Postcard Wall Quilt

Susanne Barkan hated the big, white wall in her Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, dining room. She tried to spruce it up with paintings and plants, but nothing seemed to work -- until she looked to the stash of postcards the family had collected over the years. When her husband, Craig, was out of town for a ten-day retreat, Susanne and her then five-year-old son, Ben Miller, decided to pull a While You Were Out. To surprise Dad upon his return, the decorating duo created a wall "quilt" from postcards. "Ben took care of the bottom rows; I did the top ones," Susanne says. Now, whether eating dinner or hosting friends, the Barkan-Millers use the wall as entertainment--a bonus they didn't plan on when they created the quilt. "We play games like I spy and spot the categories. It provides hours of conversation," says Susanne.

Do-it-yourself tips
• Before you begin, stack the postcards into categories, such as landscapes, statues, people, animals, and bridges. That way, you can create groupings if you like.

• Affix the postcards to the wall with clear tape (try it flat or in loops, or try Scotch clear Mounting Squares) so cards can be changed easily.

• Work from the center out so the quilt grows equally in all directions.

• Have a step stool handy and do a little every day so you can watch the quilt evolve.

• Make it a bad-weather project--something to do on the coldest/hottest/wettest days of the year.

• Cover a door or smaller space if you don't have enough cards for a wall.

Cost: About $2 per roll of tape; most of the cards came by mail.