Capturing Flowers

I had planned to finished up a second butterfly binding book this afternoon, but the deck garden and warm weather were calling to me instead. The garden has turned from sorry to delightful and I have been spending many mornings doing a little reading in its presence. I still wonder at my desire to sketch florals but there's no denying I do enjoy it, from the close observation that sometimes reveals surprises to the matching of colors to the methodical movement of pen or pencil as each petal, stem and leaf is reproduced as closely as my skill allows. So one afternoon it was the pink Dianthus I tackled with colored pencil, this afternoon it was the rich maroon one along with the single osteospermum bloom that has finally arrived (upper right in above pic), outlining each in micron pen before adding colored pencil. As for the row of faces at the top of the spread, I did those a few weeks ago, an old Draw Tip Tuesday exercise where you draw a bunch of thumb shapes on the page, then add features, hair, whatever, to turn them into people. Some winners, some definitely a bit odd.

The Dianthus indeed had a surprise for me upon closer inspection: white stamen curling up from the center. Adding white is tricky; the white colored pencil didn't show at all while a white gel pen fared no better. I don't think I confessed to you that, after all my negativity and misgivings about Posca pens, I ended up buying some. There were coupons and vouchers involved to bring the price down, and because I couldn't make up my mind about what colors to get, I ended up splurging on this set of . . . yes you are seeing it right in the photo . . . sixteen colors. Sheesh. But I was glad I had them, including a white one that worked like a charm drawing in those stamens. It's making me eager to experiment with them more. And, in case you didn't know, they work on fabric too.

Not that I was compelled to draw them, but I did notice that the lavender geranium has new blooms and I still can't get over that color for a geranium. Perhaps I should sketch it.

I've been doing a lot of close cloud observation too lately. I've watched many tutorials on how to paint clouds and it's a tricky proposition. And any time I've tried adding them to a quilt either as applique or quilting stitches, I've only frustrated myself. But I observe anyway with thoughts of how the various ones I see are "constructed" and could be painted. Every now and then I see a formation like I've not seen before and think that if I could in fact reproduce it, no one would believe it really existed. I tried to capture one such cloud with my very poor cell camera, but if you look closely, the cloud on the right looks a bit like someone dragged a comb through it, lines running from upper right to lower left. The cloud to the left looked more like someone had taken a brush to it.

Love Love Love It!

I've finished putting together the Little Link Stitch book and can't believe how taken I am with it now that it is done. A bit like making a quilt, in that you may really like all the components, but sometimes when they come together in the finished product, it is more lovely than you anticipated. Here are the steps once the signatures were folded and put under weights.

Note how the fore edges of the signature extend past the eco print

There's no way around it; when you fold a stack of papers, there will always be some fore edge creep. In purchased books, that creep, where the middle paper's edge and all those surrounding it goes beyond the outer paper's edge, gets trimmed off for a smooth edged text block. In handmade books, it is often a matter of preference whether or not to trim the papers flush. If there's a cover which extends beyond the fore edge, one can definitely get away with not trimming, and I have done that on many of my books, more out of laziness than preference. But with this book, it was necessary to trim back those fore edges to be flush with the eco print wrapper.

When I folded the signatures inside of the eco prints, I alternated the ones with mixed media paper with the ones with sketching paper and chose which side of each eco print would be on the outside and in what order. Of course, when I took them out from under the weights, I found myself questioning the order of the eco prints and reshuffled them to this order. Lord knows I've done the same with my quilting choices.

Time to stitch. I measured off a length of the hand-spun hemp I've been using so often, knowing that the off-white would compliment this book well. I made the first passes to attach the first two signatures together, took one look and thought, no - this doesn't look right at all. Looking through my limited selection of waxed linen thread, I decided perhaps the white would work and I liked that so much more. Look at those near perfect stitches! Again, it was reminding me of quilting choices I was so sure about but not working as I suspected they would.

These pictures show the interplay of design of the eco prints from signature to signature. 

