Bookmark swap: a tutorial

This month the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild held a book/bookmark swap. The idea was to bring a book from your crafty library that no longer interests you, but might interest another modern quilter. Then, make a fun bookmark to put with it. I was lucky to receive this awesome book and beautiful bookmark, made by my buddy Joellen, though I didn't realize that when I chose it!

The bookmark I made received quite a bit of Instagram attention and several people have asked for a tutorial. Martha took this one home and seemed to really like it.

The center of my bookmark is English Paper Pieced. I started out with 22 1 inch 6 point diamonds....

I had some leftover strips of Hello Darling fabric from the dresden mini I had just made and they worked perfectly for these diamonds. Baste the fabric to your diamonds. I'm a glue baster, but do whatever makes you happy...

Sew your diamonds together in rows, then sew your rows together.

After you get it all sewn together, remove your papers and press well, make sure all of your seam allowances lay nice and flat on the back. Now trim it with your rotary cutter into a perfect rectangle.

Cut 2 pieces of felt, 1/2 inch bigger than your rectangle all the way around (I used 2 pieces just to give it stability). Lay a piece of pretty ribbon down the center and your rectangle on top. I used my glue stick to make sure everything stayed straight. Now machine appliqué your EPP piece onto the felt. I used a buttonhole stitch but a zigzag would work just as well. When you get to the ribbon at the top and bottom, just stitch straight across, attaching all of your layers together.

Trim the edges of the felt evenly around the center. I did mine about 1/4" away. Don't trim the ribbon here! Make sure you lift it out of the way when you trim the top & bottom. Cut your ribbon ends on an angle to prevent fraying.

There you have it! A beautiful bookmark to tuck in a friend's birthday card, a special child's backpack or your latest read. Enjoy!