NORBAG September Workshop - Judy Rishel - WORD BOOKS

In September, 2017, Judy Rishel presented a workshop demonstrating Word Books. These are books whose pages spell a whole word or name when the book is closed. Judy presented two methods of making this book: 1) using a fold over technique that has a piece of paper folded and 2) cut pages (non-fold) method where each page is separate. Judy brought some delightful samples.

Judy is talking about the Word Book "Travel" that she made

These are some samples that Judy brought. The top one is DOG complete with a dog bone for the hole in the O. Then DECLAN, LOVE, and BOOK.  BOOK was made and painted by Judy's 11 year old granddaughter.

This is a a close up picture of her TRAVEL book. If you notice, each letter is the same color but there is an outline around each letter to make the word visible

 We started with deciding on a word, cutting out the alphabet letters needed and taping them to the end of plain text weight paper. This would give us a template to put on the poster board for the final book.

Judy had a visual sample of how the first step of the template would look. 

We then took the strips and put them together so that you could easily see each letter. With a few cuts and a bit of adhesive tape, we put them together and had our template.

Taping the letters to the text weight paper and laying them out in order to have a nice layout

Once the pages are laid out, they are clipped together and cut.  Note: if we were making the folded card, we would proceed to the next step. If we were using the cut page (non-fold) method, skip the next step and go to putting the template directly on the poster board.

Once cut, we tape the strips together so that when we fold them, they will nest in the proper order

 The next thing we do is to use these as templates and transfer to the poster board we brought. This being NORBAG, some of our members made the templates first and then moved to poster board while others went directly to poster board without the all white template.

At this point, the pages are folded, nested together and bound.  The pamphlet stitch works nicely with the folded version and both versions can use punched holes, staples (covered with washi tape) or even stab binding. The pages can be decorated with almost anything. Some used decorative papers or simply different colors of poster board (or card stock). For the letters to stand out, it is best to have some kind of contrast between letters. For example, use different colors, or patterns. Another way to make the letters show up well is by having an outline of the letter.

SAMPLES WE MADE

Polka Dot?!

 Judy didn't stop there. She provided an excellent set of instructions for our workshop and then lined a table with letters for other words.

Don't forget, we have pictures of the exchange books themed as "Second Chance" on Flickr. They will be up by September 25. Have a look, they are great in color. You can find them by going to NORBAG.blogspot.com then tapping on the link in the left hand column that says "Guild Flickr Gallery."

Margaret Beech - Workshop - Part 2

On Saturday, April 28, Margaret Beech gave a workshop. Part 1 was put on the blog in early May. Now you will see the remaining pictures from her workshop. We started at 9:30 am and continued until 4:00 pm with a book exchange in the middle. We have already shown the Two Color Cut-out Maze book and the Origami Box with a Tato “Lid”. Margaret also presented a Double flag book and a 12 Pocket Wallet with Strip Tease Binding. Margaret admitted that it was actually an Australian reverse piano hinge binding but “strip tease” sounds so much more fun.

Margaret Beech

 12 Pocket Wallet with "Strip Tease" Binding

For the "origami" wallet, we started with a piece of text weight paper and folded it. 
We cut out a tab in the upper left and right so that the tab would fit flatly when finished.

We folded all of the flaps inward.

We flipped the unit over, folded it in half and tucked the tab
 under the diagonal folds. We made two of these little wallets.

We took another paper and made an accordion with an "m" shaped unit. 
The mountains will be inserted in slits in the spine of the wallet.

When the mountain fold is put through the slit in the wallet,
 it is locked into place with a locking tab.

The outside of the wallet also has the diagonal folds
 and we slide the ends of the accordion under them.

This is a view of the inside.  A variation would be to make the wallet (or not)
 and slide a signature in the reverse piano hinge and use a separate cover.

Double Flag Book

Margaret also made a double flag book. She sewed two accordions together forming a honeycomb of sorts.

Two strips are cut and folded for the accordion pages. 
One valley (shown) is sewn to the mountain fold behind it.

 

Look closely and you can see the pamphlet stitch that connects each fold. You can see the honeycomb formed below. If you try this, make sure to sew before you start putting on the flags.

 

After sewing, we put on the flags. Make sure that you put the flags
on the accordion so that the pattern is pleasing to you.

And then there were lots of samples!

 

The center flags are from boxes. The top and bottom are pictures.

Valerie looks like a very happy camper!

These flag books are displayed next to the Tato boxes.
  What a myriad of colors.

 

LET'S MAKE A WORD BOOK

Judy Rishel will lead the September workshop where we will create a book that spells out a single word. In these books, the edge of the page is the next letter of a word. Each letter sticks out farther than the letter/page before so the whole word can be seen at once. That means that each page is a different length. Judy will have the following word patterns available: LOVE, TEAM, SMILE, DAD, MOM, TRAVEL, BABY, DOG, plus a pattern for all 26 letters. The advantage to these books is that you can make up any word you want to personalize a book for a special person or event. Judy will also demonstrate several different ways to finish off the spine of the book.

