Pieces of the Past Has a Life of Its Own

Why, oh why, do I do this to myself???  And what exactly have I gotten myself into???  What started out as a fun project that would bring my love for quilting and some letters from some former German Prisoners of War written to my Grandparents is taking on, what I consider, a life of its own!

The sew along was great fun.  The research of history and collecting of personal family stories that I shared with the release of each of the vintage patterns collected by my Grandma was interesting and fun as well.  The writing and development of those vintage patterns was fun too!  The opportunity to hear from others around the world as I shared the letters, history, recipes and stories was priceless!

Oh, let me start over... My Mom is a local history lover - probably where I get my love for it as well.  She is a member of the local Historical Society and they hold an annual dinner that features a speaker that presents a program on some local site or major event. The dinner this year is November 5th and I was invited by the Society to offer a program about the Trinidad POW Camp and share the letters and history that I published here on Melva Loves Scraps during the sew along.  All in all, not a big deal.  They would like for me to have a book for sale at the event.  

I'll admit, when I wrote the letter requesting permission to use the Kansas City Star Journal patterns the idea of a published quilting book was exciting.  Though, I never really thought I would have much to do with it because it would be "handled" by the publisher.  And... I did create a book on Shutterfly this year.  It includes all of the content I shared, except for the patterns.  (I was granted permission by C&T Publishing to share the patterns on-line, but they were very clear that they had to be offered at no cost.)  

The book that I created on Shutterfly is a special keepsake that I had wanted to create, but it was far from cheap but worth every penny in my mind.  Just as the finished quilt is invaluable to me.

The Historical Society has used a local copy shop to print and bind smaller books at a very reasonable price.  The proof-reading copy of my book was not as reasonable as I had hoped ($40+) and it was the content only.  No cover.  No index.  No reference citation pages. No binding.  I have a lead on a new source that looks like it has great potential with very reasonable costs (less than $30).  All I have to do is simply upload the .PDF file.  

At least I won't break the bank getting an initial printing done.  Of course, there is the question, "How many do I print?"  

Things are looking good!  Ummmm.... NOPE!  The error message I got indicated that "The Fatal Errors" need to be corrected... and there are A LOT OF THEM!  Mostly issues with fonts that are not recognizable, but seriously... WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO??? 

It was suggested that I apply for a grant with a private foundation that provides support to local communities and service organizations of the Purgatoire Valley and they have assisted with similar projects for the Historical Society.  Now for sure I won't break the bank getting the initial printing done!  All is good... but the deadline is September 30.  My grant application must be submitted under a current 501(c)3... the Historical Society has one... they don't meet until September 29.  I have been assured that there is time to get the necessary vote for allowing me to use their Non-profit status, and receive the needed documentation from the Society so that I can submit all of the requested and necessary information in by the deadline.

I have two months before the dinner and presentation but only about a month to get everything figured out.

As I sort out all of the details for the book and the program, I'm going to be in serious need of some quilting therapy!  I am fortunate that I have plenty of that to do too.  

❧The wedding quilt will be quilted this week... I'll get the fabric for the binding on order.  There's a whole story about this one, but I have rambled on long enough about the book thing so I will wait to share when it is done.

❧I will then start a t-shirt memory quilt for the college softball coach who recently lost his sister.  She was one of his biggest supporters and he wants a quilt containing the various softball shirts she wore whenever she attended the games in support of him.

❧Also in queue are two more quilt tops for my favorite and best customer. 

Have you ever printed a book?  

Do you have any suggestions or pit-falls that I need to know about?

Would you be interested in a copy of the book?

Leave a comment.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Stay calm and keep quilting,

Melva

Linking with: 

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Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts