One Fall Day

First published in 1994

About the story
This is probably the most time-consuming book I have ever made—or ever will. Each doll is a different doll, and for each one I not only sewed and embroidered the clothes, but for her hair I made little holes all over the back of her head and then with a pin I pushed a black embroidery thread with a bit of Elmer’s glue in each hole. The two blankets in the beginning and final and third pictures are separate and each one is embroidered. All the leaves were cut separately. In one picture there were so many leaves that I asked five friends to come help me cut them, and the six of us sat for two or three hours just cutting and cutting. But then I glued a strip of thread hardened with Elmer’s to the base and the other end I glued to the tree, which I then sewed to the backing.

It was a lot of fun, and I did enjoy doing it. But the book sold very, very poorly, almost no copies at all. Sometimes I think that if I spend a huge amount of time on a book, this is almost a guarantee the book will not do well. But then I just make the next book however seems best, and sometimes it takes a lot of time. Again. Or not.