A Book a Day? What's Up With That?


Hi, and welcome to this year-long project. So what's this all about and how did it happen, you might ask. In mid 2007, artist Noah Scalin decided to make a skull out of anything he could find, every day for a year. It stretched him in ways he never imagined, as an artist, a writer and a person. His experience turned into a blog that went viral, and then a book.

Others have picked up on the idea: 365 Hearts, 365 Masks, 365 Bears drawn on a cellphone, 365 paper napkin mustaches.
I wanted to play, too, and I chose books. I love books, I know a bit about making books (thanks to my talented book-maker sister, Marilyn Worrix), and they're broad enough in definition to give me a lot of creative leeway.

The whole point is not really the books. The idea is to stretch myself in many ways as an artist and a person, to set up a discipline, stick with it and see what that teaches me.

I hope you'll join with me and follow along on the journey chronicled here, and let me know what you think.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Book 195 - Recycled Scrabble Journal/Notebook - Double-Needle Coptic Stitch Binding

Today we have another recycled journal made from a Scrabble board. Yesterday's was a stab bind; today is a coptic binding. I really made this blank book/journal to learn more about the double-needle coptic stitch. Unlike the only other one I've done, which had only two holes or sewing stations, this one has four. That actually meant four needles and two threads, one set for each pair of holes.

This stitch is actually quite easy once you get the rhythm of it. The hardest part, I think, is keeping all those dangling threads straight without tangling or sewing the wrong thread into the right hole. I had less of a problem with the tension on this than on my single-needle coptic bindings and the cover stays closed pretty well. Maybe I'm actually learning something here.

The cover is cut from a Scrabble board with the two raw edges bound with Japanese decorative masking tape in deep burgundy. The back is a piece of book board covered and lined with a pretty green paper. There are eight signatures of six sheets each of peach-colored text paper and the coptic stitch is done with deep maroon waxed linen thread.

There are a couple of  small bungles in the stitching that I don't think you can see in the pix, but I understand now what I did wrong there so they won't happen again.

A good lesson, this one.








5 comments:

  1. Love this! Wouldn't these make the perfect gift for somebody who is a scrabble lover? Love the burgundy and green papers, too. :)

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  2. ooo I am soooo glad I found your blog!!! I just love seeing all the various bindings and yummy books you show here....just fabulous work!!

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  3. Cynthia - Welcome. So glad to have you aboard. And thanks for the nice compliment. I am having great fun and learning more than I even dreamed.

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