Courtney's Star Wars Zoo Quiet Book

Today I have a super creative and unique quiet book to share with you. Courtney from Books N Boys made a "Star Wars Zoo" quiet book. Each page has a different animal from Star Wars, with some activity you can do with it. Totally cool and completely unique! And I absolutely love the cover. Courtney also created a free pattern for her book, which you can get by clicking here. So enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
Hi fellow crafters! My name is Courtney. I am a happily married mommy of three active little boys and I love everything crafty!

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
My youngest turned one on Valentine's Day. This book is for him, although his brothers (5- and 4-year-olds) play with it too.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Beginner/Intermediate

How long did it take you? 
Making the actual book only took a couple weeks (working during naptimes). The REALLY hard part was the designing and putting together the pattern/instructions.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
I am SO proud to say that this is my own design. But, for all the other crafty ladies out there I scanned and typed up both pattern templates and instructions for the whole book. They are available for free on my blog, http://booksnboys.blogspot.com/2013/02/star-wars-zoo-quiet-book.html.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I have always been partial to the super simple method of book rings. Probably because by the time I finish a whole bunch of pages I am in a hurry to FINISH :)

What material are the pages made out of?
Good ol' cheapo craft felt. And hot glue. Lots and lots of hot glue!

What other materials did you use? 
Little this and thats like a zipper, button, ribbon, vinyl - the complete supply list is in the instructions. Hopefully I didn't forget anything!

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
I had almost everything in my craft stash (which yes, is probably way too big) so the only thing I bought was the bean bag pellets and they were $5 or so on Amazon. I really love Amazon.

What's your favorite page? Why?
This is kind of a hard question because I spent SO much time creating each page I love every one of them. I really wanted a book where each page was unique and did something interesting. I am happy with how they all turned out! My kid's favorite page is a tie between the Sarlacc (because the tentacles twist around their Lego guys) and the Rancor (because their Lego guys can fight him and they can move him around and play).

To see Courtney's quiet book on her own blog or to download her free template, click here!

Thank you so much, Courtney, for sharing your awesome quiet book with us!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!

Jessica's Colors Quiet Book

Hi everyone! I'm sorry that I've been MIA for the last two months. I'm pregnant with our second child right now, and I've been really, really sick. (If you've ever heard of Hyperemesis Gravidarum, that's what I have. Blech.) But I'm reaching mid-pregnancy and finally feeling better, and so I've returned! A lot of people have submitted really cute quiet books in the last couple months, and I can't wait to share them with you!

Today's cute Colors quiet book comes from Jessica of Just Enough Style. I really love the idea for this book and how well she put it together; my daughter is reaching the age where we're teaching her colors, and it would be so great to have a quiet book like this to help! Take a look!

Interview

What's your name? 
My name is Jessica, I'm a mother to 2 and love to create things for my children and home.

Who did you make this quiet book for? 
I made this quiet book for my daughter when she was 2 years old (she's 4 now).

What's your level of sewing experience? 
I would say I am an intermediate sewer. My mom taught me how to sew when I was younger and I've come to love it even more now that I have children.

How long did it take you? 
This book took me about 24 hours to make, which was spread over about a week.

Did you use any templates? 
I looked through some coloring books we already had and just used the pictures as templates.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I punched holes in the sides and used office rings to bind it together.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt.

What other materials did you use? 
For the colors at the bottoms of the pages I used scrap fabric that I had on hand.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
About $5.

What's your favorite page? 
The color Orange. The fish are so fun to take out and play with on the other pages.

If you have anything else you'd like to add, please do!
Since it has been a couple of years since I have made this I learned that the grapes page was better by adding velcro. That way the pieces can be removed and played with.


To see more pictures and explanations of Jessica's Colors quiet book, check it out on her blog here: Colors Quiet Book.

Jessica made two more quiet books, an ABC quiet book and a Quick and Easy Quiet Book. She made both from patterns she purchased on Etsy.

To see Jessica's ABC quiet book on her blog, click here: ABC Quiet Book
To visit the Etsy shop where she purchased the pattern, click here: Shelley Wallace Quiet Book Patterns

To see Jessica's Quick and Easy quiet book on her blog, click here: Quick and Easy Quiet Book
To visit the Etsy shop where she purchased the pattern, click here: Bugga Bugs Activity Book Patterns

Thank you so much, Jessica, for sharing all of your quiet books with us!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here to learn how to submit your own quiet book!

Kayla's Quiet Book

I love how bright and colorful today's quiet book is! It was made by Kayla of Double Tha Love, and I love that the colors of the cover match with the pages inside the book. My favorite page is probably her rainbow page - it's such a neat idea. She also has a Hello Kitty page, which is really unique and fun. So, enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Kayla, I'm a busy mom of twin boys who loves anything DIY, and also runs my own blog design shop!

Who did you make this quiet book for? 
I made this quiet book for my 2 year old niece, Myah!

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Not beginner, but not intermediate :/

How long did it take you?
It took me probably close to 30+ hours all together, and it took me about 3 months to finish.

Did you use any templates? 
I didn't use any template, I just looked for ideas online and mimicked them! A lot of my pages were just random, thought up pages.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I used metal rings that were attached to a spine of the cover to hold it all together. Each page had 2 metal hoops that I attached in them which slipped onto the metal rings on the spine.

What material are the pages made out of? 
I used all felt so I didnt have to worry about fraying ends!

