Slow Stitching - Corner fabric bookmarks

We were away for a bit and just before I left I put together some fabric bookmarks to slow stitch along the way!! They

are made up of two squares of fabric - one 4" square and one 3" square.  I folded the 3" one in half diagonally and then folded the 4" one diagonally as well leaving a margin on two sides and a folded triangle just slightly larger than the three inch one which allows the front one to more easily catch the corner of a page.  I made a prototype before sourcing precut fabric squares from my stash.  I matched up colours and designs which worked well together.  I pressed them all and pinned together the partners to keep them organized.  I managed to get only about half of them stitched.  I used running stitch and embroidery floss to stabilize the triangles I had pressed.  

Once back home I sewed them together.  I pinned the smaller triangle to the larger one and then pressed the margins in half and the bottom corners in to facilitate sewing them together.  This allows, for the most part, to hide all the raw edges.  It took a bit to stitch the topmost of the bookmark with all the layers so I trimmed off a small triangle off the top to reduce the bulk of the seam.  I folded in one corner and started sewing there.  Halfway up the side, I took the time to fold and pin the top point which made

sewing that section much easier.  Once down the other side I again folded the other bottom corner in and sewed the last of the seam with some back stitching to finish it off.  

This is how it looks sewn and pressed.  Looks quite good on the corner of this piece of cardstock though I discovered that some of my stitches caught a bit on the corner when inserting the piece into the bookmark.  Not the best for a bookmark that will be used a lot.  So I decided to machine stitch a few and these were quite a bit easier to apply to the corner of a page.  I like that they are quite visible in a book but do not interfere in the management of it.  For example - works well for putting a book back on the shelf or packing it into a book bag.  

Here are all the ones I have managed to make up!!  I think I will be finishing off the remaining ones with the sewing machine as it gives a better finish and is so much more time efficient.  It was a fun experiment and it was a nice small project for taking with me on our trip.  It would be fun to personalize these by using aida and cross stitch on the front and themed fabric on the back.  They make a nice little gift for a reader!!! 

I am sharing this post on Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching!!

Take a break and check out the fun projects others have posted!!

Therese