Quiet Book Sew-Along: Race Track Page {week 20}|Thread Riding Hood

Last page folks – truly and for real! Thisis the last of the Quiet Book pages. Now all we need is the cover and all will be right with the world…. except I need to start sewing my other Christmas gifts… hmmm!

This page is the size of 3 regular sized pages in this book, since it opens up to become a full sized race track. This page is significantly different from the original book – so much so that I haven’t included the original photos. If you need a reference point you can refer back to the original quiet book photos in this post.

The shopping list for this page looks daunting… but in the end it’s worth it! Not too bad, just lots of little pieces that go together quickly once they are cut. Here is a layout to refer to when placing items on your page.

You will need:

Background Fabric (Grass): 1 piece quilting cotton 18″ wide x 9″ high (behind racetrack) + 1 piece quilting cotton 9″ wide x 6″ high (behind mechanic)
Page Interfacing: 1 piece 18″x9″ + 1 piece 9″x9″ square, medium weight fusible interfacing (you will have this from your Week 1 shopping list)
Mechanic Garage: 1 piece 9″ high x 6.5″ wide orange quilting cotton
Mechanic Symbol: Black Fabric Paint, Freezer Paper (for stencil)
Mechanic’s “Door”: 1 piece 4 1/2″ wide x 2 3/4″ tall clear plastic (6 or 8 gauge recommended)
Mechanic Parking Lot: 1 piece 9″ wide by 3 3/4″ high black quilting cotton
Parking Lot lines: 2 pieces 1/4″ silver ribbon 2 1/2″ long
Race Track: 7″ x 18″ black quilting cotton
Pit Stop: 1 1/2″ x 4″ black quilting cotton
Pit Stop Yellow Lines: aprox. 11″ 3/8″ wide yellow ribbon
Bridge Guard Rails: 4 pieces 1/4″ silver ribbon 3 1/4″ long
Cars: Scraps of faux vinyl in car colours and wheel colour
Cars: attachment strings, 3 pcs 20″ long 1/4″ wide grosgrain ribbon (not pictured below)
River: 1 piece blue quilting cotton 6″ wide x 10″ high
Black Velcro Fastener: 1″ long x 1/2″ wide (TIP: cut a regular piece of velcro in half widthwise)
Fusible Web (I use Steam-A-Seam)
Craft Knife: to cut freezer paper stencil
Ribbon Tab: 3 1/2″ long for the side tab
Matching Thread for Satin Stitching and Top-stitching
Leather needle
School Glue Stick
Small Safety Pin
Race Track Pattern Pieces -> Click here to download

Please ignore the cork and the yellow paint. The plan for them didn’t work out so well!

Before we begin/Important Notes:

Print out the pattern pieces pdf on letter size (8.5″ x 11″) or A4 paper. Important: Do not select “fit to page” when printing, make sure you print at the original size. Once you have printed the pages, measure the 1″ test square to ensure the pattern is the correct size.
Cut out all fabric that uses a pattern piece. Cut as indicated on the pattern piece, the racetrack is cut on a fold. Cut Fusible Web using the Race Track & River pattern pieces. Also cut one piece 1 1/2″ x 4″ for the Pit Stop.
When you are sewing this book it is good to remember that some of the edges will be covered after the book is completed and sewn together. 1/2″ on the top edge of your page and 3/4″ on each side edge will not show in the final project. * This is especially important for this page *
Remember to use your iron liberally when you are sewing this book. It is going to be a work of art when you are done! Since it is thick and some of the pages will not be iron-able once you are finished with them it is advisable to take all of the care you can to remove wrinkles so they are not accidentally permanent in your final book.

Here we go:

Cars

Glue the end of an attachment string 1″ onto the wrong side of the “back” of one side of each car piece. (Glue is used in lieu of pins, to prevent permanent holes.)
Glue the two car pieces wrong sides together with the ribbon in between the layers.
Place and glue the tires in place – two on each side of the car. Only glue the part of the tire that is touching the car body shape. Let the glue dry to securely hold the pieces together.
Top-stitch around the edge of the car, and over the tires, to hold everything in place. Backstitch-stitch over the tires and ribbon as you sew, for extra security. * You may need to use a leather needle to sew through all of the layers *

Mechanic’s Garage

Fold the orange garage fabric in half wrong sides together to create a 6 1/2″ wide x 4 1/2″ high rectangle with a fold along the top. Draw a 4″ x 2 1/2″ rectangle in the centre of the bottom raw edges.
Stitch the open sides of the rectangle with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Also stitch along the lines of the rectangle you just drew.
Trim the inside of the rectangle to 1/4″ and clip into the corners. Clip the top corners of the side seams as well.
Turn the rectangle right side out through one of the bottom openings. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze, but take your time, it will work.
Use a chopstick or pencil to push out the corners and sides. Press the shape flat.
Cut a 4″ x 6″ piece of freezer paper. Trace and cut out the mechanic symbol to make a freezer paper stencil. Apply the stencil, paint the symbol black and let it dry. If you have not used a freezer paper stencil before these are good instructions.
Stitch several straight lines through the piece of vinyl, to represent the frames in the panes of glass usually found on a mechanic’s garage doors. Use this trick if your presser foot sticks to the plastic.
Place the plastic behind the garage door opening. Secure it with pins inside the seam allowance (to avoid permanent holes).
Top-stitch along the sides and top of the opening to secure the plastic. Top-stitch along the top edge of the garage – this will be the opening for the pocket.

Finishing the Mechanic Page

Fold the end of each 2 1/2″ silver ribbon under by 1/4″. Place the centre of each ribbon 3 1/4″ in from each side of the black “parking lot” rectangle. Stitch from the bottom to the top to secure.
Place the garage at the centre bottom of the 9″ x 6″ background fabric. Top-stitch the sides only to secure and create the pocket.
Thread the car attachment ribbons through the pocket and out at the bottom centre. Stitch them in place with a scant 1/4″ seam.
Match the top edge of the parking lot with the bottom edge of the background, wrong sides together. Stitch with a 1/4″ seam. Press the seam open – being careful not to press the vinyl.
Fuse the 9″ x 9″ interfacing to the back of the mechanic page. Be careful not to melt the vinyl! It is best to avoid fusing the centre of the page, just fuse the edges enough to hold it on.

Make the Racetrack Page:

Fuse the interfacing to the back of the 18″ x 9″ rectangle.
Fuse the river to the background – the top right hand corner is 2 3/4″ over from the top right corner of the background.
Satin stitch the edges with matching thread.
Fuse the pit stop rectangle to the background – the top left hand corner is 4 3/4″” over from the top left corner of the background, and 1″ down from the top edge.
Fuse the race track to the background. It is centred left to right, and 2.25″ down from the top edge of the background. It overlaps the pit stop by about 1/4″.
Satin stitch all edges of the racetrack and pit stop with matching thread.
Fold under both edges of the guard rail ribbons. Centre them over the places the racetrack and river meet. Stitch them down.
Stitch the yellow pit stop ribbon in a rectangle centred on the pit stop. Fold ends under and mitre each corner before stitching.
Stitch one side of the Velcro centred at one end of the racetrack.
Fold the page in half to find the placement for the other piece. Stitch it in place. It should be centred at the other end of the racetrack. This will keep the page closed when the book is in use.