My north country / Adirondack fabric book finally came together along with some unexpected design decisions. My original intention was to sew the blocks to one long strip, fold it accordian-style, and fasten it with something like string, fabric strips, selvages, or ??
But then I came across some printed twill tape at Hobby Lobby and added it to a selvage strip on the left side of each page giving some stability to the book's binding. This is the cover. Here are the rest . . .
The reverse side of each page (left) is backed with a green plaid which I folded over to the front on three sides and stitched down (see right).
Then I decided to try my hand at stamping on muslin. Some results were really good and others not so good. Last fall I managed to buy a bunch of brand new stamps at the thrift shop for 50-cents a piece. So out they came for this project!
I already had a stamp pad and extra black ink so did my best.
I tried to match a stamp with the block. Believe it or not this one is a flock of birds. I had purchased a new blue ink pad (for a different project) and discovered the results were so much better :)
There is no needle turn applique anywhere--all edges are raw, anchored with a small running stitch and finished off with big stitches using embroidery floss or pearl cotton.
The selvage strips are 1/2" wide and I chose ones that did not have fringe along one edge.
The stamped pieces were hand-stitched to the plaid fabric only.
There are 9 pages altogether.
One final stamp "B" and the year :) All pages are held in place with binding clips that Dawn H. had given me years ago. Ta-da!
In August of '22 I decided to put pics of all the quilts I've made into a small album. You can read about that here.
Well, I continued working on that project for quite awhile until . . .
. . . it looked like this and it wouldn't close. Then I lost interest.
But now that it's been resurrected I flipped the original front cover to the back and put this small patchwork flag on the front. It's still fat and bulky but there's only a few pages left to fill before moving on to a new album. I guess you can call that "making progress."
That's all for now . . .
Copyright 2024 Barbara Schaffer
Your fabric book is fabulous, Barbara! It's wonderful to see the photos. You've included so much detail in the pages. I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to hold and look through in person.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nancy! It's fun to flip through the pages!
DeleteWhat a lovely little creation. Such a clever combining of textiles. Each page is a delight to study.
ReplyDeleteYou found a great solution to your bulging book. I wish I had been diligent with my quilt journal. I quit keeping it when I started blogging.
Thanks, Janet! I really enjoyed making this little book. My mind was definitely in overdrive :)
DeleteEach page is a delight to visit! Great idea to use the binding clips to bind your creation. The stamped alternate pages add a lot of vintage interest, and I'm especially loving the sled dog racing stamp! Reminds me of the long ago years spent in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteI had never used those binding clips before but they sure came in handy for this little book! How wonderful that you lived in Alaska. I'd love to send you the sled dog stamp as a reminder :)
DeleteWhat a marvelous finish! I love every portion of that little book. What an accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy! It was a fun project!
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