The book of letters is coming along, slowly. I did the first section, sewed it up, and then didn't like how it laid when flat (namely, it didn't lay flat)-- learning the hard way a lesson in how to make nice folds so all the nested pages will line up right and act nice when folded. So now I'm going on to the second letter, trying a new layout, and hoping this one will be a keeper so I can get on with things (and redo the first section the new way, if it all works out). I'm hoping I don't get all the way to the end, ready to bind it up, and discover there's another technical issue I hadn't planned on that will require a major rethinking. But, if there is, there is-- such are the hazards when one teaches oneself something like bookbinding.

The first two letters are from my grandmother, Edith Taylor (originally Roberson). Here she is:

On we go

It's been a while. I'm still here. The following happened to contribute to my bloggerly neglect: 1. I forgot to renew my domain name and now it's gone, gone, gone, and that left me uncertain about what to do with this space if people can't find me as easily; 2. the business side of things has gone on hiatus as we prepare for a cross-country move this summer. Also, yes, there's a toddler in the picture now. But I'm still here, still thinking about and making things when I can. Lately my energy has been going into bookbinding. Lots of thinking, and some of the thinking is turning into doing. I have a collection of letters to my father from his family and friends, dating from the 1940s through the 1960s; I've decided to make them into a bound book. The letters are at points somewhat banal in tone; in that way, they're charmingly timeless. But still they tell a story-- a meandering story many of whose various plotlines go unresolved within the letters themselves. I haven't even sat down and read them all in order yet, but I hope it'll turn out to be an interesting project when all's said and done. There are 38 letters from the first period, 1943-1947. I'm planning to copy each letter and sew them to a larger page, with a stab-binding. The larger page in turn has two fold-outs, up and down like a letter itself. This packet will be bound into a concertina, I think. Each page with its included letter replication and fold outs is quite bulky; I think the concertina will be best, but I'm not certain. I'll post pictures as they become available.