Coptic Notebooks 2023

Event Info

This one-day, virtual workshop takes place on Zoom on Tuesday, February 21, from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

  • Tuesday, February 21, 6:00pm–8:00pm

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on February 13, at 11:59 pm.


About the Workshop:

This virtual class at Center for Book Arts is taught by instructor Beth Sheehan.

Coptic stitch – one of the oldest and useful book structures – is a simple sewn book that is extremely flexible. Because of its ability to fold back onto itself, it is the perfect structure for sketchbooks, journals, and datebooks.

By the end of this two-hour workshop, participants will each have their own soft-cover coptic book!


Required Materials:

  • Text pages, any number of signatures (text weight; I will be using 8.5×11 copy paper, 5 signatures with 6 pages per signature.)
  • Cover paper, 2 sheets, same height as text pages but slightly longer (decorative paper any weight will work but text weight or thin cardstock is best. I will be using 2 sheets of 91# text weight Colorplan paper, 8.5”x17”)
  • 4 curved needles
  • Bookbinding thread
  • Bookbinding awl
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Cutting tool (X-acto, Olfa knife, scalpel, etc.)
  • Cutting mat
  • Glue stick or double-stick tape
  • Scrap paper

All other materials will be provided by Center for Book Arts at no additional cost.


About Beth Sheehan

Beth Sheehan is a printmaker, papermaking, and book artist living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Her work investigates ideas of memory and perception to explore her own lack of episodic memory. Sheehan’s work has been exhibited internationally and is held in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Center for Book Arts, and the San Francisco Public Library.  

Sheehan’s work has been exhibited internationally and is held in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Center for Book Arts, and the San Francisco Public Library.


All images courtesy of the instructor.

In order to best serve our community near and far, many of our online classes are pay-what-you-can. The amount you choose to pay goes directly toward our instructors and toward creating scholarship opportunities for the future.  Virtual workshops at Center for Book Arts will be recorded and the recording will be provided for all registered participants after the class.

Registration is closed. Return to all Classes.

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