My fabric book

Remember when I showed you my fabric book the other day. I only had the fronts done then. I now have the whole thing done. I laid out the pictures as they appear in the book. I can tell you where some of the pieces came from, but most of them I don't know and just found in my stash.

I love this piece, I don't know where it came from, but it's so cool. The heart trim I got in a swap.

On the back of the first page, I have a sheer green piece and then a piece I bought at a garage sale. You'll see that only the fronts have trim hanging down. The second page, the background piece is from a store I used to work at, the three smaller pieces went together very well. I still feel this is missing something, but I couldn't find the right piece to add. The trim on the bottom is from a dresser scarf.

 The back of the second page is a piece of fabric I've wanted to use on something for awhile, it's very bright, the girl is from a dish towel. The third page, the creamer and teapot are from another dish towel, the background came from a fabric packet with the piece in the background of the second page.

 On the back of the third page, I used a sheer pink scarf, overlaid with another sheer piece that's shimmery, and then added a felt cupcake pin I bought here. You can also see some trim, it's hard to see, but there are peach pearls added to the middle of it. The fourth page, the top is a scarf, part I used in this project, the bottom is a knit shiny purple piece. The middle is part of a larger piece I bought at a garage sale.

 On the back of the fourth page, is another piece from the fabric packet used on pages 2 and 3, I added a leafy piece, and a fabric leaf, I might have to go in and glue on a plaster acorn. The fifth page, the background is a piece I got in a swap, the leaf is from a dresser scarf that was edged with the trim used on page two, the trim is from Hobby Lobby.

 On the back of the fifth page, the background is from a store I used to work at, then I just added some ribbon/trim pieces. The bottom piece isn't quite ribbon, it felt more papery, I was afraid it would fall apart when I sewed it on. The sixth page has strips of material, the turquoise is wove with black thread, the green is a piece I used in this project and this project, the brown is a shiny soft material. The hearts are something my mother gave me.

 On the back of the sixth page, I have a flowery piece and some lace. The seventh page is a knit sparkly piece, with a doily.

 On the back of the seventh piece, I used a vintage flowery pattern, some felt and a motif from a hot pad. The eighth page is a burgundy shiny piece and a vintage doily. The piece next to it was on the back, it reads: "Doilie from box of Linens - Ives - Late 1800's To 1910 Probably older". I got the trim in a swap.

 The back of the eighth page is strips of suede, and a piece of sheer snowflake fabric. The ninth page is two purply pieces, the bottom is velvet. I used some shiny pieces for the top and bottom, a doily for the middle and some big flower trim for the bottom.

 The back of the ninth page is a sheer piece of burgundy fabric, I added some metallic pieces to. The top piece is a gold sheerish fabric with embroidery. The tenth page is very shiny, I wish you could see it in the picture, it's also very soft. The bottom is a piece of fabric that I trimmed the flowers out of.

 The back of the tenth piece was very hard to sew. It is a green ribbon that's extremely soft, but frays very easily. The circle piece I got at a sale. The eleventh piece is backed with very bright pink shiny piece, the "Love" piece I got at my grandma's, I added the trim since I posted before.

 The back of the eleventh page is a olive green scarf with a piece cut from a hanky. The twelfth page is a thick piece with a doily and a felt alien from Hobby Lobby, I also added the trim, gotten from a swap, after taking the other scan.

The back of the twelfth page is a blue fabric with a corner of a hanky.

All the fronts of the pages are backed with quilt batting, when deciding on how to finish the book, I decided to add backs to the existing pages, rather than sewing them together. I also found out that all my pages seem to not be the same size. I added eyelets in the sides of all pages and have tied them together with ribbon, because of this, I can change the order of the pages any time I want to. I thought this layout looked pretty good together, but I may change my mind.
As I've mentioned above, some of the colors don't come out well in the scans, but I also wish you all could feel the book, it's a great mixture of textures.

Trouble with my group

I hostess this group on yahoo that makes ATCs. I've been doing this for a number of years, we used to have 10 or so people participating each month. At the moment I have three, including myself. I send out a package of items that fit a theme, people make ATCs with at least one of these items on their cards and send them back. The number of people has been falling a lot. Last year, we didn't swap until October. I sent everyone an ATC and asked if they would be interested in starting up again, I had 3 people say yes, and then 2, and then we got a new player in the group. Last month, I lost one of my long-time players. So, I only have 3 people playing. I sent out an email asking if people wanted to continue playing and got 2 replies, from the 2 people that are participating. I sent a reply saying I'm not doing this month because I'm not inspired. Today I got a response from one of my participants saying that when I take time off its psychologically disruptive to the players. That pissed me off. This is from one of my regular participants, who I love, and I love her work, but why can't I take time for me?
Sometimes I feel, I'm putting way more into these swaps than I'm getting back. I think up the majority of the themes (all of them right now), I'm the one putting the packets together, and sometimes I'm the one spending money on them. Lately, people have been a little short on having return postage to them, so I'm paying for that, which I can't afford to do all the time. I figure I can send them one free swap, but that's it.
She also said maybe people are dropping out because I'm taking time off. I'm not entirely sure about that. Usually when I suggest stopping for awhile, people agree. I know last year when we didn't swap, I asked that people let me know when they were ready again, but it was me who initiated the next swap and I only got a few players. It's also hard to know what people are thinking when no one replies to emails or snail mail, which leads me to believe they don't want to swap.
I was complaining to my mom a few months ago about swaps and people either not following directions, flaking out, or not getting things to me on time. She suggested I take a little time off from swaps. I really like the swaps I find online, their different and it challenges me in my art, I'm wondering if hostessing this group doesn't challenge me enough, so I find it boring.
But, then I'm told by my group that I shouldn't take time off. Art keeps me sane (that and music), so I have to do some kind of art. But, I don't just have to do ATCs, I do lots of different things, I've found hand sewing has calmed me so well lately.
I also feel I have a lot of things to deal with in life (not a ton, there are people with way more than me), but what I don't need is something else giving me problems.

I'd love some advice.

Thanks