The closure is attached by looping around the center coptic stitch in the middle of the spine, adding a bead (or two) at the end and then wrapping around the book several times. Again, I thought I would use a dark brown leather shoelace but when laid across the book, it didn't look right at all. But peeking out from the same bowl of odds and ends was this lime green piece of raffia. No, I thought, surely not. But yes, surely yes when it was laid across the book. I never would have dreamed to use that color but it does pick up the green and yellow tones of the eco prints. Remembering how well those wood beads worked for the closure on the wine and beer notebook, I instinctively reached for them. But because I usually do check ALL my options, I searched through some larger beads in my collection. I used to frequent a bead shop on Water Street when I lived in Eau Claire WI, and since this was early in my beading experience, meaning I often didn't know what to buy from the wonderful array of choices, I took advantage of the discounted grab bags or scoops from a bin of odds and ends. So I'm sure that's where these two beads came from, although I have no idea what they are made of or why they are such odd shapes. But they have a hole through them that I could feed the raffia through so on they went. So pleased with how this came out. At 6 x 4 inches, I could see using this as a travel companion - a place to not only sketch but keep notes on where I went and what I saw.

I've also finished up that sketch of garbage trucks, having fun working with the Inktense pencils and a wet brush. I've not done much with the Inktense pencils since I got them long ago, just a little testing and experimenting on fabric. This seemed the perfect place to use them.

Waylaid

I folded the signatures for the Little Link Stitch book, putting them under weights overnight and never got back to them. It was a weekend of racing to watch, and I'm not sure what else kept me away, just know that I shouldn't put off posting any longer with the intention of showing it all finished. I did get the signatures sewn into the cover for the wine and beer notebook though. I used the handspun hemp thread that has become a favorite, using a long enough piece to have plenty to wrap around the book as a closure. But that end needed something, and I pulled out an unopened bag of wood beads, bought ages ago with the intent that they end up on a quilt, but don't they look perfect here?

Oh, now I remember. I made two late afternoon trips to sketch these garbage trucks that I pass by on one of my daily walking routes - the first to get down the shapes and details in pencil, and the second to ink them in and add a little color with Inktense Pencils. I do not do "quick draws" so each session took about 45 minutes and I knew I could put the final touches on it at home, primarily to find something to color in the cyclone fence and to activate the Inktense with water. But like the Little Link Stitch book, the drawing still sits in my bag waiting. Don't ask me what it is that intrigued me about these trucks, hunkered down for the night after a long day of picking up trash, but there was something that made me want to draw them.

Daniel Sroka - Allusive 2023

With so little to show this week, I am sending you over to Daniel Sroka's latest online gallery. Through written and spoken word and a couple of short videos plus his beautiful photos, he tells a story about childhood and nature's inspiration that is not unlike my own. Enjoy Getting Lost In Nature.

Establishing/Returning To A Practice

Since getting "serious" about art quilting and later starting up yoga lessons, I've been bombarded by this idea of "a practice". Usually it has been presented as more than just setting a schedule or routine, but more of a focused dedication. I've never been able to sustain this kind of practice, and in fact joke with my yoga teacher when she talks about "our practice", saying "Practice? What Practice?" I only seem to be able to maintain my yoga one when there are weekly sessions to attend, and my art one when there is a deadline of some kind. I get discouraged that I can't seem to maintain what I think others mean by a practice. Then a ran across this: 

"But if there’s anything I know about practicing it’s that it isn’t about rules or consistency or scarcity or god forbid optimizing: it’s about coming back. A practice is built on the movement of return." (Mandy Brown and the A Working Library blog)

So that is what I determined I'd do during my week of semi-isolation and contemplation, come back to my studio practice, a little at a time but steadily. And that is how the Mixed Media Challenge Journal above got finished. It's a good size book (6" x 9") filled with Fabriano 108lb mix media paper, and with its bookboard covers, heavy in the hand. And a good thing I wasn't making it as a gift. The first (and smaller version) of this journal gave me fits ( so many awkward parts to master and I was not happy with my straps), but I was confident I'd avoid these second time around, which I mostly did. Instead, different issues cropped up, ones I've never had before. The cover paper is some that came wrapped around an order with the encouragement to recycle/upcycle, and the color was just what I was looking for to go with the strap material which was the real reason I wanted to try the book again in a larger format. That's a leftover piece from a silk papermaking or fusion experiment after cutting the full piece into Japanese Stab Binding covers. Waste not, want not, and really too big just to toss. Anyway, the paper appeared sturdy enough for gluing to bookboard so I was stunned that it wrinkled and bubbled across the PVA-covered board. I worked and worked with my bone folder to smooth it the best I could, and some of it disappeared while drying under weights but there is a spot you may be able to see about a quarter of the way in along the top of the cover where the paper is no longer attached to the board. For now I am ignoring it, but at a later date I might be willing to try slipping some glue under there. The big button is out of my grandmother's/mother's button collection, probably off a coat, and I adore it. I really didn't want to do a lot of stitching down of the strap (nor had I wanted to split the strap into two narrower pieces) so this was my solution. I fashioned a closure from what I trimmed off to shorten the strap.

