The last of the bookwraps, at last!

Finishing touches, apres-holiday, on the last few -

A couple of my favourites, thread-painted in sunset colours

 Ready to be released -

Delivered - three months' work in two small bags - joining many hours of work by many, many people -

The tombola in action - you take a ticket from the drum, then if you have a lucky number (ending in 0, 3, or 5) you choose a box, in which the bookwraps randomly lie -

These bookwraps might not be the very last ... later, I might make more for presents, and to use up the "bits" that will inevitably accumulate - the class samples, the trimmings off journal quilts, the false starts and unsuccessful completions. Now, it's on, on ... to other projects ...

I've really enjoyed the challenge of "making straw into gold" with the individual items that emerged out of the cupboard. What really helped with the productivity aspect was to settle to one format, a simple one at that, and to cut lots of "pockets" and bindings in advance, so as to be able to mix&match, rather than having to go back into the stash each time for the what-binding-what-pocket decision for individual pieces.

Very few old projects and class-samples are left; making the bookwraps been a positive, freeing experience. I had a hidden agenda: to brainwash myself to be able to let go of some of my overwhelming amount of art supplies. Getting rid of a few yards of fabric and scraps hasn't entirely solved this, of course, but as you enjoy the making, you can do lots of thinking and positive reinforcement about how good it will be when you have less clutter.

Continuing with the decluttering is ongoing (can it ever end?) - and as I think about drastically paring down the stash, I can feel a lot of resistance - so much, that I broke off writing to deal with some difficult emails, rather than continue with this post... The accumulated fabric says "use me, you paid good money and had exciting plans for me". It will be satisfying to find new homes for it, other people who can put it to use. That's the next big project.

Next small project is to thoroughly clear the surfaces in the studio ... not such a small job, but, as they say: how do you eat an elephant? - bite by bite.

Transformation

"Searchlights" (c.2001) - hand pieced, deliberately shapely

Jackets for A6 notebooks

Almost the last of the bookwraps

Another handful to add to the still-growing stack

For an A5 book, two of the four made from the same silk piecing -

(this, in fact)

A5 again, leftovers from the big "River" quilt ...

... which is now in the upstairs hall

A4, from a starch-resist print that wasn't quite wide enough

Top, a laborious embroidery from the mid-90s;
below, monoprints of faces, from the same era

The laborious embroidery in its unaltered state - it's
much improved as a book wrap, don't you think?

It's amazing what you find in the cupboard that can be put to good use! Half a dozen bookwraps are almost ready to bind, and there's only one possible sewing day before the delivery date, as I'll be away from the sewing machine for a few days.

(This post is linked to Off The Wall Friday.)

Last week's bookwraps

A couple of odd bods

Four A5-sized wraps made from the same UFO ...

... which needed quilting before being cut up

Three from one - samples of different variegated threads
and of different fancy stitches

Another abandoned bit of piecing that became three bookwraps

The red brigade

Grey power

Another couple of odd bods - conjoined pale samples, and a former journal quilt

Time is running out for my bookwrap-making obsession -- and, I'm pleased to report, the stock of UFOs and samples is running out too. Yet some things remain - for instance, these squares, made of tie silk and intended, long ago, for a lap quilt - there isn't time to make all nine squares into bookwraps, simply because other things are in the queue ahead of them.

As for this next quilt - I was looking forward to cutting it up, and it would have made 8 bookwraps ... but when it came to it, I couldn't do it -

Once that snake was taken off, I remembered the fun of the piecing and quiilting - four vertical strips were pieced randomly, by tossing a coin and pulling a strip out of one or other bag, something like that. some green strips had the red bits added beforehand, and those got used in the quilting as the centre of flowers, and I put in various sorts of flowers - begonias (top right) and fuchsias (bottom left ... but are they fuchsias?) among them -

 One day I'll get out the paints and turn this into ... something else ...

Wraps from scraps

Something from nothing - these bookwraps are made from the offcut edges of various journal quilts, of which I seem to have quite a collection (still...). The edges of the quilted pieces have been cut straight, butted, and joined with satin stitch. Some are rather narrow, kept and used because I like the colours and/or fabrics in them, but really, for best effect, pieces should be at least 3/4" wide! 

These "scraps" are leftovers from the large piece in my 2003 "River" exhibition -

 And this collection, looking rather duller than the clear (strident?) colours of the fabric, were cut off from some Ikea curtains and sturdily quilted -

An ethical sort of question arises - is it "done" to use scraps for what is essentially a gift to another (unknown) person? Some people who might win one of these in the tombola will be disappointed to see that their prize is made of "rags" or "unwanted bits" or "leftovers",  but for others it will appeal because it shows what can be done with a bit of imagination (and effort). Personally, I feel that negligible or overlooked things, scraps left behind, have something to offer, because they already have a history and are going on to a new life.

In real life, on a book, the scrappy wraps have a certain charm - part of which comes from the act of being held in the hand and imparting their feel. You'll have to use your imagination on that, but for starters, cover up half the photo, so that you see the wrap like it will look when on a book...

Anyway, I'm having fun with these. My stash is dwindling, the ufos are moving on to a new life.

(Friday update - this post is now part of "Off the Wall Friday" at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/)

Five from one

"And Then Her Tears Fell Like Pearls" got the chop.

Now it's become five bookwraps -

 They do look rather better when folded up - and the feel lovely to hold because of all the velvet!

This weekend's bookwraps

Several samples that eventually resulted in "Luna" and "Moons of the Mind" (2007) turned up - and while the rest of the UK or indeed world was watching the tennis, they became bookwraps.

