Charlyn's Sketchbook...

Charlyn has finally received her sketchbook from me, so now I can share some pictures.  As a reminder, the challenge was to make a quilted and embellished cover for a sketchbook or journal.  I knew that Charlyn likes bright colored batiks, so this is what I came up with...

Charlyn's Sketchbook

It's bright, isn't it?  I designed the background in EQ7 so I could get the proportions and colors right ahead of time.  Note - I'm so loving the Electric Quilt software.  It's makes auditioning different designs and fabrics  so easy.

Sketchbook design in EQ7

This design uses 32 Hunter's Star blocks that finish at 2.5".  There aren't a lot of pieces to each block, but the pieces are small.  With all the points to line up, I would have had a hard time making the blocks using anything other than paper piecing.  And that's when I discovered another fabulous feature to EQ7.  You can print your foundations to any size you need. 

Sketchbook cover opened up

There were 256 individual pieces to those blocks.  (If anyone would like the EQ project files for this, just let me know and I'd be glad to share.)

I added a Tiger Lily to the lower right hand corner.  I found a picture of one online and used it as my template - changing the colors to match what I needed.

Picture of tiger lily by Sandy Wager

I ended up making the flower a couple of times because the first one ended up too red and didn't match her sketchbook.  I used raw-edge fusible applique to apply it to the cover.  I then used monofilament thread to outline each piece in it.  There are approximately 4-6 pieces on each petal.  And finally I added some hot-fix crystals to the center for bling...

Tiger Lily applique

I added a pocket to the inside of the back and front covers to hold papers and such.  I used clear plastic vinyl like you get at Walmart or JoAnn's.  My local quilt store, Quilts Like Crazy, had done something similar with binder covers and I got the idea from them.  I just added a binding to the top of each piece of plastic and sewed it like normal.

Inside front cover

I also added another stylized tiger lily to the inside. 

I enjoyed making this cover and I hope Charlyn gets a lot of use out of it.  It had been a while since I had done any paper piecing and I made a number of mistakes in the beginning.  But once I got the hang of it again, it went together fairly quickly.  And you can't beat paper piecing for its accuracy!

Our next project (due in September) is a 12" square nature inspired crazy quilt - something I've never done before.  We'll have to see how it goes...

Until later...

If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. 

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)