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Quiet Book Page - Embroidery Sampler
Sewing

Quiet Book Page - Embroidery Sampler

Kyra

•7 minutes to read

I wanted to create a quiet book page for Zoey that offered a variety of colors and textures. While planning, I checked out the fiber crafts area at my local library and had the good fortune of finding an embroidery stitch dictionary called “The encyclopedia of stitches by Karen Hemingway”. It’s awesome! Each section of the book deals with a different topic and then gives you a project you can do to work on. Looking through the book I noticed several flowers and so decided to make a flowered embroidery sampler page so I’d be justified in playing around with the stitches.

Materials

  • Fabric markers for the background
  • Larger sewing needle for embroidery floss – used three strands for most of it
  • Unbleached Muslin Natural Fabric by the Yard
  • Pellon Fusible Thermolam Plus White Fabric by the Yard
  • Embroidery Floss

I had the good fortune of finding ‘The encyclopedia of stitches by Karen Hemingway’ at my local library and jumped at the chance to have a legit and working reason to work on a sampler. I ended up falling in love with the book during this project and bought the newer (and linked) version of the book after I had to return it to the library.

I started decorating the quiet book page base by coloring the ground with a green fabric marker for a good base of grass and then used other colors to quickly sketch out five flowers to start on. I then used my iron to set the ink to the page before going through the book looking for flowers I’d like to try. When I worked on embroidering the first flower I used an embroidery hoop to keep my work taunt but it was bulky and hard to put in the hoop as I had already reinforced the muslin with fusible interfacing. After I finished the flower I removed the hoop and found an indented area and got worried about it permanently marking my page, especially as the page got more crowded and the hoop would be going over the stitching, and so decided to go without the hoop which caused my quiet book page to warp as I progressed.

I colored in the grassy ground and a couple flowers on my quiet book page. I then used an embroidery hoop to keep the page taunt but with the interfacing it ended up leaving a mark for a couple days before it disappeared.
I colored in the grassy ground and a couple of flowers on my quiet book page. I then used an embroidery hoop to keep the page taunt but with the interfacing it ended up leaving a mark for a couple of days before it disappeared.

After the first flower I continued by embellishing the colored flowers, while trying to let the fabric marker show through, and then went on to create more flowers to fill out the page. I decided which flowers to make by going through the embroidery book and seeing what jumped out at me.

I then added details to the drawn on flowers before going on and adding flowers with only embroidery floss and no background details.
I then added details to the drawn on flowers before going on and adding flowers with only embroidery floss and no background details.

Some of the flowers includes:

I kept this flower simple so you could see the background fabric marker colors. I kept the center of the flower empty to let the yellow shine through. I then matched the purple and used a detached chain stitch for elongated petals overtop of the purple fabric marker petals.
I kept this flower simple so you could see the background fabric marker colors. I kept the center of the flower empty to let the yellow shine through. I then matched the purple and used a detached chain stitch for elongated petals overtop of the purple fabric marker petals.
I wanted something simple and open to let the pink fabric marker show through yet still differentiate between the center and it's petals. I used three french knots to show the center and used a blanket stitch for the petals.
I wanted something simple and open to let the pink fabric marker show through yet still differentiate between the center and it’s petals. I used three french knots to show the center and used a blanket stitch for the petals.
Decided to use a whipped spider web stitch to make a yellow flower with pink poking through the center and edges (with the base stitches).
Decided to use a whipped spider web stitch to make a yellow flower with pink poking through the center and edges (with the base stitches).
Used a long picot stitch for this flower to add a more 3D flower to the garden. I created four evenly spaced pink petals and then added four yellow petals at the angles to add another dimension of color.
Used a long picot stitch for this flower to add a more 3D flower to the garden. I created four evenly spaced pink petals and then added four yellow petals at the angles to add another dimension of color.

After adding a lot of flowers and some flower stem work I took a step back to look at it and see how I liked it.

After adding a variety of colors and stitches I decided to take a step back and examine it.
After adding a variety of colors and stitches I decided to take a step back and examine it.

I decided the space above the flowers looked too large and open and decided to add a bird to hopefully balance the page. I looked up images of birds and quickly sketched out a simple bird with a disappearing ink pen. I was careful to keep it simple as I wanted to fill in the open areas with different textures.

I decided to add a bird to fill the empty space at the top and drew out a simplified bird with a disappearing ink pen.
I decided to add a bird to fill the empty space at the top and drew out a simplified bird with a disappearing ink pen.
I then filled in the three main spaces with three different textures while keeping them all blue to unify the bird as a whole. I then added a beak and a black eye.
I then filled in the three main spaces with three different textures while keeping them all blue to unify the bird as a whole. I then added a beak and a black eye.

After creating the bird I try to fill in all the empty spaces in the garden with more blossoms while trying not to add too much. I also tried to keep in mind where the seam allowance and grommet space will be on the page as I didn’t want to have to sew overtop of my embroidery.

I then filled in the blank spaces in the garden with more stitches and colors. I decided to keep the grass unembellished to compliment the page yet not detract from the garden.
I then filled in the blank spaces in the garden with more stitches and colors. I decided to keep the grass unembellished to compliment the page yet not detract from the garden.

After I decided the sampler was done and finished the reverse of the page I then pinned both page bases, right sides facing, together. As the embroidery warped and brought my page in it ended up being smaller than the reverse page by a bit.

I then pinned the page to it's reverse.
I then pinned the page to its reverse.

I then sewed it on three sides and flipped it the right way out.

Sewed around three sides leaving the grommet end open.
Sewed around three sides leaving the grommet end open.
Put the page right side out.
Put the page right side out.

As the embroidery page got warped I ended up pinning the last edge together and trimming the reverse side of the page so they’d be the same width before sewing the end closed.

As the embroidery warped the page a bit I ended up cutting off the excess from the reverse side of the page and then pinned the opening before sewing it closed.
As the embroidery warped the page a bit I ended up cutting off the excess from the reverse side of the page and then pinned the opening before sewing it closed.

And your page is done! You just need the grommets added, but I waited until all the pages were done before adding the grommets. If you want an in-depth guide in how I joined my quiet book pages you can look at my earlier blog post: In Depth Guide to Joining Quiet Book Pages; Part One of Three.

And the page is done... it just needs grommets added later.
And the page is done… it just needs grommets added later.

Here are some photos showing the final page closer up:

Closer look at the finished and embroidered quiet book page.
Closer look at the finished and embroidered quiet book page.
Closer look at the finished and embroidered quiet book page.
Closer look at the finished and embroidered quiet book page.

If I were to do this again I would…

  • Wait until later to add the interfacing to the back of the muslin quiet book page. As I added the interfacing at the beginning I had to set the ink through the front of the page (with another piece of fabric between the iron and page) instead of through the back. The main issue with the interfacing though was not being able to use an embroidery hoop to keep my page taunt. As such my page warped and ended up a bit smaller than the planned 9 by 12 inch page.
  • Just a heads up. I found with my overhandling of this the edges started coming apart a bit. I tried to be careful and not move it a lot and only handled it when I needed to.

I’d love to see your finished quiet book pages. If you want more information about my quiet books you can check out my previous quiet book page posts, how I created my quiet book covers, or look at how I joined my quiet book pages together. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Feel free to connect with me through the comments below, on my Facebook page, or through Instagram.

Browse Related Topic(s)

Sewing Animals Embroidery Hand Sewing Machine Sewing Quiet Book Woven Fabric Fabric Markers Children Toddler Preschooler

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