What other materials did you use? 
Buttons, a zipper, a lock and key, pipe cleaner, snaps, velcro, and thread. I also added a notepad and crayons to one of the pages.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
I didn't keep track! But I would think somewhere in the ball park of $20. Most of the supplies I had on hand, I thrifted all of the velcro, snaps, thread, zipper, and the rest I purchased from the dollar store! Frugal was my aim :)

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I have two favorite pages, and this is why: the Hello Kitty page was specially made for my niece because she is completely obsessed with Hello Kitty, so A LOT of love went into that page dreaming it up and creating it! BUT, that being said, I think the rainbow page was my favorite because it had the most detail. I would not, however, create that page ever again and HIGHLY suggest that if you create that page, that you have a ton of patience!


To view Kayla's quiet book on her blog, click here. Thank you for sharing your awesome quiet book with us, Kayla!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here to learn how to submit your own quiet book!

Joanna's Quiet Book

Today's quiet book is all the way from Poland! It was made by Joanna of Hobbiko, and I love how bright and colorful it is. She explains in her blog that Quiet Books are not common in Poland, and I am so impressed at how it all came together! I think one of my favorites is the tooth-brushing page - I haven't seen one like that before and think that it would make a great (and encouraging) activity page.

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Joanna, I'm from Poland. I like creating, sewing, reading, playing instruments and...I only wish to have more time for all this! :)

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
It's for my first daughter, I'd like to give it as a present for her second birthday (or sooner, we'll see :)

What's your level of sewing experience?
Definitely it's not high. I love sewing simple but practical things - for example a bag for "car accessories" for my husband. :)

How long did it take you?
It was about 3 months...I used to sew in the evenings, in my spare time when the baby finally went to sleep. :)

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used some ideas found on Internet and changed them. I'd say that there were no templates, just inspirations. For example, there are many quiet book pages of post boxes, but in Poland they look totally different than in USA so I needed to adjust this idea to our reality. :)

How did you bind your quiet book?
I simply sewed all pages together.

What material are the pages made out of?
The pages are made of two layers of cotton with special sponge in between.

What other materials did you use?
Velcro, buttons, ribbons, other accessories.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
About $15.

What's your favorite page? Why?
Hmm..I somehow like the page with girl's head - you can comb her hair ..:) She definitely isn;t a beauty but I like her anyway :) And I think that the cover of the book looks really nice.

Do I plan to sew another quiet book?
Yes! This time it will be "Number book" :)


To see Joanna's quiet book on her blog (where she has more instructions on how she made it), click here.  Thank you so much, Joanna, for sharing your quiet book with us! It's wonderful. :)

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book.

Amber's Quiet Book

You guys. I love today's quiet book. It is so well made. Each page just shines with quality. I love all the details - the stitching around each page and each figure. It was made by Amber of By Amber's Hands, who clearly has a lot of talent. Check it out!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Amber. I'm a strange mix of extrovert and homebody, I love to create things and I always have more ideas than I have time to actually do.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made this for my son and gave it to him on his 2nd birthday.

What's your level of sewing experience?
I'm definitely a beginner. I actually thought I hated sewing for a long time. Then I got into hand-sewing and got comfortable with that pretty quickly. I was still terrified of sewing machines until I finally got one that was really user-friendly. Now I can't believe I haven't done more with it!

How long did it take you?
Umm... This is kind of a hard question to answer. I started planning it way before I actually worked on it. I had intended to make it much earlier than I did (by about 6 months, I think) but we had some unexpected things happen in my family, so I didn't start on it at all until about May. I didn't finish until September, but that's because I didn't have a ton of time to work on it all at once. I think each page probably only took me an hour or two from start to finish, but when you have a toddler you have to steal little bits of time here and there.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I didn't use any templates. I sketched out each page and made stencils out of heavy vellum, then traced it onto the fabric.

How did you bind your quiet book?
Well, I made one piece of fabric that was big enough to use as the front and back, with some room to bind. I had machine-sewed smaller groups of pages together, then when I bound it, I hand-sewed large stitches through the cover & all the pages. It worked ok, but was hard to keep everything together as I was stiching and to stitch straight!

What material are the pages made out of?
Felt.

What other materials did you use?
Cotton patterned fabrics for some things, canvas for the shoe, a zipper, velcro, snaps, Heatn' Bond, shoelace, buckle, bells, buttons...

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I honestly don't know... I bought the supplies a few months before I even started working on it, then it took me a few months to make it, then a few more months to blog about it... so it's been nearly a year since I bought most of the supplies!

What's your favorite page? Why?
I think my favorite is the first page, the one with the window & the cat. It was actually the last one I came up with, and I was kind of stuck. I had 9 pages that I had no trouble coming up with ideas for, but I needed one more. I actually didn't get the idea until I was at the fabric store, looking at different materials. I think the cat ended up cute, and the window was something I hadn't seen in other quiet books. I ended up having to make a change to it later, because my original materials didn't hold up. But it was a simple fix (I don't know why I didn't think to do it that way in the first place!) and I think it should last for a long time.


You should definitely check out Amber's quiet book on her own blog, where she has several more pictures and a lot more instructions and details about every page. Here are the links for the different pages:

Busy Book Pages 1 & 2 (The Cat in the Window and the Squirrel)
Busy Book Pages 3 & 4 (The Bird on the Nest and the Bear in the Tree)
Busy Book Pages 5 & 6 (The Dog and the Shoe)
Busy Book Pages 7, 8, 9, & 10 (The Pocket, Overalls, Numbers, and Colorful Shapes)

Thank you so much, Amber, for sharing your amazing quiet book with us! :)

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!