My Halo has been burnished

I have been very hard working today and at 1630 am thinking of stopping off till tomorrow.

1) I defrosted the freezer with all that that means in the way of wrapping up everything in newspaper and washing all the drawers and the freezer inside when it was defrosted. The kitchen was hopeless while this was in progress
2) I have hemmed the Birds weaving ready for Exotica, using bias binding and weighted the lower hem with curtain weights.
3) I bought a cotton dress (circa 1960s) which was a little too small. I have let out the seams where needed and it looks/feels fine now. Michael is highly amused. 'You used to have dresses just like that' Why does he think I bought it?
4) Dorothy brought us a fine textile picture as a present recently. In order to hang it, I had to take down two others (Ravilious book plates) and re-hang all three. Step-ladders, pliers, screwdrivers et cetera.
5) I have cleaned up the garage and cleared the bench top for pasting paper to fabric for book covers. Six pieces of board in the cellars and suitable for this operation were put in the garage. I have mixed the paste needed for this and put it in the fridge. I have chosen six pieces of fabric trimmed them to be about 1 inch all round smaller than A2 because I am going to use A2 bank paper. All the fabric has been pressed and laid aside carefully.

I could do something about the loom bags but I don't feel I have to.

Hay on Wye

Every second Friday, Michael goes to St Richards Hospice (McMillans) where he has a great time painting, drinking (I kid you not, they get wine/whisky/etc before lunch), eating and generally chatting to a group of people in the same situation. It's a beautiful place with an enormous well-laid-out garden which is immaculately kept and contains a very large duck pond. The flowers are all planted in high beds made of old railway sleepers so that folks in wheelchairs can enjoy them. 

Well that's him. What about me? I could stay at home and do some textiley things but that seems a pity when it is so difficult for me to go anywhere more than 20 minutes drive away without organising someone to look after Michael. So yesterday I went to Hay-on-Wye which is a drive of 75 minutes. I went intending to buy some distressed books for rebinding but found nothing that I liked. Instead I bought a raft of art books. A book on Sargent's watercolours for Michael, a book on Bawden in North Africa for me, a book on David Gentleman's designs, a Rex Stout we haven't got. I was surprised at the last. I thought we had everything. I found a crafts shop which had mice made of twisted wire and good glass but only bought three sheets of wrapping paper (for bookbinding).

To get to Hay from Malvern, you need to go through Hereford and there are two ways to get to Hereford from Malvern, one of which is rumoured to be having problems with roadworks. So I went via Ledbury. On the way home I thought I shall be driving past Mr Waller's. So I stopped and bought beef for the weekend. Ledbury is a small town with a bustling main street and five high class butchers and the highest class is Mr Waller's. I have been in a posh restaurant (coq au vin etc etc) and the first main course listed was 'Dave Waller's sausages with onions and wine gravy'. So I bought some of them (the Bosbury Bangers to be precise), some drycure bacon and one of his award-winning pies (pork and garlic) which I started on when I got home because I had missed out on lunch. 

Later on I stitched and cut up the Megado output (see yesterday's blog). There are half-finished projects all over the place and, since we have no visitors this weekend, I am hoping to finish a lot of them.

I am enjoying reading various blogs about CW and Convergence, Cally Booker, Daryl Lancaster, Sandra Rude, Alice Schlein. I wish - - - -

Birds and Caladium Leaves and - - -

I have sewn in all the ends and zigzag stitched in the spacer weaving between pieces and cut them up. Above is Fancies II which is going to the EXOTICA Exhibition at Birmingham Botanic Gardens - see poster. Do come along.

 And this is Caladium Leaves II. Mind you I think I might like Caladium Leaves III better which has only a dark green weft, (see below) but II has been entered for EXOTICA so that's that.

 Here is a photo of both sides of the networking drafting done with pale yellow weft and below is with a dark blue weft. An interesting colour point is that, in the yellow weave, the dark maroon warp looks a nice chocolate brown.

I rather like this one. It would make a good upholstery cloth.

