Category: Projects

I’m enjoying the HOME needle book that I made with one of my moody little HOME blocks so much that I decided to make a coordinating project with the remaining block.  As it turns out, this color scheme really interests me right now.  When I design any of my quilts, or just have ideas to play with, I always sketch them out in a graph paper composition book.  So of course I grabbed mine to brainstorm and it hit me:  make a quilted book cover!

Mine is simple and no-fuss.  Just like the needle book, I wanted a quick, functional project and NO trips to a store.  If I were to make more, it would be fun to add a small pocket for  a pen or pencil, and possibly an elastic band to keep it secure.

I’ve posted more than once now about this fabric.  It’s from Fabled Land by Pip & Lo for Cloud 9.  I want to make everything with it, but I’ll stop gushing now.  For the inside flaps I used a darling little floral that coordinates well from the Chicken Littles collection by Windham.  The print is flower field in tomato.  And, of course I’ve added the Art Gallery Pure Solids in Nocturnal, a perennial favorite, it seems.

I was working on this fun quilted book cover at night with terrible lighting, but decided to snap a few photos along the way.  So for what it’s worth, here’s a little tutorial for you.

What will you need?  A composition book, a cute little 4″ HOME quilt block (or some other fun block or fabric to showcase), plus a focal fabric for the outside cover, a lining fabric, another fabric for the inside flaps, 5″ x width of fabric for binding, leftover batting, and coordinating thread.

First up, measure the size of your composition book. My composition book measured 9.75 inches tall by 7.5 inches wide.  I added 3/4 inch to both measurements to account for quilting and seam allowances.  This means that my front and back “covers” measured 10.5″ high by 8.25″ wide.  Adjust these measurements based on the size of your book.

For the front cover, I placed my 4″ HOME block in the center, with two 4.5 x 2 3/8″ blue strips to sew to the left and right sides.  I then cut a piece of my floral fabric that was 8.25 x 7″, and cut that into two strips 8.25″ x 3.5″.   Next, I sewed them to the top and bottom.  Now my covers were ready.  I also cut a strip of navy blue that was 10.5″ x 7/8 inches for a “spine”.

Sew all three pieces together to make the outside of your book cover.  Measure the height and width of this piece.

Once you’ve made the outside cover, cut your lining, adding 1.5″ around all 4 sides.  This means adding 3 inches to both the height and width of your front cover.  Cut a piece of batting that is a little smaller than your lining.  Baste these layers together, either with pins or an adhesive spray.  I chose a spray so I wouldn’t have to deal with any pins.

Next, quilt your book cover!  You can do this in any way you prefer.  I love straight lines, especially on small projects such as this.  Have you ever heard of a Hera marker?  It’s one of the greatest little quilting tools I own, and I HIGHLY recommend them.  When run along the edge of a ruler, the sharp side of the marker creases your fabric and makes quilting lines that are easy to follow.  Straight lines, no lasting marks. I’m a fan.

If you look closely, you can see my crease lines on both sides of the house.

I’ve quilted my book cover and am ready for the next step, which is to make the inside flaps.

Measure the height and width you need for inside flaps.  I cut my flaps at 4″ wide by 11″ tall.  To do this, cut 2 each of the lining fabrics and of the flap fabrics.  Cut two pieces of batting as well.  Baste as before, and quilt.  I continued my straight line quilting, but in the opposite direction.  After quilting, trim these pieces to the same height as your book cover.  Mine are 10.5 x 3.5″.

From your binding fabric, sew binding strips down one long side of each inside flap.

Place your flaps on the inside of your book cover, with the binding facing the center and the raw edges aligned with the two sides of the cover.  Pin in place.  I chose to sew mine in place, but with a 1/8″ seam allowance so it would hold my flaps where I want them while adding the binding, but stay unseen after finished.

Attach binding to all 4 sides of the book cover.  I sewed mine to the inside of the quilted book cover so I could finish it easily by machine.   Once your binding is fully attached, your quilted book cover is finished!  My moment of truth came when I slipped it onto a composition book.  Viola!  A perfect fit – snug but not too tight.

A home for all my ideas, showcasing a favorite quilt block and gorgeous fabric.  I can’t wait to use it!

I can’t stop thinking about trees.  I learn so many lessons from them:  deep roots, fruit, shelter,  No matter the variety, I’m amazed by their roots, their height and strength, and the reach of their branches.  How, exactly, does the genetic code of their seeds allow them to reach towering heights, live for decades, and continue to produce trees in perpetuity?  Season after season, year after year, for decades.  I created my Decades quilt design as a tribute to trees, as well as the lessons they teach us.  Today’s photos are of my Decades quilt top.

