by Great Joy Studio | Sep 30, 2025 | Quilting & Fabric
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Hello everyone!
I posted this project originally with “Costume Makers Ball” fabric when it was offered from Riley Blake Designs in 2019. Owner, Cindy Cloward thought it was so fun that she is sharing hers as a YouTube tutorial at Riley Blake Designs – YouTube.
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We borrowed these instructions (below) from our original step by step post which pairs seamlessly with the new “Costume Makers Act II” fabric collection! However, you will want to follow along with Cindy as she creates her version of this festive fall favorite.
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BIG SCARY BOOK!
Featuring,
COSTUME MAKERS Act II
fabric by me, J. Wecker Frisch
from Riley Blake Designs
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So many of you have asked if this fun fall project was a pattern so, we decided to share the easy process here!
I pretty much made this up as I went along and it was truly so easy. I’m still learning on the sewing front so, if you see anything that can be improved on, I’m interested to hear from you. Of course we love the images on the patch panel and they were the perfect sizes for the pages and pockets to hold whatever spooky items we found around the studio. Choose anything you like in your stash of old photos, tags, charms and trims to personalize your scary book.
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What you’ll need, beginning with Costume Makers Act II fabric:
• One – Patch Panel for pages and pockets.
• One repeat – Border Stripe for a few fun tags to slip inside and attach.
• Fat quarter – Black Text for cover.
• 1/2 yard – Jac O Lantern Balloons on Black for inside of cover plus one page background.
• Fat eighth – Measure Tape Stripe Blk n Wt for one page.
• 1/2 yard – Riley Blake Linen in Natural for inside pages.
Optional:
• Quilt batting, 1/2 to 3/4 yards based on preference. We used a light weight fusible behind page patches and cover.
• A medium weight Interfacing for a stiff cover cut to 17.5″ x 17.5″
• Measuring tape ribbon, buttons, decorative string, one cargo tag, old key & vintage notions or game cards, etc.
• Fabric only kits available exclusively at greatjoystudio.com/shop/
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Pictures worth a thousand words?
Pages six & seven with quilted tags made using the CMB border stripe.
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Sandwich each of the individual cover and (18″ square) page layers as you like. I chose batting between my cover fabrics and under each of the fabric patches. I then used a variety of sketchy stitches around each the page edges to create decorative borders and attach to the linen pieces. Using your skill level and imagination there are no limits to what you will create with these fantastic fabrics! Again, my stitching experience is short and some of these are my first attempts but I was pleased with the results. So remember, have fun, no rules, anything goes and you can’t make a mistake.
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Here are the the page layouts:
Inside front cover & page 1
Pages 2 & 3
Pages 4 & 5
Pages 6 and 7 are pictured at top of post and are holding the border stripe kid tags.
Page 8 and inside back cover.
Not pictured is the outside cover! We used the CMB black allover text.
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Complete Scary Book fabric kit available on the Shop page.
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More Scary Book photos and fun projects on IG @jweckerfrisch and FB Joy Studio
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Please share your scary book eye candy with us!!
•Be sure to follow us on Instagram @jweckerfrisch & Facebook Tidings Of Great Joy.
by Great Joy Studio | Dec 20, 2024 | Quilting & Fabric
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From Our House Sew Along, last block!
You made it! Welcome to your last week of the From Our House sew along hosted by Riley Blake Designs highlighting their Hush 4 low volume designer’s collaborative collection. And if you’re just getting started and want to learn more click here for the details.
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Here is Great Joy Studio’s contribution to the Hush 4 low volume fabric, vintage button illustrations of a warm gray on a soft white ground.
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We are making our blocks for the sew along using some Basics from Riley Blake Designs, Watercolor Swirl and Journal Basics. Our designer alternative block center is SEW easy. It is a raw edge fused appliqué button using our chunky button template.
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Featured blocks were made by Mendy Russell from Missouri Stitcher
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To round out your RBD designer’s tour, please pay us a visit for a tour of our NEW tiny house, shared sew space and office on Instagram and/or Facebook. Built in 1916 and located at 16 Dreyer Ave., Old Towne Eureka Mo.
I hope you have enjoyed sewing along!
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by Great Joy Studio | Jul 14, 2022 | Quilting & Fabric
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Hi and welcome!
This will be short and sweet so if your time is limited like mine this summer, you can still squeeze in a little TAG fun!
I tried a couple of new (to me) fabric tag making processes this week and it’s ongoing. The further I explore possibilities, the more ideas that evolve. Especially with so many fabric options. For these I used the Best of She Who Sews measuring tapes fabric from Riley Blake Designs. I love these text and color rich tapes and as always the scripture snippets!
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I’m sure many may have already done this with cargo tags however, I just happen to have a LARGE number of these manila paper tags so I decided to cover some with fabric. I like the stability that they offer as a base and also the look. The method I chose was the quick and easy trace, cut, sew! Here in these photos is how I did it.
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I used a Frixion Pen so the lines would disappear with heat from the iron and the red sharpy to hide my careless cutting. They are not perfect, not precise but that is the sketch-y, stitch-y, journal-y charm, I was told on IG. Then I decided to trade out the white strings that came on the cargo tags for some black hemp twine to compliment the tape text.
Now, I think we need to go a bit further by stamping the backs and attaching a few trinkets of ‘found’ objects that we ALL have in our growing stash and a little layering. To see this progress however, I invite you to tune in to my socials: Instagram or Facebook.
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One other new development for me this week was discovering my concise purpose for this Fabric Journal as I build and contemplate. I stated initially that it would be for personal use and since I chose such a jumbo binder there might be room to store my entire fabric designing journey! Or at least bits of the most significant items.
