Quilted French Memory Board DIY Tutorial



When I had my business, EllaBella Designs, my hand-made Quilted French Memory Boards were a big hit at the local craft markets. They add a beautiful touch to any room with the ability to showcase a revolving array of your favorite photographs without damaging them like a bulletin board could.

Well, years later, The Scrapbooking Housewife blog still gets numerous visitors each day in search of the quilted french memory boards. Since I don't make them to sell anymore, I figured it was about time I provided a detailed DIY Quilted French Memory Board Tutorial!

A printable pdf version is available for this Quilted French Memory Board Tutorial.

I'll start with what makes the base of my memory boards - framed canvases!

I used to get the 16"x20" 2-packs at Michael's when they went on sale, now it seems that there are inexpensive canvases available today in a plethora of sizes. I have even purchased some at dollar stores; the quality of the canvas itself is irrelivant, as you will be covering it up. Other sizes I made were 10"x12", 12"x14", and 14"x16"; but found that the 16"x20" was my preferred size.

An alternate base for your memory board can include a bulletin board, or a stury piece of inexpensive foam board.  You can even build your own frame from wood if you so desire; but, for me, I found that for the relatively low cost of the canvas it wasn't worth the effort.

Please keep in mind that there are a number of ways you could go about making your own Quilted French Memory Board, but here I will share with you my process. I have to admit, I haven't made one of these in years, so here goes...

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Supplies:

• Framed canvas
• Fabric - make sure fabric is at least 2" larger than your canvas; designer fabric always looks stunning; I love Amy Butler, Kaufman, Michael Miller, to name a few

• Felt - cut to fit back of canvas
• Iron & Ironing Board
• Good quality matching ribbon
• Matching trim - optional
• Batting - cut to at least 2" larger than your canvas
• 5 brads - try going the extra mile and use decorative brads, you will not regret it

• Hot glue gun with glue
• Paper piercer - you could also use the end of a very pointy & sharp pair of scissors (such as these Tim Holtz by Tonic Studios - love these scissors!)
• Measuring tape & pencil
• Staple gun with staples - I purchased an electric staple gun just for doing these boards, so worth it!!

• Tooth-edged picture hanger & nails to hang frame
• Hammer
• Scissors

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Instructions:

1. Cut fabric to give you at least 2" overlap on all sides; iron fabric.

2. Cut batting to give you at least 2" overlap on all sides. Spread some hot glue over the front of the canvas, just enough so it stays, and adhere batting to front.

3. Lay the fabric face down and place canvas front-side down over top of the fabric; be careful here and make sure that the pattern on your fabric is straight.

4. Stretch fabric over sides and staple to the back of the canvas using a staple gun. Tuck corners in and staple. Cut off any excess fabric. You may need to use a hammer for some of the staples that don't go in all of the way.

For the next set of instructions, it may be helpful for you to visualize the canvas as a grid when dealing with measurements for ribbon & brad placements. Note that for larger canvases, you may wish to add extra lengths of ribbon and brads.

(The following diagrams are not to scale, they are just providing you with a brief overview of ribbon and brad placement)

front view of canvas

back view of canvas

5. With canvas facing down, use your staple gun to staple one end of ribbon to the corner of the back of the canvas; bring diagonally across the front to the opposite corner, making sure ribbon is tight, and staple the end to the back of the canvas. Repeat on the other corners.

6. Turn the canvas face down and, using a pencil, mark at the middle point of each side of the frame.

7. Keeping the canvas face down, staple another piece of ribbon to the top middle at an angle; bring ribbon over the front of the canvas and over to the middle of the other side; staple. Do this one more time on the same side.

8. Continue on other three sides.

9. Once ribbon is stapled in place, take your measuring tape and measure the middle point of the front of the canvas. Your two ribbons crossing over should be exactly in the middle; if not, you will need to maneouver them until they are in the centre.

10. Hold ribbon while inserting the paper piercer (or the very pointy & sharp tip of your scissors) in the centre. Make sure you go all the way through the ribbon, fabric, and canvas. Insert your brad and separate back so brad sits flat. You may need to tear the ribbon and fabric slightly, just be sure not to form a run in the ribbon or fabric.

11. The other four brad placements can be a bit tricky; the ribbon will likely require quite a bit of maneouvering to get the ribbon placement just right. Imagine the canvas divided up into sections and measure in both directions to get the mid-point. I usually start with the top left brad and work clock-wise, but do whatever works for you.

For example, if I was working with a 16" x 20" canvas, I would measure 5" across and 4" down and move my ribbon accordingly to get it just right.

12. Once you have all of the brads in place, you can then attach the felt backing using a hot glue gun.

13. If you are using trim, attach that to the edge of the canvas using hot glue.

14. Turn canvas face down and mark the middle of the canvas; attach tooth-edged picture hanger.

 

Your Quilted French Memory Board is now ready to hang and adorn your photos!

Enjoy!

A printable pdf version is available for this Quilted French Memory Board Tutorial.

Don’t miss my Back to School posts:

Kids Chore Chart Clipboard

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Mini Homework Station

Quilted French Memory Board Tutorial

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School Portraits File Folder Mini Scrapbook Album

Back to School Baking & Lunch Ideas

Back to School Photos & Questionnaires

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