Block of the Month Carrier

Today I finished the BOTM carrier.

Since I didn't have a pattern, I had to figure things out as I went.  I wanted to make the cover stiff, so I had to put the insert in before I quilted which also meant I needed to quilt just the cover and batting, not the backing.

Then I wasn't sure how to quilt it.  I finally decided to do some echoing.  It was the first time I've done this and it was pretty easy.  It's not perfect but not bad for the first time.  I was considering using Timtex for stiffness, but it wasn't quite as thick as I wanted, so just used some cardboard.  So I put two pieces in and left one end open to do so.  I was able to machine sew it shut adding a little enclosure tab.  The pages are fleece which I tried to add with the machine and quickly found out there wasn't room to do so.  So I added the brown spine to the pages and then hand sewed it to the book.  Then I found the perfect button to sew on the front cover.

Now I have no excuse for not finding my blocks of the month!  I think I will also use this when I am doing applique projects.  The fleece will hold all those tiny pieces.  Some of which I have had to re-do as I had lost them.  No more!!