About the Project

It started, like most things do, with a chance remark on the QuiltArt mailing list.  Kathy Loomis’s request to receive postcards from all 50 states sparked Jackie Moravcik’s idea of making the actual postcards – mini pieces of art where the messages and stamps were part of the art itself.  Thirty-eight people from 21 different states and 5 different countries were intrigued and eager to experiment with the idea.  Within a couple weeks, small works of art began arriving in mailboxes across the country.

Over the next four months, 4" x 6" dyed, painted, appliquéd, stitched, fused, beaded, crayoned, discharged, photo transferred and even copper foiled cards created quite a stir in the post offices before arriving in the individual mailboxes, making “mail-time” something to look forward to.

The project had many unexpected results.  Not only did it encourage the participants to try new techniques and to experiment with new materials, but for some it was their first venture into the realm of textile art.  For others, it culminated in shows, lectures, classes, and magazine articles (see the News page), all born of the desire to share the project with others.

Since then more than two dozen additional postcard groups have formed to exchange cards.  Virginia Spiegel’s Fiber Art for a Cause has raised more than $100,000 for the American Cancer Society from donations of art postcards.  And sales of donated fiber postcards through Art2Mail Relief Sale and Art Doing Good has raised thousands of dollars for hurricane relief following the devastation along the Gulf Coast in the late summer of 2005.

The interest in fiber postcards is growing every day.  We look forward with excitement to what the coming years will bring!

Note:  If you would like information on starting your own postcard exchange group, click here.  To join the next exchange group, add your name here.