First SAL of 2021

 I'm continuing work on Anne Brooke's #12pagesofChirstmas book-in-a-tin project. (You can check out her projects on YouTube.) Frankly, without this stitch along it might have become a UFO at this point. Not that I've lost interest, I've just become distracted. That often happens when new projects present themselves! 

When last we met I'd completed pages seven and nine, having skipped page eight's prompt. Since then I've made pages eight, ten, and eleven! There's only one page left to do but after that I have to come up with a cover. Anne added little tags to her book, on the backs of most of the pages. I will probably try to do a version of that but I'm not thinking that far down the road just now. 

The prompt for page eight was a pocket and a tag to go into it. My pocket is a strip of burlap on top of a 3" square of a Tim Holtz print. I cut a little section from some lace to embellish the pocket front. The tag is another piece of a Tim Holtz print, embellished with a button. It's only two layers of fabric stitched together. I wish now I'd put a bit of batting between the layers of fabric to give it more substance.

Page ten was made with circles folded into quarters. Some makers were able to be very creative with their circles, making replicas of flowers on a vine and such. I only had room for four circles so I made a single bloom. Can you see the layers created by the folds? 

 They get flattened down when the book is closed of course. I took the opportunity to practice making leaves using the fishbone stitch. I'd have had better results with a piece of muslin under the quilter's cotton. 

Page eleven was to feature a heart held onto the page with a "belly band." My heart is a tiny piece of wool backed with cotton. It looked pretty plain so I added the lovebird charm. I was delighted to see that I could make it rest over the strip of eyelet lace I used for the band.

I used size 12 perle cottons to embellish the heart and secure the laces and trims.

The final prompt is to make a page with some bling. That will mean sequins and beads for me I think.  I've been concerned that the book would get too fat to fit comfortably in the tin I chose for it but so far it looks like I'll be okay if that bling doesn't add too much dimensionality. 

The cover might have to be kept as flat as possible to stay within the tin's interior as well. 

This SAL is hosted by Avis and is meant to help us finish up needlework that might otherwise be left on the shelf or in a drawer. We each work on our own projects and check in every three weeks to share our progress. Just click on the links to see what everyone else is working on. 😊

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, MaryMargaret, Renee, 

Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen