On the mend

I have finally finished my sketchbook cover.

I am quite happy with the way it turned out.  I trimmed it to size and glued the edges so the stitching was secure, then thought about how to attach it to the sketchbook.
I could have glued it down, since it is made specifically for this book, but I decided it was best not to do this in case the book needs rebinding at some time.

I decided to add some sticky velcro to the front and back, which would grab the felt backing.  This worked really well and held the cover on very firmly.

I have not decided yet whether anything will go on the cover under the cutout, or if I will paint the cover.

Above are a few close ups of the stitching.

I have been thinking a lot about blogging and have come to the conclusion that it keeps me on track.  It has been a month since my last post and I have hardly done any textile work.  Whilst a break can be a good thing, I am finding it very hard to get back into the swing of things.  In the past I have always had a little project to keep me going, like ATCs and journal quilts and so I have decided what it is that I need to do every day at present and decided that it is quilting and free motion embroidery..

I have quite a few little sketchpads, filled with free motion doodles and a couple of months ago I came across one where I had doodled hundreds of little feather shapes with different fillings.  I set up a pile of felt and fabric sandwiches to make samples with.  And it sat on my table for quite a while.
So now I have set myself the task of doing one of these feathers a day.  It only takes five minutes and makes me go into the studio and sew.  Of course I can't always blog every day, but my task is to makes sure I do one of these every day and blog at least three times a week.

So here is my first one.  It is a sort of dandelion inside the feather.  I must admit, this one took actually less than a minute!

and here is a bit closer to see the stitches.

So, let's see if I can stick to my project and create every day again.