Why the need of this journal? She started writing me notes every time she did not want to talk about a problem of hers - small notes, slipped under the door, or left at the staircase, so I can see them on my way to the bedroom. I realized that maybe some things are left unspoken, undiscussed and unsolved. Our journal was a way to take this load off her fragile shoulders.
Why "Mon Journal", but not "Our Journal"? Well, one day this will be either mine or hers. When our roads split apart, I will always keep this journal with me. Pictures tell a lot, but a diary is a picture of the soul.
I found this fabric, lost on the bottom of a rack at a fabric store. I liked the colour, than I liked the fact that I could sew a count stitches on it, so I took it all.
Why in French? I love embroidery in French. It looks much more gentle, and I wanted to honour the original I am using the pattern from: "Mon journal au point de croix" from Sophie Bester-Baqué et Véronique Enginger. The original choice of colours is in red, but I needed colours that will match my fabric.
Why not a notebook cover in whole? Really, this is a question I ask myself now, but I wanted to keep the right side elastic that closes the book. We may not use it, but in case we want it there, with the strips on top and bottom, it is usable. That is why I had to design the cover with small secret buttons so to keep it in place.
Just the bottom side of the cover is with buttoned strips. The front is with sewn ones.
machine work: I attached the matching cotton fabric with the sewing machine, using zig zag in different width and straight stitch.
handwork: Beside the cross stitch, I decorated with Uneven Blanket stitch, Closed Blanket Stitch, Uneven Zig Zag Stitch - lots of unevenness, but I like the warned look of the cover. I did some quilt stitching on the roses on the light fabric, to emphasize their contours and to add some colour from the embroidery floss I was using for the cross stitching.
The nicest thing and best idea I've ever seen!
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