BLUE BLEU BLU by ALICE BRODY

[Related Post: JAPAN TALES by Alice Brody]

I'm so pleased to share that New York-based quiltmaker Alice Brody has sent SitWithMoi a second mini-book!  It's entitled BLUE BLEU BLU and, as you might infer, its theme is the color blue!

There are so many lovely elements to this enchanting 2" x 2.25" book.  First, there's just the craftsmanship of it, which includes a blue board backing to the covers and side-ties:

As you page through the book, you'll see the many ways Alice explores the blue theme.  What's great is how her explorations are not just variations of the color but "riffs" off of the theme.  Thus, some of the pages are not just cut-outs from applicable fabrics but fabrics with glued-on designs.  Let's page through the book:

As you see, Alice is not letting the color be a constraint.  She's allowing herself to freely roam offa da blue pasture.  In a way, it reminds me of a book I once reviewed, RED by Marilyn R. Rosenberg, that explored red-ness.  By not sticking to their respective colors, Alice actually heightens blue-ness as Marilyn does red-ness.  The effect is lush and resonant.  Here are more pages from Alice's book:

The immediately preceding image above shows the center pages.  This could mean that the rest of the pages are just doubles, except that subsequent pages get more treatment by Alice (addition of extra material) so that they are not repetitious:

I also adore Alice's "diction" as regards the different types of fabrics and materials so as to imbue the pages with extra dimensions viz surface and tactility, as with the furry thread on the following:

All in all, the mini-book provides for a delightful experience.  One can return to it more than once and receive a variety of joyful engagements.  Here's what it looks like as a closed volume:

And as regards where to "shelve" this book, I'm pleased with the synchronicity that Alice chose to explore blue versus another color.  Because it is exactly the book to elevate this blue, painted chair that I only found "charming enough" by itself.  That is, while I appreciate the chair, I thought it needed something extra.  Now that Alice's BLUE BLEU BLU is shelved atop it, I think the sum is greater than the combination of its parts (1+1=more than 2).

Here's the first time I can say about a chair-and-book combination, that one rose up to the level of the other.  Thank you, Alice Brody.