Quilts, hand made paper and scrapbook protectors

I was SO busy at Belstead House last weekend. I spent most of Friday making protective sleeves for my little scrapbooks as I take them out to classes and they were getting over handled. I make paper fabric first, using old cotton sheeting from the charity shop and then add torn papers, tissue paper and stamping, all bound together with PVA to make a firm fabric.This is then cut to size and layered with felt, for the middle, and fine tulle to protect the outside of the fabric paper. The fabric sandwich is then layered and stitched together and then cut to size. I machine sew on a laminated photograph on the front so I can identify each scrapbook and then sew them together using satin stitch. Finally, I use hot glue and Velcro dots as fasteners

I have been collecting egg boxes from Aldi for ages and have a HUGE stack! I found it surprisingly difficult to pulp them to make paper until I decided to throw them into the liquidiser with plenty of water and WIZZZZZ.....paper pulp almost instantly. I coloured the pulp with acrylic ink and then pulled sheets of paper using fine car 'bodywork repair' metal mesh. This is SO easy that my four year old granddaughter made most of this.

My friend Wendy has asked me to be her Wedding co-ordinator and she is the world's biggest re-cycler and wants the wedding to include plenty of recycling ideas. I designed simple invitations for her using this egg box paper, a small, torn edged invitation and two hearts punched from tomato puree tubes. They are such a rich gold colour inside and once rinsed and flattened work brilliantly with paper punches and Sissiz machines.

Claire made this when she was about 11. She is 35 now so it is time I did something with it. I love the freshness of the colours and their translucency. Perhaps I'll make a bag or journal cover. It is on my 'to do' list

Another Belstead make. This is a quilt top for Grace and it is made from old cotton sheeting stamped with commercial and hand make printing blocks. The fabrics were cut into 12" x 8" pieces and then contrasting fabric was cut 4 1/2" x 12" and this rail fence design is quick and easy to do. (This was sue's idea). I intend to add a further border of printed fabric to it with an initial pink border I think. ANOTHER thing on the 'to do' list!