To get the size right, and to position them accurately, I cut a paper template without seam allowances (ie, of the size of the finished article) and pinned it into place. Using a transparent binding (organza, for example), doubled, means you can see through to the edges of the template, making the usual 1/4" seam for the binding. Then the unnecessary fabric is trimmed off.

The pockets that hold the book inside the wrap are added by stitching outside the seam line (ie, within the seam allowance), then the binding is turned over and pinned down and stitched.

Three samples, three bookwraps -

Those below were once journal quilts - the size was 7" x 10", perfect for making into covers for A6 notebooks -

I had to add a new binding as my quiltlets had a zigzagged edge, but if yours have a binding already, here are instructions for unpicking the inside of the binding and adding four triangles at the corners, instead of long pockets.

How long does it take?

After the previous bookwrap-making session, seven were left lying beside the sewing machine, waiting to have their bindings sewn on. Here they are, with glimpses of their inner pockets (carefully chosen fabric for the pockets). It took 2 1/2 hours to bind all seven, and that was with the pockets pinned in and the binding ready - just over 20 minutes each to sew on, turn, pin-baste, and topstitch. After some practice, I consider this quick, and it's just one part of the making; gathering and cutting the fabric for pockets and binding can take from 3 to 20 minutes per item, and the time spent making and quilting the main part is also variable, and can amount to hours.

Everyone making bookwraps for the tombola is contributing their materials and labour. And skill. No-one making a bookwrap, were the time spent being paid for, would "earn" anything like the minimum wage. They are worth more than that, and I hope the recipients of the hundreds of bookwraps that will be raffled will t

As I've said before, I'm making so many because it's a great way to re-purpose the unfinished and unwanted projects that are gathering dust or hidden away in cupboards. My own hidden agenda is that this purging will, subtly, reinforce the idea that getting rid of things - even fabric! - is possible. In rummaging through my stash again and again, I'm subconsciously noting fabrics that no longer appeal ... I've considered having a "discards" bag handy, but that would divert from the first purpose. The weeding out of fabrics comes later.

Meanwhile the pile of finished bookwraps is growing satisfactorily. I was aiming for 30 - and discover many more ufos waiting for treatment. Here are a few "before and after" photos.

From a workshop at least 10 years ago

the subject was banksia

Using tiny scraps of hand-dyes for a possible cot quilt
- but after six or seven years on the wall, the colours had faded

For these there are no "before" photos -

what was I thinking #234

ikea fabric from shortened curtains
(it never did become cushions)

abandonned around the time of the "River" exhibition, 2003

Spinning straw into gold

The "straw" came from someone else's scrap basket, and was probably offcuts of pieced strips -

At some point I had pieced the pieced pieces into a rectangle big enough for a bookwrap for an A6 book (10" x 6 3/4" - after quilting - is my template). At the right you can see the start of the quilting - it's just parallel lines, nothing fancy, but I did think carefully about what colour thread to use.

After all the "spinning", here is the finished object -

Not too bad, considering. Functional, and cheerful. 

This next pair was started in February (see the "before" pic here) -

Finally for today, this was an early journal quilt - I had had a good time appliqueing the circles and stitching all the french knots -

Waiting for their bindings are seven more, cut from three different UFOs. And there's still lots of "straw" in the cupboard.  

Back to bookwraps

While preparing for the open studio event, I came across lots of unfinished work - and lots of finished work (journal quilts etc) that no longer pleased me, or seemed to have no purpose.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be spending my studio time "spinning straw into gold" - making more bookwraps for the CQ tombola at Festival of Quilts, to raise funds for the Quilters' Guild. (This is a follow-up to the very successful Little Gems tombola a few years back.)

The Bookwrap Gems team has set up a website - http://bookwrapgems.wordpress.com/ - with patterns etc. It's now populated with photos of the hundreds of bookwraps that have been submitted already. Go and have a look, and have a go - you can take it along to the tombola stand at FOQ.

Now that I've made a few bookwraps, I've settled on one method and they seem to make themselves. Here's a summary of what I'm doing. 

I'm making two sizes, to fit an A6 and an A5 hardback sketchbook, and have a couple of pieces of paper cut to the right size, which I lay on the quilted fabric and cut around. The A6 template measures 10" x 6 3/4", the A5 template measures 13 1/4" x 9 1/8" - they include the seam area, ie the area that gets covered by binding round the edge. I thought my seams were 1/4", using the marker on the presser foot, but it seems they're a bit narrower, so if you're planning to make several bookwraps, first do one and check your seam width to make sure the book cover actually fits in.

Template was used to cut a rectangle from the quilted fabric

Pockets added at either side

Narrow binding sewn round
(my tutorial on narrow binding is here)

Binding is pin-basted and sewn "in the ditch" by machine

The finished bookwrap

Some more measurements: the pockets are the height of the template and about half the width of the book - finished size about 2 1/2" for A6, 3 1/2" for A5. I've been using organza, cutting it double the width and folding it. With cotton, simply make a 1" hem on the open side.

The narrow binding ends up at 1/4" (or so...) - and if you cut a strip 1 7/8" wide, and fold it double, that will wrap round to the back and leave a nice overlap so that your machine stitching catches the binding and holds it down. But "your mileage may vary" -- you may want to adjust the width of the strip to fit in with your preferred seam width, ie the marking on your presser foot.

The interior view of another finished bookwrap (for A5 book) and another quilted piece ready to be transformed -

This week's production line -

Encased in layers of quilted fabric, a notebook/sketchbook is a wonderful thing to hold - very satisfying in the hand.