FEBRUARY
Sealed with a Kiss
PIECED BY Amy Friend • FINISHED SIZE of paper-pieced block: 12˝ × 12˝
February is the month of love. Even if you are not romantic, there is nothing more special than receiving a letter sealed with a kiss!
Materials and Supplies
CD content is available to download from http://tinyurl.com/11026-patterns.
•Background fabric: 1 fat quarter
•Assorted scraps for envelope details and leaves
•White fabric: 1 fat eighth for envelope
•Text fabric: 1 fat eighth for letter
•Red fabric: 5˝ square for rose
•Ink pad in poppy red
•Kiss rubber stamp
NOTE I used Kissing Booth by BasicGrey for Moda for this project because it includes small-scale text prints, textured solids, and Valentine’s prints. I used a VersaCraft ink pad by Tsukineko.
TIP
It’s always a good idea to stamp the fabric before piecing the block. Stamp the kiss onto the fabric intended for section K1 and heat set it by pressing an iron on the back of the fabric for about a minute. Assemble the block afterward.
INSTRUCTIONS
All seam allowances are ¼˝.
Assemble the Block
1. Assemble the left half of the block:
•Join section K to L to M.
•Join J to KLM.
•Join N to P to JKLM.
NOTE In paper piecing, you sew on the stitching lines on the front of the foundation. The sewn design is formed on the back of the foundation paper. This creates a mirror image, so the envelope in the finished design appears on the left side.
2. Assemble the right half of the block:
•Join section A to B.
•Join C to D to E.
•Join AB to CDE.
•Join F to G to H.
•Join ABCDE to FGH.
3. Sew the halves of the block together.
Love Letters
JOURNAL COVER
FINISHED SIZE of paper-pieced block: 7½˝ × 7½˝ • FINISHED JOURNAL COVER SIZE, opened flat: 15¼˝ × 10˝
MADE BY Amy Friend
This romantic journal cover, featuring the Sealed with a Kiss paper-pieced block, tempts you to write love letters. The cover fits a standard-sized U.S. composition book. It is quilted and lined, with sleeves to hold the journal in place, binding to frame the cover design, and a ribbon bookmark to keep your place.
Materials and Supplies
CD content is available to download from http://tinyurl.com/11026-patterns.
•Pink: 1 fat quarter for block background
•Pink text print: scrap at least 3˝ × 9˝ for bottom stamped area of front cover
•Vertical heart print: 1 fat quarter for back cover
•Cream heart print: ½ yard for lining and sleeves
•Brown: scrap at least 2˝ × 9˝
•Assorted scraps for envelope, letter, rose, and leaves
•Binding: ¼ yard
•Fusible fleece: 11˝ × 16˝
•Button: 1 for embellishment
•Ribbon: about 12˝ long
•Embroidery floss
•Composition book
•Kiss rubber stamp
•Alphabet rubber stamp set
•Ink pad in poppy red
NOTE I used Kissing Booth by BasicGrey for Moda for this project because it includes small-scale text prints, textured solids, and Valentine’s prints. I used a VersaCraft ink pad by Tsukineko.
Cutting
CREAM HEART FABRIC AND FUSIBLE FLEECE
•Cut 1 piece of each measuring ½˝ longer and wider than the book to be covered.
TIP
Use a measuring tape to measure the width of the cover. Start at the outside edge of the front cover, wrap the tape around the spine, and finish at the outside edge of the back cover. For a standard U.S. composition book, cut the fabric to 10½˝ × 15¾˝.
The following cutting directions assume the standard U.S. composition book size.
CREAM HEART
•2 pieces 4½˝ × 10½˝ for sleeves
PINK TEXT
•1 strip 2½˝ × 8˝
VERTICAL HEART
•1 piece 8¼˝ × 10½˝ for back cover
BROWN
•1 strip 1˝ × 8˝ for bottom edge of block
BINDING FABRIC
•2 strips 2¼˝ × width of fabric for double-fold binding
INSTRUCTIONS
All seam allowances are ¼˝.
Assemble the Block
Make the Sealed with a Kiss block following the February block instructions (page 27). Trim to 8˝ × 8˝.
Assemble the Journal Cover
1. Sew the brown 1˝ × 8˝ strip to the bottom of the paper-pieced block.
2. Stamp the pink text 2½˝ × 8˝ strip with the words “WRITE LOVE LETTERS” and sew to the bottom of the brown strip.
3. Place the front cover fabric on top of the back cover fabric, right sides facing, and sew along the right edge. When opened, the front cover will be on the right and the back cover on the left.
4. Remove the foundation. Apply fusible fleece to the wrong side of the journal cover.
NOTE Fusible fleece is great for keeping all the seams of the paper-pieced block in place and secure for quilting.
5. Layer the lining and the journal cover. Baste and quilt as desired.
6. To embellish, add a button to the brown band and secure with embroidery floss.
7. Finish a long side of each sleeve piece with a ¼˝ hem.
8. Turn over the journal cover, so the lining faces up. Place a sleeve on each side of the cover, with the hemmed edges facing in. Baste the raw edges of the sleeves in place with an ⅛˝ seam.
9. Secure the ribbon bookmark to the exterior cover of the journal with an ⅛˝ seam—make sure the right side of the ribbon is facing down and centered at the top of the spine.
10. Prepare the double-fold binding as for a quilt. (Refer to C&T Publishing’s Quiltmaking Basics at tinyurl.com/quiltmaking-basics.)
Sew the binding around the perimeter of the front of the journal cover.
11. Hand stitch the binding on the inside.
12. Slip the composition book into the cover.