Again bye, for now and I hope you enjoy some create time.
~Janet
by Great Joy Studio | Jun 15, 2022 | Quilting & Fabric
Welcome!
I am so glad that you could join us for this She Who Sews ‘Fabric Journal’ intro.
Like most of you, I have been admiring the art of journal and book making for some time. Smash books, junk journals, for scrap, tags, pockets etc., always draw me in to take a closer look. So, I finally worked this topic into my design schedule and an inspiring NEW fabric collection!
Stay Tuned for, “Art Journal” from Riley Blake Designs.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing the process that I followed for my version and first attempt at this favorite pastime. So far mine is going in a direction of vintage sewing keepsakes and collected items, BIG organizer notebook for personal use. My thought, to have everything in one easy to find, easy to store place, artfully and aesthetically pleasing.
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For this project I will be using She Who Sews, Best of (in stores) and She Who Sews HOME (August delivery) as well as Linen from Riley Blake Designs.
1) My first step was to dive into these cute fabrics! So making a few faux stamps and oversized cargo tags seemed an easy and fun way to get started for journal content. Spool stamps using the toss fabrics plus white and natural linen was the obvious choice. I fused the selected fabrics (for front) to some linen and scrap fabrics (for backing) on hand to give both a bit of weight. Once fused I fussy cut the spools apart. To achieve faux postage I then stamped them randomly. You could freehand the postal details using Micron permanent markers if you don’t have stamping supplies.
Next I fused the spool fabric to a larger size piece of backing fabric and trimmed with a pinked rotary blade. Pinking shears will work fine too. Stitching is another great touch to do at this stage or later directly to your journal page. Your choice.
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I used the She Who Sews Border Stripe characters to create some oversized (pocket) tags. I cut the characters apart in this case and fused to my long strips of linen scraps. A binding ruler was the perfect tool to cut the tag corners. I am still looking for the right tool to punch the top hole but will probably hand cut with sharp scissors or simply add a button.
Note: As you can see below my tags are a bit too flexible so sandwiching with an interfacing or heavier fusible product can offer a stiffer tag. I intended these to be pocket tags and did not want to add too many layers so, we’ll see how this will work out. This step depends on your desired result.
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2) For my journal/book base, I decided to use something that I already had rather than to begin a cover from scratch. This saved time and besides that I had acquired so many cool old albums, purchased art journals and notebooks that it seamed a good idea to utilize at least one of them for this project. I chose this chunky green commercial three ring notebook and will concentrate on making my pages only. Eventually, personalizing the cover could be a good plan.
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3) While gathering supplies from around the studio I was reminded of some heavy canvas (bank?!) bags that I purchased somewhere, years ago. These will be perfect as pocket pages to hold a lot of the goods. Anything will do for the page base and a blank canvas for adding the fun fabrics was my initial thought. Moving forward, I am realizing that this work in progress is sure to evolve but any variation of course, is the fun part!
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A look back –
I first tried my hand at constructing a simple cloth style artful book with a few pages, pockets and added materials best I knew how and presented in our QM booth 2019. This Scary Book uses Costume Makers Ball fabric from Riley Blake Designs and was intended as a fun decoration for the Fall festivities and it was FUN to make! I really enjoyed but confess, was winging it all the way. I began another the following year using Goose Tales but have not yet completed. Time is my typical obstacle, then again the life interruption in 2020 took away the (Quilt Market) incentive which didn’t help my motivation.
However, I have NEW inspiration for fabric and mixed media journal making and will be sharing on
Instagram and Facebook.
Follow us there for the latest and meanwhile, keep making!!
See you next week.
by Great Joy Studio | Dec 14, 2021 | Quilting & Fabric
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Hello everyone!
We have a new kit listing called Snowman Parade and are sharing a little bit of the process that we followed to make.
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There are three of the snowmen characters from Janet’s Snow Sweet art/fabric collection translated to 16″ – 18″ raw edge appliqué blocks. These can be used for pillows, a table runner or any quilt projects and are simply fun to display throughout the winter months. In addition to the steps/photos posted here, you can view some tips we used, on our YouTube channel.
Our Snowman Parade kit can be purchased here in the shop and will contain Painters Watercolor Swirl, Snow Sweet, Blue Button Dots and basics from Riley Blake Designs. The kit also includes 12, 8.5″ x 11″ sheets to assemble for your templates and a basic appliqué instructions guide.
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In addition to the kit you will need a fusible web product along with the typical sewing supplies. We like to use Pellon Fusible Featherweight 991FFW1 as our fusible web product from a 20″ wide bolt. We also recommend purchasing a large tablet of tracing paper to make a ‘placement door’.
1.) Trace the appliqué templates on the paper side of your chosen product. Our templates are already in mirror and ready to go. A light box is a great help with this step however, taped to a window works perfectly fine. Rough cut them out and fuse each to the wrong side of fabrics. You will have this blog post, YouTube video and our IG posts as a fabric color guide. Sorry, no full color photo comes with the kit. Next, cut all of your appliqué pieces out with a sharp pair of scissors. You may like to place them under something to keep the pieces from curling up.
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2) Assembling each block can be done with accuracy and best results using what we call, a tracing paper door. Appliqué pieces are sitting on top of one of ours in the photos below. However, you simply sandwich your pieces onto your pressing surface, background fabric, blue dots snowman silhouette with the tracing paper outline (traced using templates ahead of time) on top to achieve near perfect placement. This is best demonstrated here and here.
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Next we will get these sewn down using decorative stitches on the machine and assemble into our project. We’re thinking a table runner!
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for updates.
Thanks for visiting, as always and Merry Christmas!!!
IG – @jweckerfrisch
FB – Great Joy Studio