Now I have several pieces of cloth. What am I to do with them? The Kennet Valley Guild  has a thing called 'Rosie's Challenge' which happens every three months. A topic is set and everyone who who can enters their response - knitters, spinners, felt makers, lace makers, braiders and weavers. We have had Kandinsky, Fire (June 2010), anything recycled, Teatime. That produced cake stands full of knitted Battenberg cake and knitted salmon sandwiches decorated with knitted hardboiled egg. Anyway the next challenge is a bag for the September meeting. For some time, I have thought that a bag looped over each end of the Megado's stool would be a good idea for parking loaded shuttles in. I have dug out a book (100 bags and purses) and found a pattern for a bucket bag so this fabric is about to be made up into something useful. Need to hunt for a lining but I am sure I have something upstairs.

Painted Sheep (otherwise SheepScape)

Today was a great day - a new chapter. I rented a van from Malvern Community Action which is fitted out to take a wheelchair and I took Michael to Nature in Art. just north of Gloucester. They are having a Sheepscape. A lot of fibre glass sheep have been made and lots of different groups have decorated them. They are all over the garden. Here are a few. Me, I like the wings and pale pink tutu.

We looked round the galleries and the garden with the sheep and then visited the Artist In Residence, Sylvia Sutton, who is a botanical illustrator. Lots of lovely things on show including a number of vegetable drawings called the Allotment series. You don't think of

kohl-rabi and carrots or rhubarb as being worthy of an artist's attention but they are with Sylvia Sutton!!

Then tea and buns and a drive home. When I asked Michael if he wanted to do a similar expedition next week, he said yes immediately. But he did fall asleep as soon as he was back in bed!!

I have removed the weaving from the Megado and tidied up the loom and its surroundings. I need to finish the fabric and look at it carefully. I will scan in the different designs as I am finding the camera is not showing the colours well.

The next thing on the Megado is a long length of Tencel to make curtains from two sorts of spaced dyed yarn from Just Our Yarns and some pink self-coloured Tencel dyed by me. But it is all in skein form. I need it on cardboard bobbins. And I have none. I had a huge clear up in order to get back some shuttle bobbins. I will swear I have bought 30 such bobbins in the last few years. Why is it that when I want 5 or 6 I never have any? Because I can't bear to discard the remnants of yarn on these bobbins after finishing a piece. Okay then, I faced up to it and wound lots of shuttle bobbins off on to cardboard tubes - leaving me with lots of empty shuttle bobbins and one cardboard one. So I rang up Texere and asked if they had any spares for sale. 20 will arrive shortly and I can wind off all the Tencel.

I went to Abigail's Crafts in Stonehouse this afternoon . This is a quilter's heaven. Lots of fabrics, many quite unlike anything I have seen elsewhere. I had to buy these printed cottons. From the left above. How could a bookbinder not buy a fabric with a grammar printed on it? In the centre, an Indian chintz (sort of). On the right, the Sky at Night. The reason why I went was that my sister Dorothy spotted an exhibition on there in August and, as I was nearby, I cased the joint. Verdict - approval. Dorothy will be here in August and we will take a trip there.

I was in the neighbourhood because I was examining cars with access for wheelchairs at a garage south of Gloucester. I learnt a lot but it was clear I really needed to take Michael there and see what he thought. So that will be done next week.

In between all this activity, I wove up the rest of the Megado warp. I need to cut it off and tidy up but that might not happen until Saturday.

Caladium Leaves (5)

This is not the current warp threading on the Megado. I started weaving this afternoon with a pale yellow weft and the results were much nicer than I expected. 

I then realised that, if I reversed every second pattern in the warp, I would get this nice pattern - which I am quite taken with. The diamond is about four inches high using 2/10 cotton. Can I be bothered to rethread the warp for the small amount that is left? I think not. I want to do a practice with a dark weft as well.

But definitely a draft to keep.

Caladium Leaves (4)

I have woven off as much in the way of birds as I want and went back to caladium leaves and have woven a lot more - to use as book covers. But I still have a lot of warp left.

So I have played with advancing twills in the weft only. I may have a lot of warp left but am not enthusiastic enough about it to  rethread and resley.

Two of the results are shown here, each with firstly a black weft and secondly a white weft. This is just to give an idea of what happens with a very dark and a very light weft.

I am not sure I like any of these because of the warp stripes.

A much better effective is obtained by changing face - see last photo. I have enough warp left to try several of these options.

Devore Leaves (4)

Here is the finished scarf. It took hours to iron the chemicals out. Eventually I ironed a single leaf on both sides and then removed the bits of burnt Tencel from it. I was so scared of scorching the wool in the scarf that I took out the final scraps of Tencel with a needle using a jeweller's eyeglass.

