Back With Books

Another entry in the Meadow Book.

And the basket makers of Tasmania gathered again…so I had to keep up in the Gathering Book.

Then several more illustrations for the Burke and Wills book.

Burke’s mother keeping an eye on him.

Finding a bigger house that Wills can fit into.

The new kitchen.

And a bit more work on the place they end up…the nursing home.

I now have eighteen illustrations for the book. I need to get down to writing the story in rhyme.

And then a friend emailed me to ask my input on making a book to hold samples of weavings. I liked this idea so well that I wish I had samples of my own to house in a book. It would be good for basket weave swatches, loom weavings, collage and hand pulled prints….and anything else one could think of.

So, what it involves is the making of a double concertina book…or double accordion. The small concertina fits through slits in the valley folds of the larger one and are kept from slipping out by putting a piece through its extended fold that is the width of the protruding fold and the height of the book. These slits need to be in the center and if using a thick handmade paper, may require cutting a bit more away than just a slit. Keep things snug but do not tear the slit.

This book that can be added onto by simply making more concertina folds in both sizes to extend it. And the best part is the smaller concertina and its stop piece of paper gives lots of extra thickness at the spine edge where it will be needed to make up for the added on folios with windows to hold the samples.

The windows have been cut through the folio on both sides.  Keeping in mind that the samples need to be kept clear of the smaller extended concertina with its stop sheet. The folio only  glues on by 1/4 inch to the concertina that is extended further out.

You can see above how the short concertina folds coming out in the center help give space where needed. And here is another fun part about this concertina with the stop sheet fitted in. Years ago I cut a hole in the small concertina so I could slide a hidden image or message up into view. This can also be a thicker card stock to add needed thickness. For weaving samples I am seeing both concertinas made from a nice thick handmade paper. For hand pulled prints maybe a nice thick card stock…

To keep the sample or print from dropping through, a simple fold of paper glued to the front and back insides of the folio just below the window out of sight. Additionally printed information about the weaving/print can be added in the window on the back side.

When the book has all the pages it is going to get, lay it flat on the table and measure the thickness to cut a spine piece of book board and front and back covers a smidge bigger than the height and width of the book. Make a separate cover with these three pieces and then attach it to the book using extensions off the front and back to hold it in place. These will be covered with the end papers.

I hope this has not been too boring, but I needed to share this idea somewhere.

Til later….