Only one of those lovely buttons but I rather like this one too which is the same size but not as thick, a bit better for the back of the book. I should have used this cover for the front but it really did look worse to me, but in fact the paper now looks less wrinkled etc. for reasons I can't fathom. And why did I think the strap should overlap so far over the covers? Well, I think I meant to leave more of a gap over the spine but even so, it probably should have been trimmed even more.

With the strap and closure sewn on (through holes worked into the covers with an awl), time to glue on the endpapers which will cover where the threads come through and are tied off, and where the accordion spine now glued together attaches its end flaps to the covers. These are from another piece of wrapping paper which was brown paper bag-like on one side and this slightly glisteny green on the other. I was ready for the worst and I got it. The paper started curling as soon as I started applying the glue and was a real challenge to position in place. When I started smoothing it down with a bone folder, I found many places along its edges where it wasn't sticking down and I struggled to get glue on those areas without it ending up on the right side. Back under weights until dry, hoping the wrinkles and bubbles would disappear and for the most part they did. But you can still see dark places that I don't understand and the paper not really heavy enough to mask the underlying threads and knots.

The other thing that became clear as I worked with that accordion folded spine was that I really should have heeded suggestions for a sturdier/heavier paper than my signature paper. But since that signature paper was the size I needed (so no cutting) and supposed to take wet medium, I opted for the easy way out. The paper didn't stay flat when the watercolor paint hit it and when you flip through the book, some of those painted peaks are not stiff and flat. But they do add the bit of color I was looking for. The book itself opens pretty flat and there is minimal rocking from the strap and buttons. It should work well for collaging and experimenting with the Posca Pens I bought.

There was slack time between steps while waiting for glue to dry while under weights, so I forged ahead with prep for the next books. Remember when I experimented with eco printing paper? I've used quite a bit of the product of those sessions but 7 of these smaller ones were still waiting for me to figure out what to do with them. Then the Handmade Book Club lady gave directions for this coverless Little Link Stitch book where the signatures are wrapped in a slightly heavier decorative paper. I checked my eco prints and although they were a bit larger than what the directions called for, I could just up-size my book. Have had this idea floating around for ages and now its going to get made. My signatures are cut to size and paired with a wrapper, ready for folding and punching.

In the meantime, here's another "use it up" project that will take no time as long I get the pieces together. And so I did that too - an orphan piece of eco printing and trial printing of lined paper teamed up to make a notebook for recording info on wine and beer. Right now that info is scribbled in a falling apart spiral notebook that is awkward to use when I take it with me to the store. This will be much better - holes punched and ready to sew those signatures in!

So yes, a productive week, returned to my practice which I plan to continue with renewed enthusiasm but remembering it is the returning part that is important. And partly fueled by the young neighbor girl who generally shows up at my door to borrow an egg, then bringing me a sample of whatever it is she's baking in return. But this time she just offered up the plate of cookies on the left, then returned the next day with the two cookies and selection of teas on the right. Can't she see I don't need more fattening up? :-) She is a very good baker, I must say, and since cookies are not my forte, these are much appreciated.

By the way, here's the link to the post where I ran across the "coming back" to a practice. It is actually about keeping up a blogging practice which was of interest to me, a die-hard blogger while so much of the social media world has moved on from that. Read it here: 

Marking the Anniversary Once Again

F. Allen Barnes III - 11/12/1953 - 7/5/2000

My guy . . . taken too soon. I'll be spending the week remembering, and hopefully doing some special things to mark our years together. He had such faith in me, more than I had in myself. I think about all the things I've had to get through without his support since his death and realize that he would have had no doubt that I could, urging me on from beyond. And he pushed me in my quilting too, never letting me slacken my standards. So I'll be trying to live up to some of that in the studio, in his honor, in his memory.

And Suddenly It's July

How did that happen? Felt like a wake up call the morning there were no more days in June, and I had to flip the calendar to reveal the month of July. Ack Ack Ack!!! I'm making progress though on the mixed media journal that I painted the spine paper with watercolor paint for. Knowing I'd be making another one of these books was the deciding factor in purchasing one of these Scor-Pal tools.They are primarily used by card makers of which there are many in the Handmade Book Club. One of them mentioned that she'd used hers to do the scoring for her accordion spine and we all sat up and took notice, realizing how much easier that process would become using one of these. And other ways we might use it too.

