Limited edition of 75 copies, signed and numbered by the artist.

"[M]y mother and grandmother ingrained in me a love of craft and creativity to keep my hands busy and my mind focused on something higher. Eder too is descended from a long line of women crafters and quilters. Her poems connote that history as well as her experience as an African American woman who grew up in the South. The images of the book were inspired by aerial landscapes and microscopic images of plants, particularly some of the plants that are native to the southeastern United States and to which I have a deep-rooted connection through memories of growing up in that area. The book includes images inspired by forsythia, wisteria, dogwood, azalea, rhododendron, and jasmine, among others"--Artist's website, viewed on February 10, 2015.

"A Burlap Bloom was designed, letterpress printed, and handbound by Suzanne Sawyer of Down Home Girl Studio. The text paper was handmade at The Lost Arch Papermill and is a combination of cotton and abaca fibers. The cover paper is handmade walnut dyed flax made by Cave Paper. The text and images were printed using photopolymer plates and reduction linoleum blocks. The fonts are Optima Bold and Gill Sans Light. All of the printing and binding were completed at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013"--Colophon.

A Book Arts Thesis piece from the University of Alabama. Three sewn signatures hand-bound into paper-covered bookboards with a cloth spine. Quilted paper illustration laid into front cover.

This quilt

Because I awoke in the dark

Wild azalea in a Georgia wood

Land patches

Stitches

Eyes open.

Handicraft > Poetry.

Quilting > In art.

Plant cells and tissues > In art.

American poetry > African American authors.

American poetry > Women authors.

Southern States > Poetry.

College students' art.

Letterpress printing.

Hand binding.

linocuts (prints)

Sewing (needleworking technique)

onlays (applied decoration)

Smyth sewing.

poetry.

student projects.

handmade paper.

cotton (fiber)

Manila hemp (fiber)

flax (fiber)

dye.

Overprinting.

Linocuts.

Artists' books.

Poetry.

Specimens.

Artists' books.

Poetry.

Linocuts.

Binding labels.

Handmade papers.

Down Home Girl Studio, publisher.

Cave Paper (Firm), papermaker.

Lost Arch Papermill, papermaker.

University of Alabama, publication place.

Yale University. Arts of the Book Collection.

United States Alabama Tuscaloosa.