It has come out as planned and the varied colours of the warp have worked well. The warp was chained tightly then painted in various colours with acid dyes, then steamed. The patchy yellows, oranges and greens fit this work very well.

The weft was Tencel and merino and the feel of the merino is evident in the final scarf after washing.

I have found some more suitable yarn for the birds weaving in the many boxes of yarn upstairs. I need to get this finished as I must wind a lot of warps for the upcoming indigo dyeing session at the next Kennet Valley Guild meeting  on August 7th - the annual 'Dying in the Churchyard'

To any Guild members reading this, please bring fibre, yarn, fabric, warps for tying up if you want to have a go (and plastic apron and gloves). As an example, I shall be bringing

- a warp tied up for tie-dying
- some cotton poplin crunched up and tied tightly into small bundles
- some tapestry wool for Michael to be dyed so that he has four or five different colours of blue.

Now off to do more weaving of these birds

Get in touch if you have queries.

Birds

I have woven a set of birds on the same warp as the caladium leaves. There were a lot of skipped threads due to the Megado shafts needing adjustment which has been done. Before reweaving the piece, I decided to try other wefts rather than 2/10 cotton. Above are shown four. From the top, a lurexy red thread which turned out to be space dyed with blue so the bird disappears in places. Verdict no use. Second a similar thread but is purple - not space dyed. Verdict Hmphh!. Third is a red boucle man-made yarn which is surprisingly effective. I like this. The last is a straight silver lurex. The problem with lurex is that all the weft has to be lurex (I think). The red boucle is just a small ball of yarn and is kept with other small balls. I could get two rows of birds out of it. Tomorrow I will investigate the larger cones of manmade fibre in the large boxes and see if there is anything else I could use. I am sure there is a mid-blue.

Caladium Leaves (3)

I finished off the Caladium Leaves yesterday; top and bottom edges were bound with black bias binding and machined stitched to form a pocket for a carrying rod. I have used curtain weighting for the bottom.  Looks good. The birds are not so good. There are a lot of skipped threads. I repaired some but decided to repeat it, omitting the warp faced row. I have found some nice metallic thread in the stash and will try that first. The forms have to be in by 24th July so I have taken a risk on it and said I would put in one of birds, the same dimensions as the existing one. I did inspect because that's what it looked like and there were several faults, shaft supports crossing etc. That has all been put right and one hopes for the next piece to be okay.

Last night, the leaves pinned to the devore scarf were transferred to freezer paper cut to the same dimensions as the the scarf. The leaf shapes were cut out and the freezer paper ironed on to the scarf. This morning, I applied the chemical gel. Tomorrow I will iron it and hope it has all worked.

Today is Wednesday, my half-day off. So I went to Droitwich Spa. It is about 40 minutes drive from Malvern and I don't think I have been there since the 70s. Lots of narrow streets with half-timbered houses. In the town centre is a large shopping mall and on the edge of that backing on to some gardens is the library which is having an Exhibition of textile work by Bolt Hole. There was some first rate work by Dianne Carrington which is 3-D, for example, the top of a fluted column and a swag of tropical flowers. All 3D with texture added using lace and beads, then everything sprayed the same colour. Very effective. Another interesting artist was Deb Jackson who makes waistcoats frothing with lace although they look too fragile to be worn. They definitely gave me ideas for projects!

After that it was to Bevere Gallery just North of Worcester to buy Anne a birthday present and of course look round, Lovely watercolours of the Wye Valley by John Harris and some fine porcelain bowls by Thomas Headley. I bought a garden pot for Anne and two sheets of wrapping paper for me. Interesting stuff and suitable for covering books. It is far too good to wrap presents in!!!

Home by way of a shirt shop for Michael. I got caught in a thunderstorm walking to the shop and came home sodden. Never mind, it was a good day.

Caladium Leaves (2)

After a few experiments in colour and yarn size, I decided that 2/10 cotton would be better as weft. Partly this is because of the slightly thicker yarn but, more important, the 2/10 is mercerised and the 2/12 is not. When woven up, the mercerised positively glows.

I only had limited suitable colours for caladium leavse in 2/10, dark green, a vibrant pink and a pale grey/blue

Since I only really want one of these weavings, I went to a draft of birds I showed on this blog some time ago and revamped it. This time I was not so limited in colours and even included some orange. The only thing that has not worked is the bottom row of birds where I turned the draft to be back to front. This means I get a row of different coloured birds but the warp is dominant so their poor feet have disappeared.