Score lines from the back

Well, I can confirm it was quick and accurate with its grooves every eighth of an inch for the scoring tool to glide down.

My spine was soon ready for the signatures I'd made and put under weights ahead of time.

Spine from the back showing pamphlet stitch

Easier said than done, sewing the signatures to this spine. This is an awkward binding to work, what with each signature being sewn separately into the valley of a spine fold, although the 5 hole pamphlet stitch itself is simple.

The first few aren't too bad. But the more you sew, the more the spine starts flopping around.

And by the end, it is getting difficult to maneuver the signature clipped to the spine into the cradle to punch the sewing holes.

But it is done and back under weights in preparation for the next step, which if I remember correctly, is a messy one.

I've also cut the covers from book board, a job I hate as it takes so many swipes of whatever cutting tool (craft knife, box cutter, etc.) to finally get all the way through the hard 2mm board. I've tried all the suggestions for making it easier, and I still find myself needing to draw my blade several dozen times to make it through, all while holding down the metal ruler without it slipping out of line. But it's done now too and ready for me to add decorative paper to it.

Just Playing

This has been on my mind for a long time and now that the challenge books are out of the way and I'm eager to start going through the other book projects lined up with their directions and materials, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. "Real" painters are quite passionate and insistent about swatching your paint colors, to get a feel for how they react on paper and their true color once mixed with water or other colors on a brush. You can probably guess that true to form, I've wanted to swatch my watercolors but never made the time. But I made time this weekend.

Here was my thought. I'm planning to make another 5 Day Mixed Media Journal Challenge in a larger size. It's the one with the accordion fold spine that I had painted with acrylic paints. Journal pages painted with acrylic paint have a bad habit of sticking to each other, or just to an opposing blank page. When I got my journal out to refresh my memory about its construction, those parts of the folded spine sticking up between the signatures had to be gently pried away from them. So after some thought, I hit upon the idea of using watercolor paint instead to bring some color to the spine.

A "what if" posed itself. What if I paint the spine paper while I swatch? I knew there'd be lots of paint left on the brush after painting each tiny swatch square so rather than waste it, I could expend it on the spine paper. So I can't start that book project until I do my swatching. I decided on inch wide vertical stripes on the paper because the accordion folds will be made at each inch. Kinda iffy about this now that it is done. Maybe need to add some pen drawing over the top, zentangles? Note: I actually have two watercolor paint palettes. My original purchase was a nearly half-price mini Sennelier set. These paints are quite pricey but even with my limited knowledge and  experience, beautiful to work with. But I was frustrated that I couldn't manage anything resembling pink with the red that's in it. So when a larger palette went on sale with only a few duplicates and a red that would dilute to a pink, I splurged on it. It also has a purple that I would soon need.

Because there's actually a third bird to kill here. I'd finally gotten around to putting the plants I'd bought into various pots and planters early in the month and in doing so, had broken off a stem full of blooms off one of them. I put it in some water and studied the flowers, ending up doing a simple sketch of them. A few days later, I matched their color to a colored pencil and added that to the sketch. 

But because of a certain watercolor artist's videos about bringing the garden in and making simple botanical sketches, I was compelled to try that too. Again, I wouldn't be using much paint and I could do it while I swatched, using my colored pencil sketch for reference. Nothing to write home about, but it was a chance to get a feel for how to use the brush and how the paints flowed (or didn't flow) on this mixed media sketchbook page. Also in the picture at the top, everything is laid out on a new investment: Tim Holz Media Surface Mat. Not cheap but I think it will definitely reduce some of my frustrations when working with inks and paint. It's a non-stick surface that is also heat resistant (i.e. you can use a heat gun over it and hot glue dripped on it won't hurt it) and the corners are slightly weighted to keep it flat. The flip side sticks to almost any surface - it's rock solid on my work table. A big improvement over the freezer paper I'd begun to tape down shiny side up on my table.

The deck garden is a sorry sight at this point. All that was blooming when I bought them have spent those blooms. Most that had buds only saw those buds dry up rather than open up. A few scraggly pink blossoms have emerged, and I'm sure once our roller coaster weather settles, the rest of the blooms will come. In the meantime, the pot by the front steps has taken up the slack. While pondering what I might buy to put in it, the violas from last year have come back with a vengeance! They are now showing 4 or more inches above the rim of the pot, saying, "No need for anything else!" We'll see how long that lasts, but in the meantime, they are a cheery sight as I come and go on my walks.

