New Tool Tryout

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

William James

I've found lots of distractions to keep me from adding the closure to the last of the "fresh" padfolios. As William James so wisely observed, these projects that get set aside for later eat at our energies whether we realize it or not. If nothing else, they can take up valuable space needed to proceed with the next task (or yet another uncompleted one). It wasn't going to be that big of a deal once I decided what to use, and yet there were still a few things to think through and try out before I committed. How to add the big bead to the flap was one of them.

It gave me the chance to test a recently purchased 1/16th inch hole punch. I can't tell you how long I've wanted one but the fact that it was to be used to punch plastic templates at seam intersection points should give you a clue. Back then they were hard to find, and then when they became easier to track down, I wasn't using that template method anymore. Still, I've had a a great desire to own one, and with my recent interest in bookbinding, I saw a potential rationalization for purchasing one. Only as an afterthought did it occur to me that it might work better than a large needle to make a guide hole for the elastic and perle cottons I've begun using on the padfolio closure. Would that tiny punch actually make a clean hole through two layers of fabric fused to Peltex? Yes! And I can't believe what a difference it makes when pulling the threads through. Not too big, not too small, Goldilocks has finally found something that is just right! And after struggling to thread these thicker threads through a needle, I finally got smart and dug out a dental floss threader to guide them through the punched hole and the beads too. Oh, I am a happy camper today.

Difficult to capture the true color of the large bead but it perfectly matches the denim-like blue in the fabric and decorative thread. A few blue glass beads have been added to the dangling ends of the thread wrap.

I love these batiks in the linings and pockets, love the way they pick up on the blues lurking in the predominantly purple fabric of the cover.

Out of the strain of the Doing,

Into the peace of Done.

Julia Louise Woodruff

Sunday at Home 1910

I'm being seriously distracted by a new idea and am possibly on the brink of a breakthrough with Adrift, so I really did need to finish this up. A corner of the work table clear again. The clutter of this and that related to the project returned to its drawers. Ahhhh - I can move on with one less unfinished task weighing me down.