A handmade album covered with Glimpses of Antarctica

I still haven't written my posts about our Antarctica trip, but I'm one step closer - I finished my stitched piece "Glimpses of Antarctica" and used it as the cover for an album to hold a few photos, postcards, etc.  

Glimpses of Antarctica

In February, I wrote a post about a few of my ongoing hand-stitching projects. The first was a mark-making and stitching project with Gwen Hadley through TextileArtist.org (see Related links below). I made marks on two pieces of white cotton - the first was heavily marked while the second was not.

I cut up the pieces and put them back together again with lots of stitching. Sometimes it was fun, other times a little tedious and even frustrating, but I must admit that I love the finished piece.

Finished Antarctica piece mounted
at the front of a handmade album

Here are a few process pictures.

Heavily marked cloth

Lightly marked cloth   

Both pieces cut up to be re-sewn together

Stitching on the ship

While I was on vacation, I stitched quite a bit and started adding shapes and images from Antarctica. There is a penguin, whales, birds, fish, and whales blowing water (see Related links). I quickly learned that good lighting was more important than ambiance when stitching on the ship. I also had a few interesting conversations with my fellow passengers. 

A glimpse of the water

Finding a well lit bar 😊

Finishing it at home

The frustrating part came at the end of May. I didn't know if it was finished and I also wasn't in love with it. A friend gave me the perfect ribbon to add to the bottom of the piece. I added an embroidered a scene from the rocks and glaciers of the South Shetland Islands. 

Almost finished

At the very top, a scene of glaciers and rock formations
from the South Shetland Islands

The stitched scene above is a compilation of a few photos, but this is the general image.

Glaciers and rock formations in the South Shetland Islands

Making the album

In the archives of the Handmade book club, I found the perfect book - the hard cover stab bound album. The pages of the album are not folded in half, so it's easier to make a larger book. Instead, the pages are folder about an inch at the top, so that the album won't bulge after you add things to the pages.

You can see the additional fabric sewn around the piece

The album cover is made of book board covered by a book cloth. I added strips of batik fabric around the Glimpses of Antarctica piece to make it large enough to cover the board and to go over the edges by about 1". I then covered the fabric with fusible web and then ironed a very large piece of copy paper to it. This is then glued onto the book board. I did the same thing for the back, except that it was a lovely piece of batik with penguins on it.

Additional fabric is sewn around the penguins to fit the book board

There is less fabric around the back cover. The end sheet
is craft paper with vintage postcards.

Wider fabric behind the front cover with a craft paper end sheet

Photo shoot and next steps

I went into the garden yesterday and took some lovely pictures.

A very sturdy album

Album among the flowers and chicken!

The back, from a better perspective

• This is what I've done do far: 
• I went through my souvenirs and have organised them by days and regions travelled.
• All of my photos have been transferred from my phone to my computer.
• This is what's next:
• Pick a very few pictures from each day or region to print and add to the album.
• Write my posts!

I had Poppy keeping me company in the back yard today 😊

Poppy basking in the sun

What I learned

• I managed to put the front cover on backwards so that the album opens up from the wrong side. I could say that it reflects the other hemisphere....but who are we kidding - I'm just accuracy challenged.
• I have no idea why the penguins are not facing the correct way on the back cover. I only noticed after it had been glued to the board. Again...see point above!
• I mentioned that I didn't really like Glimpses of Antarctica. It was like I was seeing the trees and not the forest. Once I placed it on the cover of the album, I knew that it was good! It really does look like a map. I had lost sight of that.
• I know that it's going to take a while to get my trip posts done, but I do hope that it's sooner rather than later. 

Related links

• Embroidery and Free Motion Mavericks, March 18, 2023
• So many projects on the go!, February 14, 2023

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun parties, including Slow Stitching Sunday. Off The Wall Friday, Put your foot down, Patchwork & Quilts, Peacock Party, Sew & Tell, Finished (or Not) Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Beauties Pageant, 

Project details

Handmade album covered with Glimpses of Antarctica (hard cover stab bound album)

Size: 13¾ x 11"

Album: book board, craft paper end sheets, thick craft paper signatures (pages)

Glimpses of Antarctica: fabric paint on cotton, embroidery, appliqué, embroidery floss, Mouliné étoile embroidery thread, perle cotton, silk thread, organza, yarn, ribbon