My Book

One of my purchases at the Sandy Klop Open house earlier this month (post for June 6, 2016) was a cloth panel to assemble into a book for a child. I sewed it up recently and it came out really cute. I like the size of the pages, easy to be grasped by little hands. Batting was not called for in the book and this detail adds to its simplicity. My Book it is not too big and not too small. It is just right as Goldilocks might say from within the three bears' house .

Construction on this book was different from what is normally done with cloth books. Instead of doublets of pages matched and stitched all around, each single page of My Book was folded in half. Instead of a line of stitching for a spine, the book had a bound spine - like a real book would have.

Each page was folded over and only the top and bottom of each page was sewn. I chain pieced all the tops and then all the bottoms on the pages at this step.

The raw edges that were not sewn gave great access for pressing those seams one way and then flat.

Not only my iron, but also my point turner and seam creaser tool had lots of room to get inside and poke out the corners of the pages.

After pressing, each page lay smooth, flat, and crisp.

This book has the unusual feature that it was not in numeric order, not in alphabetical order, and did not tell a story. Consequently, I was free to stack the pages in any sequence as long as the front and back covers landed at the top and bottom of the pile facing outward. This ordering took me the most time in the assembly process because I am the type of quilter who agonizes over each decision. What should the page order be?

I knew the apple needed to go opposite the orange. Of course. Where else would you put it?

I similarly reasoned that outdoor toys and nursery toys should be grouped with each other as much as possible. This is the final sequence I decided for these old fashioned pictures.

Once stacked, I sewed the spine from mid-height of the book up to the top edge and then from mid-height down to the bottom edge, so that even if there were shifting, it would be symmetric top to bottom. There were many thicknesses (sixteen!) to sew through at this point so I was glad there was no batting. The fabric is a thin cotton and my Pfaff handled it fine.

I liked that the spine was different. It reminded me of the taped edge of those test booklets back in school. Remember those... with the black marbled front?

In the fabric, Sandy Klop gives the option of using either blue or red binding from supplied strips pre-printed on the panel. I cut them to 1¾" and 1½" respectively, seamed them lengthwise, and made a red binding with blue accent flange binding.

The covers and pictures within are reminiscent of an era gone-by and the color combinations are soft and inviting. Granted, this telephone has a cord and a rotary dial and is definitely not a "smart" cell phone and I am pretty certain the radio pictured here does not get digital downloads. But I find these comfort pictures on the same par as comfort food. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes, anyone?