Quilted Scrapbook Tutorial

If you know my mother, you've seen a book like this at least once. I'm here to walk you through it, so you can have your very own quilted scrapbook.

You can use any size binder from 1" to 3". For this, I'm using 1" books - they are not for family archival. These are for a friend who is hosting an orphan for a month, and luggage space is at a premium.

I just have to wax eloquent for a moment about this fabric. I wanted something tween boy-ish, but with something that would also work for a grown woman who is a confessed girly girl. When I found these packs of fat quarters, I thought they were pretty awesome from the bits I could see. BUT, I didn't open the packs until I was ready to do the books. So I didn't really know what they looked like until I opened them to get going. I AM IN LOVE! Ok, I say that about all the fabric I buy, but this one makes the hall of fame. I want to make .... anything and everything out of this fabric. I wish there was enough for clothes. The neon batiks just speak to me.

Ok, back to the real tutorial. Open the binder, lay it flat, and measure out quilt batting. I like low-loft, you don't necessarily want it super puffy. HOT GLUE! It's a blessing and a curse. Glue the batting down, starting with the corners and working your way around. Trim off the excess.

As for the cover, you can go simple with a single piece of fabric to cover the whole thing. If so, just glue in place over the batting. I went with a paper-pieced quilt block pattern. There are great tutorials and patterns available online or in books or kits. Follow the pattern and make as many pieces as you need. Four of the heart block were enough for this 1" binder, but when we used it for my brother's wedding book that was a 3", it needed a border all the way around to fit. Once you've got the front done, pin and sew a coordinating fabric to the back, then glue in place.

For the inside of the covers, cut pieces of posterboard to fit about 1/2" shy of the edges. Cover with coordinating fabric. It can be the same as the outside, or different, depending on your taste. Also, depending on your book and your taste, you may want to glue in some ribbon or something around the binder rings. just to hide the book-y feel. Definitely do this before putting in the inside covers, otherwise, it's a real pain! Glue the inside covers in place by running a line of glue around the edges of the covers, and zig-zag glue all over the binder.

Now, you're ready to decorate the outside. If you went with a plain fabric front, the world is yours. Add an applique, an iron-on picture, something cross-stitched or embroidered. Glue on beads, flowers, ribbon, whatever. If you went with something quilted, just remember that more is not always better. With the incredibly bright and busy print of my fabric, I kept it simple. On the one book with the yellow border around the heart (which is for the boy) I didn't add any embellishments. On the book with the pink hearts, I used a silver and white ribbon to accent and bring out the heart shape. Simple.

All done! Enjoy your work and the frosty beverage of your choice!

By the way, this and real life are part of what's kept me from blogging since Thanksgiving.

I'll catch up the rest of it as soon as I can.