This weekend I took an interesting and fun, two day workshop with Marlene Pomeroy at her studio in Kitchener. The workshop was based on a historical book structure she discovered in the rare book collection at the Riverbrink Museum in Queenston. The 1776 structure has folded “guards” that the signatures and pull out maps are attached to. These folded guards create extra space needed by the thick, fold out maps. After seeing Marlene’s prototype it was easy to see how this structure could be adapted to all kinds of other uses – travel journals, garden plans, family trees…
Our first day started with Marlene giving us some background on how she came across this structure and how she went on to examine it’s unique construction to be able to recreate it. Our first task was to fold the guards and pull outs, then assemble the text block, punch and sew it onto cords. Once the sewing was done we lined the spine with kozo paper and applied head bands. Day 2 started with prepping the board covers by sanding, applying leather corners and then attaching the boards to the text block using the cord. Next was gluing the leather spine, creating infills and applying the decorative cover papers. With the end papers glued down and the pull outs tipped in the book is complete. Marlene did a really wonderful job of prepping our material and guiding us through the process.
Studio Stone House 