Little Library and Table Scraps Challenges

Hi! June was almost over when I started this post and it's now over! I'm not sure where the time goes 😊! I have a couple of challenges to share with you.

Little Library Challenge

In May, the Handmade Book Club hosted a wonderful Little Library Challenge. In 5 days we made 3 lovely books. I wasn't able to participate until a week later - which wasn't a problem because all of the videos were available. These are the cute books that I made. What fun 😀

Three handmade books from the Little Library Challenge

I don't have many process pictures since, for the most part, it was the usual way of making a handmade book. However, this was the first time that I used Kraft-tex and I loved it. 

Kraft-tex cover and signatures

I did learn a better way of making the holes in the signatures. An old book acts as a cradle so that the signatures are still at an angle. Below you see the old book, the signature and the template that I'm using for the holes. I've been using an awl to make the holes - a must-have if making lots of hand-made books!

 

The old book acts as a cradle 
for making holes in the signatures

If you're an embroiderer, you may be interested in knowing that the spine of each book uses an embroidery stitch. You may recognise the middle book as having four lines of chain stitches. The book to the right uses on running stitch while the book to the left was made of a running stitch that we went back into and twisted the thread around the running stitch.

Embroidery stitches used for the spine of the books

Each book also used a different closing technique. The middle book in the above photo has a button stitched on the spine with an elastic fitted from the overlap closure of the book.

Each book has a different closing method

Above, the book on the left had a clasp attached to the overlap with the button attached to the front of the book. The book on the right has the button affixed to the overlap, and then a ribbon goes around the book and the button. I attached the ribbon behind the lovely moose button.

My girlfriend brought me back the buttons made from moose antlers when she went on a cruise to Alaska. They are wonderful. I used one for the book and the other for my summer purse. Thanks so much Lise!

Summer purse closed with a moose button
 (no I didn't make the purse)

June's Table Scraps Challenge

Since the link up to the ABC Table Scraps Challenge 2023 starts late and finishes in July, I was able to finish my challenge piece. The colour for June was blue and the letters D and I. I'm going for D is for Dots!

June's Table Scraps Challenge - Blue and "Dots"

I've decided that I would really like more placemats. I made a dozen years ago and they still look great but I'm getting tired of them. This blue placemat will be the first one! We are now only three at home so at the very least, I'll make three, hopefully in the next few months as challenge pieces.

I've been pretty stressed trying to get my Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL quilt done. Once I knew that I wasn't going to FMQ before the deadline and the quilt top was done, I have myself permission to play. I just love the slightly mindlessness of stitching scraps together. I had no idea what I was going to do, but in the end had enough 6" blocks to trim them to 6" square. The placemat is therefore, more or less, 17" x 12". 

A lot of these blue scraps are new to me. The dots fabric come from Elaine's scraps while others were in a bag of scraps on the give-away table at one of the guild meetings.

Some great new-to-me scraps

I was lucky to have the perfect piece of batting ready for this. I also took from my stash a cute piece of fabric that I'm not sure where I'll use it. Since I had a yard, I still have lots - it would be cute in a collage type art quilt.

Very colourful and fun backing

I was finally able to FMQ it yesterday. I just love following the fabric to come up with different designs. You can see them quite well in this picture below. I started using a darker blue cotton thread to stitch-in-the-ditch each block. I then decided to use the blue Bottom Line thread that I received this week. I'll be using it for the Rainbow Neighbourhood quilt, so it was a great chance to try it out.  It came out beautifully. 

Free motion quilted with Bottom Line thread

I used the placemat this morning to have my coffee 😍It will do quite well. 

Perfect for this morning's coffee

It also looks good with my blue dishes.

It even goes with the dishes!

What I learned

• I really liked working with the Kraft-Tex. I hope to use it again to make more books.
• Using the old book as a cradle to make the holes in the signatures is a great idea. 
• It's great to feel more confident about making hand-made books. I'm hoping to make a few for the Fall sale event with the Out Of The Box group.
• As you can imagine, I had a great time FMQ the placemat. I even found a perfect scrap of binding to finish it with. 
• I'll be linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching since I always finish the binding by hand.

Related links

• Handmade Book Club

Here is the link to May's Table Scraps Challenge. It was finished in mid-June, too late for the linking party.

• Daisy Beauty on Free Motion Mavericks, June 22, 2023

Linking parties

I'll be linking this post up to many fun linking parties, including the June ABC Table Scraps Challenge 2023. They always make great things - you may want to check them out! Slow Sunday Stitching, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!, Midweek Makers, Sew & Tell, TGIFF, Peacock Party, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Finished (or Not) Friday, Put your foot down,