Inside scoop on the $500. book

Yes, it is now called the $500. book,
but it wouldn't even be a book now if it weren't
for my good friend, fabulous artist and book binder,
Meg Fowler.

It starts with looking at all the journal pages
came in to us - 75 in all.

Here you can see where we began to sew
all the pages together using tyvek
and the sewing machine.

Meg's thought process had to include
all the pages needed to be bound, including
the pages that were double sided and those that
were created in a horizontal manner.


Then there were those that were bigger
than the 5 x 7 size. That led to other
issues... like what kind of binding
does one use on a book this big?
How about, what kind of
cover do we put on this book?
Here's Jen creating the cover with
strips of coordinated cotton fabrics,
that were woven, attached to fusible web,
covered with organdy and then distressed.
Meg added her own upholstery fabric
sandwich for the spine and 14 hours
later it became a book with hand sewn
signatures, completely bound.

So, why is it called the $500 book?

Because some random person was bidding against me
at the Senior Center Silent Auction and there
was nothing left for me to do but... bid on & on & on!
and to support a really really really good organization.
The Saluda Senior/Community Center