finished quilting, remove all your guidelines by dabbing them with a wet cloth (mist from a spray bottle works great too). Let the wall hanging dry—double-check to make sure all the wash-away marker was removed. Then give it a good steam press.

To present your "photo" guest book at the wedding, simply finish the edges with a serger. Either leave the finished edge visible or press it under. Provide Prigma Pens for guests to use to sign your wall hanging—you'll end up with a beautiful heirloom that will look great in your new home! After the honeymoon, go to a craft store and pick out a frame. For some tips on how to put the fabric in the frame, check out "How to Frame Your Own Embroidered Masterpiece". (Because that post shows how to frame an embroidery, you'll have to omit some of the steps and adapt others to this project, but I think it will help!)

posted in: sewing, embroidery, quilting, memory making

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