The Journey-a 2009 Book Club Finish

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In 2009, our Thread Tales book club, read the book "The Tenth Gift" by Jane Johnson. In the book, Julia is given a book of old and beautiful embroidery designs. 

Close up of the quilting

Julia is a book seller. Upon examining the book more closely, Julia notices that it looks like there are diary entries listed. 

Cat has written the entries long ago and describes her life as an embroideress. Cat includes her experience of a Muslim pirate stealing her and members of her town to be auctioned off as a slave in Morocco. 

Label

While reading this book, I took a Nancy Chong two fabric hand applique class. One of the patterns we could stitch was this sailboat. 

The pattern reminded me of Cat's description of being in the ships' hold and having no idea of where she was being taken. She was sailing into the unknown, yet hopeful of a good outcome. Her sewing skills served her well when she uses her skills to stitch a wound of her kidnapper. 

The author weaves Julia's story and Cat's story throughout the pages. In the end, Julia finds that there is a connection between the two of them. While I had a hard time jumping between centuries, I did enjoy the story.

I used the print of the brown fabric to add dimension to the project. I placed a layer of wool batting under the top and stitched around some of the leaf print to provide dimension to the project. 

I trimmed the excess and then layered the top with wool batting. I quilted the piece in silk thread in the needle and cotton thread in the bobbin.

Front

I'm posting about this project so many years later because one of my goals is to record the various quilts I have made with my book club. Writing this post was goal number 13 on my January list.