Completely unstoppable, once I get an idea in my head

Once I got to a certain point with the fabric I just HAD to keep going to finish the book.

I fused some lining fabric to the back (using Steam-A-Seam2). I felt that the stiffness of the SAS2 would be an asset to the project. On a softer project I'd use MistyFuse.

The flap edge has a strip of loop tape on the back of it. The reasoning for this was to try to ensure that the edge would seal well when the book is closed to protect it from wear and tear. (It also helps to strengthen the book edge - because the original quilting is done just with cotton batting, I wanted to add some 'ooph' and prevent the edge from curling)

I started out by placing the loop tape where I wanted it, then stitching a narrow satin stitch line down next to where I wanted the final edge to be. Once this was stitched, I trimmed away the excess (through all layers), then re-satin stitched with a wider setting, enclosing the raw edge.

I figured out where I wanted the cover to bend and stitched vertical lines in those places. The vertical stitching lines help to re-enforce the book and guide the folds so that the whole thing doesn't end up getting out of shape as it is opened, closed and re-opened. The stitching lines also prove to be a good guide for where to sew the signatures.

You can also see the strip of hook tape affixed to the front cover of the book. It should be completely hidden by the flap overlap. (The loop tape is on the flap so that when you're writing it is soft under your hand. If I'd put the hook tape here, it would catch on the writer's sleeve and scratch up her wrist.)

I hand stitched 4 signatures in of 10 pages each. I didn't embellish the spine as I wanted this to be something that can be tucked in a purse and pulled out when inspiration strikes (without getting caught in the keys).

I bound the top and bottom edge with my very last piece of this fabric (all the rest is quilted!). There was 2" more fabric than I needed - eep! I usually pad my amounts more than that!

Rather than turn the flap and front cover edges of the binding under, I opted to satin stitch them to match the rest of the edge.

The final book is 6.75" X 9.25". Big enough to write in, small enough to tuck into a bag.

And it has that lovely quilted texture that I'm so fond of.

I'm planning on giving it to a friend of mine this weekend.

The book itself was inspired by the book made in the class with Sue Bleiweiss through Joggles.

The fabric improvements, cutie pie motifs and uneven flap edge were inspired by an article at Fibre and Stitch called the Flexi Bag. Fibre and Stitch is a new magazine coming out published by Sue Bleiweiss...well worth checking out.

Happy stitching,

Lisa