While we're snowed in during the count-down to Christmas, I've started on my Remains of the Day course work. Having printed the first lesson and watched the videos, I sorted my hoard of fabric scraps. Then the serious fun began: cutting and patching and sewing to make the cover.

Almost all of my scraps have memories attached to them. There are pieces of Hugh's shirts, some bits given to me by a dear neighbour who has since died, and off-cuts from appliqué pictures or patchwork wall-hangings.

Mary Ann encourages us to be as free - and as carefree - as we like. No finishing or neatening, the more relaxed we are when making our 'shabby journals' the better.

Here's mine, complete with its wrap-around tie. Those are not real buttons on the flap, they're part of the print.

I love it (said she, modestly!) and this is only the beginning. Soon we'll be learning how to make a real book with sewn-in 'signatures'. You see, I already have the jargon.

Click on the pics!