Scrap Happy in Febrruary

I have been following Rachel and her sister Sarah of Roxy's Creations on YouTube since they instituted the first Journal of Stitchery project. I don't think I've ever actually started and finished any volume of the projects they proposed but I found them inspiring. They introduced volume nine in December and stitching began in January. It's looking like I will come closer to fulfilling their briefs this time around than any previous version. 

The suggestion was to choose six books - fiction or non-fiction - to inspire the creation of six textile books, one per month. We are free to make the books any size we like, as many pages as we want, any techniques, etc. I thought long and hard about the books I might use for inspiration. In the end it's looking like I will be more inspired by the idea of a book, the subject matter, rather than any specific title. For example, in January I knew I wanted to use the scraps of feed sack fabrics I still have in my possession. I feel like I used to have a book about feed sacks, or the quilts made during the Great Depression using feed and flour and grain sacks, but I can't find any such title on my shelves. (I have had to weed out books that are too toxic for me to peruse safely.) Nevertheless, I know such books exist.

I confess to buying a piece of vintage feed sack off a vendor on eBay. Otherwise I used only the scraps and remnants I had on hand. I also tried to incorporate buttons and rick rack that seemed of the era.

 My book measures roughly 3.5" wide by 4" tall closed as in the photo above. The flower on the cover is what most folks consider the back side of a yo-yo or Suffolk Puff (which I personally prefer to the gathered side) on top of a rescued crochet medallion with rick rack for stem and leaves. I outlined the yo-yo with perle cotton.  All the edges of the pages have been blanket stitched with 3 strands of embroidery floss. 

Inside the front cover I fussy cut and raw-edge appliqued the rose from one feed sack print. On the opposite page I appliqued a crocheted Colonial Lady that I liberated from a vintage handkerchief. There are scattered single chain stitches in the background around her. 

 

This spread features just about the last pieces I have of the white with the pink rosebud print and the yellow patch with the two young ladies doing housework. I scattered pink Colonial knots on the pink patch. There are red upright crosses on the turquoise patch. The other patches have been seed stitched. 

This is my center spread. Those are vintage buttons on the yellow patch. There are blue stars embroidered above the little girl on her vehicle but the rest of the stitching is all straight stitches done to blend into the backgrounds.

 More simple straight stitches on these two pages and one vintage red button. I really wanted to showcase the prints so I have not added a lot of embroidery or other embellishments. I used the letter buttons in place of a title or a reference to a specific book.

This final page features two more patches that are the last of their kind: the white with the flowers and the blue floral print. Inside the back cover I used rick rack again to frame the motto of the era I was trying to honor. I simply wrote with a Micron pen on a square of muslin for that. There's another bit of crochet secured with a button to dress that up a bit.

This is the back cover. A little bit of feather stitching on either side of another "upside down" yo-yo, a vintage laundry label, and a strip of rick rack. The initials on the laundry label are not exact but they remind me of the name of one of my great-grandmothers. 

 Finally, in lieu of the title of a book on the spine and as a way to document what this project was I cut a piece of cardstock, punched a hole in it, wrote on it and stitched it in place, leaving the thread long enough to make a bow. 😊  

Thus my entry for February's Scrap Happy Day, which is hosted by Kate over at Tall Tales from Chiconia on the 15th of each month. To see what other participants have done with their scraps or leftover materials recently just click on the links below.   

Kate, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie