Hot off the Press.

And it is jolly hot today.   What a lovely summer we are having, but what a shame I can't go out in it!   I have  had the doors and windows open all day so I do get some fresh air. 

  I sampled various materials for making my figures and finally chose pelmet, or craft vilene.  It is firm and tough, can be stitched and painted or written on.   So far I have only placed the figures on top of each central panel and think I may have to secure them with a few tiny stitches as I don't really want to use glue.

Originally I had planned to make the figures very curved and flowing, but this was so difficult while trying to keep the essence of the rune shape, so I resorted to working with the accurate shape and have had great fun adding the various heads, tails and feet to each one.  I have also added a label to each page with the basic rune, it's name, it's meaning and the letter it represents.

Some of the pages have become very crumpled and I can't press or block them yet as I have had to pin them together in the order in which I want to join them.   I daren't remove the pins or I'll forget the order they must be placed in.  It has to be this order and no other as my measurements let me down and I spent a happy evening re-arranging them in pairs before I found acceptable pairings.   I have even had to cut half an inch off one page and rework a new border!  I blame the heat and humidity.

I haven't worked out how to attach them to their partners yet - they will be going back to back.   I think it will have to be done by hand as I can probably get away with a bit of fudging more easily than with the machine.  I'm becoming a very good fudger!
The further I get with this project, the more stressful it becomes.  We are in a love/hate relationship!