Fluttering By
June’s project is a flutter book. Apparently you pick up the book by its covers and the pages flutter out and down. I’m not sure I really like this–maybe I relish organization and this feels rather loose.
I decided to write a small story about the Monarch butterflies and their life cycle. We live on the edge of the Big Thicket, an interestingly diverse ecosystem. I wrote one story about a flying armadillo and plan to write more stories about the creatures that live here.
Today’s story was not as fanciful as a flying armadillo—but it goes through the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly.
Fiber and Fabric have always fascinated me–and I thought I would try making a cover of fabric scraps. I sewed some fairly small pieces together, backed it with a foundation but then wanted it larger and added strips to all sides—that left a ridge!
Traditionally wheat paste is used to adhere a thin paper layer to the back of cloth to make book cloth—but I used a fusible and mulberry paper. The paper crinkles as the book is handled.
I also discovered I am capable of gluing my fingers together even with double sided tape–or a glue stick.
I did not count the number of pages for my story and my book–important to have them match up.
But the book is done—and I will continue to experiment with a variety of methods to used fabric as the cover.
Here are a few photos of the book.
Sylvia Weir Art 