Quietfire Designs

Suzanne Cannon over at Quietfire Designs has put together some great instructions and kits on several styles of bookbinding.  I've never been lucky enough to attend one of her classes on the west coast but I have taken advantage of the opportunity to work through several of her bookbinding kits.

One of the kits I've tried has been an exposed spine book or Coptic stitched book.  It was called the Pipe Organ stitch and was done over cords which were then threaded through the cover of the book.  I made a small change in adding some old buttons that I had to hold the cords.  Here is the original.  Here is a photo of my book with buttons.  The paper came with the kit.

The second book I tried was the Caught in Canvas Journal bookbinding kit.  The covers were made with 6" x6" canvas and the signatures were sewn over leather tapes.  I used an image transfer and texture on my canvas to make multi media covers.  Here is a photo of my finished journal.

Here is a link to the original kit and other samples shown.


The instructions were really easy to follow and all the basic materials were provided in the kit.  With the instructions and sewing templates it will be quite easy to use them as the starting point for other journals.


I really wish I was closer to Suzanne and Quietfire Designs because I'd love to learn how to make the Copper Etched Journal.