Soma Acharya

Hi Everyone! If you are new here, you probably wouldn’t know about The Girl and Her cat. A few years ago, I started painting and then writing little stories about an adventurous little girl who loves to travel and wander around with her little cat. I made this book a few months ago for writing down little ideas and notes that randomly pop into my head. Unlike other times, I actually remembered to take photos while making this book. Let me share a few of them with you today, along with a few paintings of these two best friends, and a couple of sewing projects.

Month of July

July marks not only our anniversary, it is also a birthday month for my kitties.

I picked up these bright felt pieces to make a few toys for them. They can see the bright colors really well. There is a kind of stringy toy they love to play with, but is not sold in stores anymore. That’s where mom enters the picture.

The oldtimers here know that I used to make quilts for my kitties all the time. I recently completely rewrote one of my old retired patterns. What better way to test it but make a kitty quilt. The fabrics are pulled, and the pattern pieces are all cut and ready for sewing. I am hoping to show you both the toys and the quilt block soon.

The Little Book Of Thoughts

Now on to the book which is also related to a birthday!

Stitching the pages together while paying attention to the tension. Tension is important to make sure the binding is not too loose or too tight.

Once the pages were sewn together, I started working on the cover with a quick pencil sketch first.

Tombow markers are not lightfast. However, since I was going to print this out on thicker paper for the cover, I still opted for those markers for their vivid colors.

This is what my desk looks like when I am binding books. My husband thinks this photo looks like a pile of scrap and rubbish; you be the judge.

After a bit of measurement and math, I wanted to make sure that my measurements for the corner cloth pieces were correct. I did this by cutting the pieces from paper first before cutting into fabric.

I chose a cream card stock to print the cover picture. The card stock I had was of a light color. So I used watercolor wash to tint them a little. In retrospect, I should not have cut the paper to shape before printing.

Painted paper curls in a little, so the paper kept on shifting as it went through the printer feeder. Thank goodness I made extra. After a few tries and fiddling with the printer, I got a good straight print of the cover.

With all the pieces in place, I finished binding the book. Promptly afterwards, I went through all my bits and pieces of paper full of ideas and copied them down in the book. A few more notes have been added since then.

The ideas are the little saplings. Hopefully, I will be able to grow them over time. That was the idea behind my drawing this picture.

Today happens to be this little cat’s birthday. I am pretty sure they are outside somewhere in a cold country enjoying a little picnic together in the woods. Here are some of my favorite moments of the two best friends spending time together.

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –