Trash the Quilt - Travellers Journal

Today I decided to change up some old quilt projects and make them into a travellers journals.

I found these 2 old quilts, one a reverse applique ammonite piece and the other a scrap quilt with zips and all sorts.

I decide to make a book with 6 inch square pages and a 1 inch spine. The fabric needed to be cut about 1.5 inches bigger all round. The lining is the same height but a bit longer.

The lining was cut into 2 and another piece the same height was cut.

The lining pieces had their raw edge folded back and pressed.

The 2 linings were placed over the quilt, pretty sides together. The spare piece laid over the top.

The whole piece was then pinned and sewn around the edge.

The corners are trimmed to reduce bulk and then the piece is turned right side out.

Here's how it looks after turning.

I'm making a homemade book to go inside the cover but you could make your cover to fit an existing book. My pages are going to be 6 inches square so my cardboard cover needs to be 1/2 inch bigger all around. I've cut some notches in the thick card to keep my binding elastic in place.

It's definitely worth reinforcing the spine with tape.

I used elastic about twice the height of my book for the binding. It needs to be knotted into a loop and then slid over the spine. You can use as many elastics as you like.

The pages are made from 12 by 6 inch folded paper. They just slide under the elastic and can be taken out or changed whenever you like.

Getting the book into the cover is tricky and you need to be careful not to break the spine. The card is folded back and slid into the pocket in the fabric cover.

Once the cover is pulled on this is how it looks.

I made this smaller one with an elastic and button closure.

You can also make a soft cover version by sewing the elastic directly onto the fabric cover.

I cut the elastics slightly longer than the height of the cover. To keep them under control I attached them temporarily to the cover with masking tape. I then sewed close to the edge to attach them. You need to make them a little taut. They'll get more strongly attached when the lining is added.

Next I made up the cover as before. Remember pretty sides together.

Here's how it looks when turned right sides out.

It was a bit puffy so I top stitched all the way round to flatten it a little. Then I slid in an A5 size journal.

I added a simple closure with an elastic loop knotted through the spine.