I still have more than a yard of warp left and will continue weaving but I will make these up first to see what they look like finished up. I had thoughts of weaving Christmas cards on the rest of the warp but decided that each stripe was too narrow.  So more birds it will be. Thinking of Christmas cards, made me wonder what the effct of Lurex on the birds would be.

Since posting last Friday, we have had family to stay and had 10 for lunch on Sunday. So a great deal of scuttling about

Caladium Leaves

Caladium leaves on the loom. I have turned the photo upside down because that is the way it will be hung. The top section has a black weft and is in a 3/1 broken twill. Bonnie Inouye commented on the draft for this weaving that she would not herself do a colour gamp with this draft but use quite different colours in the weft. You know something? I think she's right. I have used the same colours in the weft as in the warp but not in the same order because using the same order would mean that there is a diagonal of leaves which are texture (self on self). It is not the texture I mind but the diagonal. When I have completed six repeats, I will do another black header and then weave another piece with the few non-warp colours I have. I am wondering if, for the sake of experiment, I could use 2/10 yarn instead of 2/12 because I have a lot of colours in 2/10.It would make the leaves a bit longer which I could live with. The deadline is 25th July so I do not have much time for ordering more 2/12 and weaving it.

I spent an hour in the cellar this morning throwing things out - mostly papers. I do feel virtuous!!

New Fuschia

This wall is six foot high and has gooseberries and blackcurrants trained against it. There is a large golden bamboo in front of it which means what grows on top of the wall cannot be seen very well unless you go behind the bamboo. I went to pick some soft fruit this afternoon and discovered a large new fuschia!!! The red and purple one you can see on the right is a seedling which appeared a few years ago and was so nice, I just left it alone.

The one on the left is a new seedling only just appeared. The flowers are white outside and purple inside, clear cut and attractive. 

We collected a lot of soft fruit and a friend took away the black currants but there are lots to come. I think I may have to make some more jam with the goose-berries

The threading on the Megado is complete and half the sleying is done. Tomorrow will see ti completed and tied on.

I am already thinking of the next project which will be bookbinding. I need to paste some fabric to paper before I start on the Japanese sample books. So a major session with wheat starch paste will take place this week. I have had trouble finding suitable paper and have settled for 50gsm bank in a pad of A2. This was delivered yesterday. I also have ideas about a printed book like John Agar's Rainbow full of haiku and drawings/paintings/photos of morning glories. I was not happy about the printing of Rainbow and will start by setting up a better template in Framemaker and printing one copy again.

And while we're at it

Take a look at this fox

Thanks to Rosie Price for pointing out these National Geographic photos.

More on Haiku

Later on Wednesday 14th July (Vive La Republique)

It seems like morning glories were a popular topic for haiku. Various kind readers have sent me haikus but Michael has found what I was looking for


The morning glory!
It has taken the well bucket,
I must seek elsewhere for water. . 

This is by Chiyo-ni, a famous lady poet who lived from 1701 to 1775. Find a lot of her poems here.

Why do I find these short poems attractive? Economy of means?  Imagine what that poem means. I go out to fetch water from the well in the morning and a morning glory is in full flower twined round the bucket. So I say Bother and wonder if I can use the neighbour's well rather than destroy the flowers.

Haiku

I have been bothered recently by not being able to remember a haiku about morning glory and a well and it is not the famous one which goes

• morning glory!
• the well bucket-entangled,
• I ask for water

I am bothered by the thought that I am remembering a different translation. I have been hunting through  our books to see if we have it anywhere. In between hunting, I have got the warp for caladium leaves on the Megado and half of it is threaded up. It's a dawdle! 24 epi and a nice yarn (2/12 cotton) which slides easily through the lease sticks. I might have it finished today but I have Wednesday afternoon off and am going to Worcester to have a hair cut. We decided to keep my Wednesday afternoons off even when the bookbinding class is on holiday. I have signed up for bookbinding  next year and intend to get to grips with leather!! I have also signed up for a class (halfday a week) at Bournville College of Art on Creative Textiles. That starts in early September.