Last of the Little Library Book Challenge

The final binding in this challenge is a staggered running stitch. Really quite simple as long as you remember that not all signatures have sewing holes in the same place! I used leather from the smooth leather bomber jacket on this one and was moved to get those pieces of marbled fabric back out. The one used to line the cover is one on heavier fabric but what about this one which is very similar but on very thin fabric? Could I cut it into partial signature wrappers? Yes I could! And to make it easy on myself, I used Scor Tape to attach them to the signatures. The only down side to this was the way the Scor Tape gunked up my awl as I punched sewing holes.

A "feature" we could add if we wanted to was a peep hole in the spine, one of the reasons I wanted something decorative along the fold of my signatures. I tried several ways of marking the hole before cutting and used applique scissors to make the cut. The teacher warned not to expect our circles to be perfect but I was still surprised at how difficult it was to follow the line I'd drawn, so yeah, my circle opening is not perfect.

But it worked perfectly fine all the same. Again, enjoyed the option of using two different thread colors.

I didn't particularly care for the closure option, but we were encouraged to experiment to come up with our own anyway. I've had this buckle for the longest time, since my mother in law decided she was done with sewing clothes and offered me some of her things. Could never figure out how to use it until now. I love how it looks.

I chose a 24lb specialty Southworth Granite paper to fancy this one up a bit. It will end up being a gift like the last one too, if I can bear to part with it.

The inevitable gap between signatures which in this case also exposes the hole in the cover spine. Not sure that I like that.

And as always, I pen my name, the date, and kind of paper in the signatures along the back cover.

A lovely little trio of books, all about 4-1/2 x 6 inches, ones I wouldn't mind making again, perhaps with Kraftex covers and different types of closures and slightly larger sizes. This staggered running stitch one in particular is calling out to me to end its asymmetry by adding a 5th row of stitches to even things up. It'd still be staggering. ;-)

Book Two of the Little Library Challenge

Honestly, things would go faster if I quit thinking about ways to deviate from the suggested materials, not to mention, just work on the books in order. Once I started doing that, convincing myself I can try the many ideas floating through my head on additional books after I finish these first three, things moved right along. I already showed you a sneak preview of book two - the cover with its sewing holes punched and an edge turned back to reveal the lining. Above you can see the inside of the cover in the background as I hold the signatures that I've put decorative wrappers around. You may remember that I started saving security envelops for the interesting patterns and I had a few from some oversized envelops, big enough to match the size of my signatures. I've not done the signature wrap thing before, not really understanding the why of it, but tried it here as it was a suggestion to help bulk up the signatures.

The back of two of these wrapper had a bit of printing that needed covering. Just quickly cut strips from the leftovers that are held in place with Scor Tape.

It dawned on me that I'd made this book before and was unhappy with how the signatures didn't fill in the gaps between them and came up with a solution after much pondering. This time I chose to really load up each signatures with almost twice the recommended number of sheets. There - nice and fat. But I must admit, it was a bit hard to get the awl through all those layers when it was time to make the sewing holes.

The binding is called a Long Stitch with Packing and while not as difficult as it looks like it might be, it can be tricky to get those wraps from twisting and pulled up next to each other. In the book I made before, I used a hemp thread that I waxed myself. This time I used a heavily pre-waxed linen thread and oh my, what a difference! I was given a tip on how to move the wrap up which also made a difference, but without the wax from that heavily waxed thread grabbing on to the wrap above it and holding it in place, I still would have struggled. Yes, you can make do but sometimes having the right tools/supplies makes the job much easier. Using two different colors of thread as I'd done on the first book per suggestion from the examples was something that wouldn't have occurred to me to do, but is so much fun.

Here's the finished book complete with a leather strap closure. The strap was cut from a welted seam, threaded through two slits on the flap and finished off with an piece of elk horn with a large hole in the center.

I cut the cover across a seam so that it would angle across the front but not fall where I had to punch a hole in the spine for sewing.The two slits in the flap allowed the strap to create a place where a pen could be slipped.