This year I watched a remarkable story unfold in my backyard, featuring my decades old cherry tree at the center.  Some sixty years old, I have never seen a tree put so much energy into producing fruit as it did this year.  As stewards of the tree for the last 18 years, we’ve worked to extend its life.  And never, in all those years, have I seen so much fruit.

Scarred and with branches drooping closer to the ground every year, we know our tree is old.  A hollow in the center of the base of the trunk, present when we purchased the property, has grown deeper.  We’re battling decay.  Perched on it’s sturdy limbs, my children spent countless hours in that tree.  We hosted parties beneath its branches, and enjoyed all our outdoor dinners there.  Now we protect it carefully.  No climbing.  I spent countless hours beneath it’s branches.  It was my hiding place for taking a deep breath to recenter and gather my thoughts.  In the spring, I spend time every day marveling at the smell of blossoms and the buzzing of hundreds of bees.  A tree dressed in promise.  Oh how I love this tree!

So imagine our sorrow when, on an early summer morning, a terribly loud cracking sound penetrated the house.  Pulling open the curtains, I could hardly comprehend it.  Half of the tree had collapsed.  Our dear, dear tree.  Thus began weeks of preserving as many cherries as possible.  Cutting wood.  Cleaning up.  And certainly blinking back tears at the now gaping hole in this old friend.

While studying the rings on the massive limb we lost, I found myself pondering the decades of blessings it had offered:  shelter, fruit, beauty, to name a few.  They reminded me about resilience and bending with the seasons, and producing good fruit, and directing energy to what matters most.  So close to collapsing, yet covered in good, sweet fruit.  This gave me fresh perspective as I near the decade mark on a particular journey in my life.  I want to be like my tree:  covered in good fruit no matter how weary I feel.  I want to deepen my roots, expand the reach of my efforts, and offer my best gifts.  

The Decades quilt celebrates all this with a large, modern take on the tree of life, on fruit, and framed by a vibrant border.  I wanted to explore the border of my Awake quilt a little more, and this was my perfect opportunity.

I shared my Come Round Right quilt top earlier this week.  Like it, I will also be teaching a class on making the Decades quilt at Sew Simply Stitched in 2025.  Decades utilizes several different piecing skills, including unique Dresden plate blocks, half square triangles, half rectangle triangles, and foundation paper piecing.  All of these skills will be taught in class and we are going to have FUN.  The retreat always fills up on the first day, so register right away if you’re interested.  I hope you will join us!

 

 

What happens when life goes terribly wrong?  When someone takes a turn and everything changes?  What if you’re not sure you will ever be happy again?  Have you ever been on a journey like that?  I’m guessing we all have, to some degree.  I believe we all end up taking a long trip to places we wish to avoid.  The question is, what comes of it?  While pondering these questions, I started sewing.  This is what came of it:  my Come Round Right quilt top.

What becomes of us?  For me, this journey has been the undoing AND the making of me.  Funny how that works.  I’m approaching the ten year mark of a journey that still stretches into the horizon with no obvious arrival point.  I don’t know when or where it ends.  But I do know this:  I am learning to thrive IN the journey, IN the hard, IN the waiting.

Do you recognize the lyrics of a favorite Shaker hymn?  Part of the lyrics read, “When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed; To turn, turn, will be a delight. Till by turning, turning we come round right.”  And that’s where the name of this quilt originates.  In the bowing and the bending which accompany adversity, we learn so much.  We recognize our weakness, ignorance, inadequacy.  But eventually, with persistence and hope and great faith, we turn and turn some more, and finally “come round right.”  It made sense to portray this turning in Dresden plate blocks, which is where the quilt started.

Come Round Right is a creative experience in using the Dresden plate quilt block to create flowers and leaves in a large composition framed by a border of “stems and leaves”.  These stems and leaves are also a nod to the number 10 – representing my 10 year presence on this road.

This quilt design is simple but also requires a bit of courage.  It’s a really fun way to design your own composition and use lots of favorite fabrics.

What did I discover as my Come Round Right quilt top came together?  I discovered a lighthearted, whimsical, cheerful celebration of growth.  Exhaling, I stood back in wonder when I finished.  This is not a quilt about what’s been fenced in or fenced out, which I portrayed with my black and white backgrounds.  This is a quilt about thriving.  That’s what I discovered.  Bring on the next ten years!

I’m happy to share that I’ll be teaching Come Round Right at the Sew Simply Stitched quilt retreat in 2025.  Registration opens November 1st, and usually sells out in the first 24 hours.  I hope you’ll join us!  The pattern will be available in a few weeks.

This journey!  I am so grateful for it.  For both of them, I guess.  I’m grateful for the journey that ripped me open and prepared me to learn.  And this journey of sewing my story which teaches me about my experiences in new and redemptive ways.