On the way back from Worcester, I will look in at the Plough and Harrow and see if it is suitable for a wheelchair. I hear good things about the food there. We have discovered that the local Community owns a vehicle kitted out for a wheelchair which you can hire by the day or by the hour. This might make a big difference to our lives. We have been thinking about buying such a vehicle and I would not mind trying one first.

Devore Leaves (3)

Various people made suggestions as to leaf placement (thanks to you all) and I tinkered with it a bit myself. So this is the current placement. Having seen it as a photo, I now think the fourth leaf from the bottom needs to move to the right. (Note the colour is not right in this photo - far too dark).

I shall give it another day or two. To introduce another colour into the leaves, I painted the sample with SETA silk paints. It wicked from the  two small leaves into the body of the scarf but was contained within the large one. Not sure about this. The paint needs heat setting. I will try to wash out the paint with cool water. If that does not work , I won't risk painting  the scarf.

I have made progress with warping up for the caladium piece on the Megado. I have not used the warping wheel for a bit and the counter is now definitely kaput. So I have emailed AVL for a new one. The current warp can be completed without the use of the counter since there is  only 4 yards of warp. But the next Megado piece definitely will need a counter.

Handspun Cushions - and Devore Scarf

The cushions have been sewn into the handspun cushion covers using ladder stitch and some Anchors Tapestry wool of a mid-grey. The thread worked well and it was easy to do. So that's another project completed.

The devore scarf is finished and off the loom with seamed ends. I attended a meeting of the Midland Textile Forum today and finished off the fringes which I have plaited in group of 12 threads. The scanned leaves from the garden were altered from green to yellowy/green/orange in Photoshop, printed out in various sizes and cut out. These were then 'artistically' arranged on the scarf. I am not 100% keen on the arrangement so it is pinned up at the end of the corridor where I see it often and have been moving a leaf now and then. The top has the fringe folded to the back but the top is where the cloth ends so the whole woven piece is visible.

I will not start on the devore bit for a few days while I make quite sure I like this. It is deliberately asymmetrical. Views and comments are more than welcome as I am unsure about this. It is necessary to have largish shapes in devore and not too many pointy bits.

At this moment in time, all three looms are empty but not for long. Tomorrow I will start warping up the Megado for the caladium leaves which has to be completed by 25th July. I actually only need 50 cms but must include a lot for colour experiments and I think I might put on several metres of this warp.

Had a good day at Midlands Textile Forum. Several people talking about their work including someone who is trying to set up a company to sell very desirable silk head squares.

Back to Textiles - and Bookbinding

I went round to the College today to see the Annual Exhibition. The drawing class either has a talented tutor or a talented class or possibly both. I was very taken with their work. There was stained glass, thrown pottery, constructed pottery, mixed media and, of course, the book binding class. Here on the right is a lovely book with Pop-up fans and a wrap around cover in black lined with red. The whole goes into the black slipcase on the extreme right.

Two books bound in leather with inlay. The left one is Robinson Crusoe, hence the bare foot on the slip case and the island on the front of the book itself. On the right is The Screwtape Letters, again with its own slip case.








S

Some very decorative pamplets.

On the right is a repaired leather binding and, on the left, my two contributions, Alice and the Coptic book with enamels on it.
All very creditable.

I have every intention of doing a lot of Japanese-style books over the summer and will get round to it.

And now to weaving. This is the fabric for the devore scarf on the loom with the sample shown as well. The loom fabric has a weft of yellow merino plus Hunter's Green Tencel. It has not darkened the cloth very much  but then the Tencel is one third of the total yarn so changing its colour will only change the overall effect a little. Still it is better.  I have woven up most of it and hope to complete today.

I have just been reading the Convergence 2010 Gallery Guild and discussing the entries merits/demerits over the phone with my sister Dorothy.  As she said,'Isn't it amazing that two of us who are not going to Converge can read this guide on line and discuss it'. 

Third Opera

So we saw Rigoletto last night with Simon Keenlyside as Rigoletto - by far the best performed and produced opera of the three. The Hippodrome stalls were only 75% full though which is a great pity.

After so many nights going very late to bed, I was surprised to find I was not tired this morning and got up at 6 o'clock. I set about creating a Proforma Invoice, filled up all the forms and the Air Way Bill for DHL and then called them at 9 o'clock. It has gone. Too late now for second thoughts. The Voyager got some attention. It has the devore scarf on it and I have started weaving with Hunter's Green tencel which is much darker than the sample's sage green. The fabric looks much better. Since it is only tabby, I am making great progress, 20 inches already today. I might get a bit more done before bed. I could do with finishing it and then warping up for caladium leaves.

