A Second Stitch Book

Last summer through to spring this year I made a second stitch book, based on the Sew 4 the Soul book I made in 2020/21, which I posted here.  I’d really enjoyed the process of making the first book and found the need to make another.  This project was to have colour pages.  So this is the first - pink and red.

When I started this book a You Tube video at the time from Roxy Creations, to embroider some book pages based on rabbits, so I found a couple of rabbit buttons and my friend gave me the wood cake decoration (the rabbit on the left).  One of my favourite fabrics is this kaleidoscope patterned one at the bottom of the page. It’s decorated with some pink lace, red lace (with beads) red/orange sari ribbon and cream lace. I soon went off the path that Roxy Creations started, as the themes changed too quick for me. It then enabled me to go at my own pace rather than keeping up with challenges.

The second page is cream/ivory with a selvedge piece of natural linen. There is some silk, calico and white on white fabrics. There’s a bit of white with black peri red hexagons, some pearl buttons.  It was a gentle, floral page with the lace, small silk flower, Japanese fabrics with flowers, poppy seed heads printed fabric.

The third page was green and this time I made the page using the sew and flip method and using selvedges (I love a fancy selvedge) to edge the sides of these pages. These are from Lewis and Irene Cocktail Party, which I bought a collection of several years ago. I did some fancy stitching to join buttons, green sequin leaves and stitched a couple of picot leaves too.

The fourth page’s theme is blue and hexagons.  Some of the hexagons are from the 100 day of hexagons project from 4 years ago.  Central to this is the rainbow band of hexagons which were made from an ombré fabric in my stash.  This has been decorated with smaller hexies.

The fifth page was yellow, finding yellow fabrics in the scrap box, using a couple more hexies from my 100 day collection, some Suffolk puffs and a couple of covered brass rings (I didn’t get round to doing a Dorset Button. The basis for this page was log cabin piecing.

The sixth page is orange and I used fabric weaving for this page.  I gathered some organza ribbon, some more of the sequin leaves, another puff. 

The seventh page is purple and I featured some triangles. I added a piece of scrap purple fabric with some stitching that I tried out on my machine.  Rather than throwing the sample away it was added to this page. At this point I added a bookmark by plaiting some purple crewel yarn

The eighth and last page is black/grey and was constructed in Kawandi quilting, hand piecing from the outside in going rotating around the page. Again I used some sample machine stitching in this piece.  I added some buttons which includes some sea creature buttons.

Back cover is a continuation of the sari silk strip piecing.  I had trimmed a couple of pieces off, which may come in useful for another piece of stitching.

I’ve now started on a new stitch book, but a different construction this time.  I found, through Instagram Ann Wood Handmade, who is doing 100 days of stitching (way back during February, so the 100 days conclude on 1 May) and has sewn pages together and there are instructions here. I’ve cut the pages to size and made a couple of signature pages.  I have left the rest of the pages loose to sew o but will have to be aware of leaving at least a half inch margin all round.  I’ve used some of the unusual fabrics in my stash the one below was a printed one by Alison Hulme.  This is accompanied by a Suffolk Puff (which was cut from the top which decorated the lid of a home made chutney jar) and a little piece of lace flower.  Again I will do this at my own pace, but hope to finish before the end of this year.

I enjoy making books and there will soon be a new mini book in paper.