I dithered over using these security envelop wraps for this book as I had originally thought I'd make the third book's cover out of black Kraftex where the grey would coordinate so well rather than stick with leather for all three books as in the examples. But this was one of those times when I realized I just had to get on with it and finish this one up for a friend who will need all those pages and the convenience of the pen holder which I don't believe I could have pulled off with my Kraftex idea. Using them here influenced my choice of lining a bit, going with the fabric that had some black in it. I think my friend will love it, probably more than my other idea, which of course I could also make for him at a later date. :-)

The last book is actually done except for the closure which I am still deciding on. I know what I want to use, just have to figure out how to attach it.

The Little Library Bookmaking Challenge

The leader/teacher of the Handmade Book Club that I belong to periodically makes available for a small fee to those outside of the club a class to learn how to make a particular bookbinding (members automatically have the class included in their monthly fee). As a rule, you make one book in which, besides how to make a particular binding, you learn several bookmaking basics, like the importance of paper grain, cutting bookboard, what kind of thread to use. Whether you know nothing about bookmaking or have been making books forever, everyone agrees there are new things to learn and sometimes surprisingly, you end up with a beautiful and usable book. But for some reason, said teacher and her team decided that this class, presented as a 5 day challenge, would show how to make not one, but THREE little books, each with a different binding method. Even those of us who have been making books for awhile were surprised and daunted. Say a prayer for the newbies! And being presented with 3 books and three times the possible options, I definitely spent days floundering. Not unlike how my quilting projects go, I couldn't just quickly choose an option and get on with it. But when I finally did, I started having great results. It helped a lot when I finally decided on which signatures and binding to use with this beautiful teal suede from a Goodwill woman's blazer (not as good of a deal as my 99 cent bomber jackets but still pretty inexpensive) and started deconstructing it. One part of a sleeve had a section big enough for a cover, but I was still dithering over linings. In the end, none of the marbled fabric worked as well for me as the ones pulled from my slightly heavier cotton stash. That one on the left ended up getting fused to the inside of the cover.

Now to my signatures made from 90lb mixed media paper. One would think they would be plenty thick enough to fill this cover but this binding has wider gaps between the signatures than most. Many people were compensating by adding "wraps" around each signature - a decorative piece of paper that could be the full width of the page or less, of a heavier or lighter paper. I've not used wraps before but I had a bit of an aha moment over a piece of paste paper a friend had given me and left over from using it to cover the boards of a different book project. Too big to toss, challenging to figure out what it was big enough for, again that beautiful teal I cannot get enough of. But wait - about the same height as my signatures and if cut into 4 six inch long pieces, each piece wide enough to wrap around the signatures showing about an inch on front and back. Beautiful! These were held in place with glue stick as there were random paint marks on the back and then the stitching holes could be punched in each.

As for the cover, it too needed stitching holes punched in the spine and a button chosen and sewn at the center of it. No dithering over the button; I knew just which one to pull from my button jar. In high school, I'd made myself a long midi skirt out of (what else?) teal wide and narrow wale corduroy which was a wrap around design with buttons down the top edge of the wrap. Yes, THIS button and its buddies. As for that paper punch, it's a 1/16" hole punch that in the past I'd discovered does a pretty good job of punching sewing holes in leather. Otherwise just using an awl, the holes tend to close back up. It has a two inch reach so can't quite make it to the center-most holes, yet this soft cover can be gently rolled to allow the punch to reach them.

The example from the challenge teacher showed using different colors of the stitching thread, another opportunity to freeze up over decisions, but by now I was pretty sure of my direction, choosing white and orange threads to make the chain stitches securing the signatures. I've always liked the look of teal and orange, which explains my lining choice as well. 

The closure is a simple piece of elastic that loops over the button on the spine. Looking at it now, I think I intended to angle cut the top and bottom corners of the front edge of the flap. Could still do that. Doesn't that rusty orange elastic look great?

A peak inside showing the lining fabric and signature wraps as well as the gap between signatures. The teacher insists we will be adding things to the pages (like collage) that will bulk up the signatures and fill up the space. I honestly don't know yet what I'll be using this for, only that I love the finished results which is a bit of a surprise. I'd considered not making this one at all because I didn't think I liked the chain stitches on the spine. But it definitely grew on me, and it is a surprisingly quick and easy stitch.

I unexpectedly ended up on a very long phone call today or I might have the second book in the trio ready to show you. I realized that this is one I've made before, with some alterations, and I'm making alterations again. Here's as far as I've gotten: fabric chosen and fused to cover and holes punches, the signatures await sewing in.