Tag / bookcovers

by princesshotflash

Quietly Stitching

The holidays were a cold (in Hawaii temps) and wet one. I made use of being inside by hand stitching projects that were waiting for their patiently.

This current wave of hand stitching was brought on by the book covers I stitched in my post; I forgot to add a cover. I started stitching more patches with the same fabric as the book covers and added more stitching. But now I’m stuck about what to do next and what I should become.

I feel like it needs some kind of separation between the patches

I decided to let the patches sit while I figured out what it needed. I picked up my aloha shirt patchwork quilt. I needed to finish the rest of the interior stitching (diagonal lines) then work on the border. The half triangles are machine stitched with interior quilting and border handstitched.

I reworked some of the stitching to be more consistent overall.

The quilt looked a bit empty; it needed more than the diagonal lines. I decided to add some stitching around the white flowers on the green triangles. Slightly smaller stitching than the diagonal lines makes it stand out a bit. More in the style of the book covers.

Working in tandem with the patchwork quilt, I picked up an ancient project sitting in my project pile, a Hawaiian quilt kit I started. I don’t even know when or where I got it or created it.

I did a really crap job attaching the applique. My Quilting Yoda would not have been happy. I restitched the applique, adding many more stitches to lay flat. Some of the corners were pretty awful; the turn-over edges were coming apart. The stitching was close enough. Ugh!! But the more I worked on it, I got into a rhythm, and my stitches were more consistent. So satisfying. I like it now.

I’m quilting around the applique now.

All the while, as I hand stitch, I’ve been binging Silent Witness on Prime Video. It’s like a CSI, UK version, focusing more on the pathologist up to the season 16 when they combined department with forensic. It has 24 seasons, more than enough to keep me company while I stitched away.

I finished this while I was writing this post. I’m so proud of it.

Oh, by the way, I finished the my Hawaiian Quilt Patch. What began as forgotten project, turned out looking better than I expected. I’ve decided to turn it into a pillow. Now I need to find the perfect backing for it. I’m hoping I have it in my stash.

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by princesshotflash

I forgot to add a cover . . .

Back in August, I posted about my staycation with my girlfriends, and I had everyone send me their photos, and I would put together a book for everyone. I forgot to add a cover in my excitement to submit the book.

Ugh! I’m so sad. The interior turned out so fun.

I had 11 coverless books and was not sure what to do. Many ideas ran through my head, and none of them sounded like a solution. And I decided to put it away till something came to me. Fast forward four months, and I have an idea. I would make patchwork covers that could be slipped on. I got the idea because I was getting together with the girls the coming Sunday, two days away! Yes, I procrastinated. I feel like I’m still in high school.

The Prototype

I wanted to make the cover colorful and fun, like the interior. I thought a vintage flower print and purple Hawaiian print would make a great combination. The vintage print was large triangular scraps. That drove the layout of the fabric. I needed to make sure I had enough for all the covers, and I was trying to keep them similar to keep the production time done.

Left: laying out the fabric; Right: the plan

Once the covers were cut, I decided to sashiko stitch (Japanese embroidery) to attach the two fabrics only on the pink fabric. I came up with a pattern to do two rows of stitching around the pink shapes. I decided the front cover would slip into the book cover pockets. I made pockets for both spine and the right edge of the cover. I initially wanted to glue the covers to the book, but I didn’t know how the paper would react to the glue, and I had no time to test. I stitched the sides of the pocket with kind of a wrapping stitch (not sure what it is really called) that I’ve seen on Instagram.

Left: sashiko style stitching. Middle: wrapping stitch edge of pockets. Right: backside of the cover, showing spine’s pocket.

Well, I didn’t make my deadline of having it done by our brunch. I had two done for the girls who live in town, and the rest would get it delivered. But we ended up spending the afternoon on my girlfriend’s patio talking, and I was able to make up six more.

The last three are done and out for hand delivery today.

I enjoyed the hand stitching patchwork part of this project and have started another stitching project with leftover scraps. I will post when I’m done with what I made.