Tag: Journal Cover

I have been cutting a lot lately. I finished cutting out the bag that will be part of Purse Palooza blog hop. I am cutting out another Petrillo Bag and I cut a bunch of pieces I will talk about tomorrow. Regardless, I needed some finishes – or at least a finish.

This piece had been hanging around just needing a bit more work to get it finished. I really only spent an additional half hour on it to make it ready to use.

Ever since I had the idea to use the trimmings from quilts to make journal covers, I have been making different journal covers. At first, I was just sewing the pieces into the right sizes. Now I am trying to make the covers more interesting. I found that I didn’t like looking at them and that is not a good thing.

The trimmings are long and thin so by just sewing trimmings together I was ending up with a lot of horizontal design elements. I wasn’t liking those, so on later journal covers I cross cut the pieces and re-sewed them. You can see the sort of checkerboard I have going. Yes, it is more work, but it is also more interesting.

I am still fumbling with the lining. The batting is too fluffy even though it works on some journals (think that has to do with lucky placement) I think I need to try flannel next, but that requires buying some flannel just to put in the center of the journals and I haven’t wanted to spend the money. Part of my idea is using supplies on hand for these covers. I might also try no filling again and see if I still think it needs improvement.

I still have some bits for other journal covers on my sewing table. I’d like to get them off the table, which means I need to make more journal covers.

Last week  I mentioned using the trimmings from the edges of journal covers. I even showed one that I had in process. Here it is finished. After getting the right size, I sewed it together in about 10 minutes.

Yes, the numbers are upside down. I wanted to see them as I carried the journal around so that is how they came out. I have to admit that I think I like the numbers the best out of all of these fabrics (the gold hand-dye is not part of the line). Perhaps that print is what attracted me to the line in the first place?

If you want to make a journal cover, check out my directions.

I have been lamenting about the edge trimmings of quilted quilts. My quilter trims the quilts for me and then gives me back all of the extra fabric and batting. Sometimes the edges are only an inch or two wide, but 80″ long. Always the fabric is fabulous. All of these factors make me not want to use the fabrics, not waste the extra fabric.

It occurred to me that the fabric trimmings plus the batting that is often part of the trimmings, might be great journal covers.

I pulled the fabric trimmings from the Stepping Stones quilt and began sewing them together. I really like the Circa 1934 designs.

This will be the front. I really like the number fabric. I tried to orient the fabric so that I will be able to see the number fabric when I use the journal. I might have put it on the back, though. We’ll see.

I am going to zigzag the small pieces of batting together to make it wide enough. I am also going try something new with the batting. I am only going to put batting on the cover, not the pockets that keep the cover on the journal. The batting will be only in the middle of the journal cover. Lining up the fabrics is backwards, so I can’t always wrap my head around where things will end up in the end. We’ll see if it works.

I used some of the fabric for the the part that will be the inside as well. I used these particular fabrics, because they aren’t as interesting to me as the other fabrics I picked for the front. AND they are leftover and I want to use them.

There is enough to make another journal cover at least. Sty tuned, I may get to those small projects yet.

My journal is very important for me. I have spent the last 25+ years keeping a journal, though the college years, which would have been very interesting, didn’t leave a lot of time for contemplative writing. I was pouring my heart out to a spiral notebook from the local drugstore long before the word ‘Journaling’ was a twinkle in any scrapbooker’s eye. These days, I write every day, except Friday, usually, for about 20 minutes in the morning and another 10-15 in the afternoon. I record the books I have read, the progress I have made on projects and any drama going on that I may need to get out of my head.

I find that if I write drama down, it doesn’t dog my days and night. I know that that the words are safe between the covers of my journal and I can move on with my life. If I need to refer to them, they are waiting for me. My journal is a working space.

I sometimes do a sketch for the CPP to try and work out the curve of an elbow or the relationship between sizes of elements. I make lists of things to remember. I records lists of gifts I have received for Christmas and my birthday.

In recent days, I spent entirely too much time writing in my journal about how I needed a new journal cover (see previous covers in the tag ‘journals‘). The pages and pages of agonizing as well as rending of garments is too much, especially since the word ‘need’ demonstrates that I might want to look at my priorities.

The fact of the matter is that I enjoy using journal covers. The Miquelrius journals I use have nice plastic or paperboard covers with VERY pokey corners. I am already bruised and battered from the corner of my desk, the step stool in the kitchen and the general loving of a large teenager. I don’t need any other opportunities to bruise myself. Fabric covers pad the corners enough not to leave a bruise.

Today, I decided, was the day to make a new journal cover. I made a simple cover with a pink dot on the inside and a Philip Jacobs print on the outside. In about half an hour, I had it done.

I didn’t do any  piecing on this one. It is one piece each of two fabrics. I do have some large shards of the Patty Young Textured Basics for Michael Miller fabrics that I thought of using. I didn’t want to take the time, so I will use them for another version.

The tutorial measurements are now really great and I didn’t have to rip any of this journal cover out at all. Not sure if that will be the case next time. 😉

Now I can finish the last few pages of my current journal and move on to the new journal tomorrow. If you make one for yourself, please post a link to your version in the comments. Thanks!

I made these journal covers in November and December, but didn’t get a chance to post them.

TFQ told me that she made journal covers for all of her journals. I got tired of using the blue one, so I made a quick one (the b/w dot) and thought I would just transfer that cover to each new journal. I tired of that plain cover  very quickly. It showed me why piecing a journal cover is important: the piecing adds visual interest. I left the b/w dots on the journal for which I made it after I wrote the last page and made yet another journal cover with the Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush Grape. I don’t love/adore that fabric, but there is something about it I like. It is also a more complex and, thus, a more interesting fabric than the dots.

I think I will see about making a new cover for each new journal I start. I don’t know if I will piece the next one. I have plenty of fabric and can make a journal cover in a half an hour if I don’t piece it. On the other hand, pieced covers are more interesting and I could piece bits together as leaders and enders. My scrap basket is starting to overflow and I need to do something with the scraps. Stay tuned.