Library Lil -
For the books, I basically followed the tutorial on Skip to my Lou (hope this link works):
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/09/1...ic-i-spy-book/
But I did not use a wonky piecing. I just used mostly square charms. I pieced the pages first. On my first book, it was very randomly sewn together....lots of work. On the following books, I did two "columns" - first was 5" square on top of either two 2 1/2 inch squares or a 2/ 1/5 X 5 strip (this was easier by far). Second column had the smaller piece(s) on top and another 5 inch on bottom....so your two 5 inch blocks are overlapping by a row when you place them side by side. See the pictures in the post-book-making party thread for an idea of what I mean by that.
When I had four or six pieced pages, I cut an equal number of full size page pieces with lots of objects on them. I cut these to the trimmed size of the other pages. Sew these together into two equal strips, alternating pieced and full pages. Iron fusible fleece onto the wrong side of the back strip. Lay the front strip on top of the back strip, right sides facing. Pin and sew all the way around leaving a four inch gap in one of the full pages for turning. Turn, push out the corners, iron, and sew a very close seam along the side with the gap - all the way across. Stitch in the ditch along page seams.
Iron accordion style, and sew a ribbon to the back page. You can make a tab instead, as I did in my first one and as she does in the tutorial...BUT make sure you attach this, facing inward before you sew around the two strips. I choose the ribbon because I didn't care for the way the accordion style still left the back open, and I was also looking for a quick way to add a closure to the books.
That's it! Have fun!