A sample of an undecorated word book

Materials and Tools to bring:

• Bone folder
• Glue
• Ruler
• Awl
• Scotch tape
• Pencil
• Good scissors for curved cutting
• Thread and needle
• Hole punch (if you have one)
• Paper: 10 sheets of text weight paper
• White poster board: purchase this at the Dollar Store (2 for $1.00). This product is a lighter weight that Judy prefers for this project.
• Paper cutter

What will be provided:

• Word book patterns and individual letters
• Directions to make word books with spine variations
• "O" rings
• Judy's thread box
• Scrapbook color paper
• Paper cutter

WHEN:   Saturday September 9 at 12 noon
WHERE:  Eureka Methodist Church at Del Norte & F Streets
BRING:   See above list
RSVP:    YES, by September 8 to Judy (contact information is in the newsletter).
COST:    $1.00

NORBAG August Workshop - Kris Nevius and the X Stitch Books

Kris Nevius drove up From Graton (near Sebastopol/Santa Rosa) to teach our members Keith Smith's various X Stitch bindings. By providing templates, we were able to sew the correct sequence by following the numbers and letters with Kris guiding us. This practice gave us the confidence to then use different patterns on our subsequent two books.

Kris is showing the spine stitch when finished.

Kris is piercing the spine. The spine has two rows of piercing
 so that each signature will have its own attachment.

Kris piercing the signatures using a piercing cradle.

 Kris made sample boards for us to practice each of the stitches before we began. We used two basic piercing patterns. The one on the right is the more straight forward. The needle would start in Signature A and then move to B. Where the threads crossed in the middle, they could simply cross, wrap or loop giving different stitches. On the right, you can see each of the possibilities. The left set gives an offset batch of holes again with the possibility of simply crossing, twisting, or looping. 

The first stitches were awkward to hold. Once the first two X's were complete, the holes lined up more easily and we then moved to our second and third books using a different stitching pattern each time.

Examples of our work:

Please note, one of our members came up with this variation during the workshop.

Look closely and you will see several stitch variations on the same book.

This book has a variation that uses all 4 holes with stitching directly across
resulting in a bar with the lower stitch looping over the upper bar.

We were busy.

The book on the far right has a linked stitch with a different tension
on the stitching resulting in a bow-like look.

The pink book has a combination of bars and X stitches.

Kris made these in different sizes and put closures on them for notebooks.

Many thanks to Kris for her fantastic workshop. She included wonderful handouts and instructions. It was especially interesting to see how varied this stitch can be. We came away feeling very accomplished! We hope to see this binding in future exchange books.

SUMMER LIBRARY KIOSK

This summer the kiosk in the Humboldt County Library features creative nontraditional book bindings made by several NORBAG members. Many thanks to Donna Gephart, Edge Gerring, Dolores Guffey, and Michele Kamprath for lending their books and to Lynne Gurnee for arranging the display.

In traditional book binding, individual signatures (sets of pages) are sewn together and then bound between two covers with a spine which hides the stitching. Modern book binders sometimes eliminate the spine so that the stitching is visible becoming part of the decorative art of the hand-bound book.

Exposed Spine Bindings

• Coptic binding comprises methods of bookbinding invented by Egyptian Christians (Copts) as early as the 2nd century AD. Coptic books did not have a spine. They were spineless. 😉

• The French Stitch and Bow Tie Stitch are sewn over tapes. Functionally they are used to tighten up the binding, applied to every third or fourth signature. In a traditional binding the stitches are concealed by the spine; in nontraditional binding a stitched exposed spine is a decorative element.

Decorative Bindings on Spines

• Caterpillar binding is a decorative stitch that is sewn on both covers & spine.

• Buttonhole binding is sewn around cutouts in the spine to attach the signatures and cover to the spine.

• Pisces binding (resembling fish) is a 3 signature binding designed by Keith Smith.

• Secret Belgium binding has the signatures sewn onto the spine which floats separately from the covers.

• In Raven’s Foot binding the cords crossing the spine are wrapped with waxed linen thread.

• Both tacket binding & rope stitch have thread wrapped around a long stitch, which is a long running stitch.

X STITCH BINDING with Kris Nevius

Kris Nevius, a NORBAG member from Graton CA, is also a member of the Sonoma County Book Arts Guild. She will be traveling here to teach Keith Smith's "X Binding" (a two signature binding) and the "Twisted X" (one of his variations). There are more variations that Kris will share so participants will be able to choose which variation they would like to make for additional books, time permitting. This is a great opportunity to learn a Keith Smith binding WITHOUT having to decipher his often complicated instructions.

PLEASE NOTE: This workshop is limited to 15 participants. Registration will be by mail only. The first 15 who send in a check for $10 will be in the workshop. A waiting list will be made in case of cancellations. You will be notified immediately upon receipt of registration if you are in the workshop or on the waiting list. Send your check for $10. made payable to NORBAG along with your name, email address, and phone number to: North Redwoods Book Arts Guild, P.O. Box 225, Cutten, CA 95534.

Members are still invited to attend a short meeting and the usual book exchange before the workshop. The meeting will begin at 12 noon with the book exchange to follow at 12:30. The workshop for registered participants will begin at 1 p.m.

The materials list and tool information for the workshop are all in the newsletter. If you have any questions please contact Kris or Dolores. Their contact information is in the newsletter.

When:       Saturday August 12. 
   Meeting at 12 Noon 
   Book Exchange at 12:30
   Workshop from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Where:      Eureka Methodist Church at Del Norte & F Streets
RSVP:        Register by mailing a check payable to NORBAG to P.O. Box 225, Cutten, CA 95534
Cost:         $10.00
Questions: Email Kris or Dolores, contact information is in the newsletter.