More Opera

I recovered from Cosi Fan Tutte by Monday but had real work to do (the sort that results in a cheque for me). Then Tuesday I went to Birmingham Hippodrome to see Bryn Terfel in The MasterSinger. Left home at 1400 and got back at 2300 having sat through 6 hours of music. Bryn Terfel was first rate as was the Eva (Amanda Roocroft) and the Beckmesser (Christopher Purves - last seen as a first rate Falstaff). My only complaint was that the producers had not made their minds up what century the opera was in. So the Mastersingers in Act 1 arrived in frock coats but the burghers in Act 3 turned up in 15th century stuff, wimples, high foreheads, brocade gowns (men and women). Oh and there were electrical light fittings in the cobblers shop as well as modern bound books on his book shelves.

And to finish off this five days, I am going back to Birmingham tonight to see Rigoletto with Simon Keenlyside. I am alarmed by the fact that it is set in a 1960s White House.  

By the way, this is Welsh National Opera's week at Birmingham and the tickets, like the Glyndebourne ones, were all bought well before Christmas. I cancelled a lot of things when it was clear Michael would not be going anywhere like that but I could not bring myself to get rid of these tickets so I took a Malvern friend.

So no textile work but I did have a good idea. I need to design the leaves for the devore project so I collected leaves from the garden and scanned them in. Then I created a 'scarf' in Photoshop, added the leaves and moved them about. I got something acceptable but thought about it and had a better idea. I have printed out the leaves in three different sizes and will cut them out. I will cut a length of cartridge paper from my roll to match the scarf and physically shuffle the paper leaves about. I will get there in the end.

I have parcelled up the Convergence yardage (masses of odd jobs to do, sew on label, fill up this form, write packing instructions for return) but discovered I need permission from HGA to send. WHY!!! Anyway I have asked.

Glyndebourne

Us in our glad rags just about to set off for Glyndebourne to see Cosi fan Tutte. Left to Right Dorothy (my sister), me, Maddie (my granddaughter), Anne (my daughter). The photo was taken on the balcony of my grandson's balcony in his Brighton flat where we stayed the night. We had a lovely time. The opera was well produced and well sung. The men were particularly good.  Lovely dinner during the interval and a walk through the grounds looking at what people were picnicking on and the clothes they were wearing. Tucked up in bed in Brighton by 11pm. We left this morning at 8 am and were in Malvern at 11. Dorothy had left her car packed and set off alnost at once for Dundee as she has to be back tonight.

I have generated a huge list of 'things I ought to be doing'. And have implemented one or two, like picking some red currants. Must go and do a few more things.


Added later

I opened the post which included a copy of the Complex Weavers Journal and was flabbergasted to recognise the fabric on the cover as mine!!!!

Lilies

We planted these martagon lilies in this spot a long time ago, 15 years? They have flowered reliably and don't seem to suffer from disease or slugs. This year they threw up these two enormous spikes. I do hope it is not a swansong!

This is from some photos taken in Japan by a friend of food trays. She had no idea what she was eating most of the time.  She also took a huge number of photos in the Kyoto Textile Museum, most of which I can understand but a couple bother me. I will report further when I have consulted with some experts. Some lovely fabrics done with pickup.

White Silk Jacket

The white silk jacket is finished - at last. The silk was woven just over four years ago!!. Every square inch has a fused lining and every seam is turned in! The hem at the bottom is finished with one inch bias binding. The ribbon  on the front looks fine. I considered putting some round the edge of the sleeves but decided against.  

The pattern is a twill variant on 32 shafts. This is a scan. The warp and weft were 90/2 white silk from Uppinghams. You can sort of see the pattern but the draft shows it up better.

This was the draft used. It looks as though I developed it from something else but I have no record of what. What I can see from my records is that there were a number of trials of which this was the last.

I have several yards of the fabric left and just as much ribbon as is on the jacket, so I think a waistcoat may be called for.








 My sister is here this week and we had a good time dyeing with Procion MX this morning. I intend to use my pieces of fabric to cover books with. I intend a lot of book binding before October when the class restarts. Two of my books have gone into the College Exhibition, Alice in Wonderland and the small Coptic book with enamels on sycamore as covers.