Monday, October 3, 2016

On-The-Go Activity Case

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been missing forever. I had a baby in June (and she's wonderful) and life has just been busy this year. I have loads of wonderful emails from you guys with lots of quiet books to share, but it's going to be a while before I can start posting them. We're moving to a different state in January, so everything's going to continue to be on hold for the rest of the year as we prepare to sell our house and move.

With that said, this came across my facebook feed today and I thought that you guys would enjoy it! There are some great ideas here. :)

 

Here is the blog post with explanations on how to make each case: DIY On-The-Go Activity Case.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Maria's Princess Quiet Book

Today's quiet book is absolutely fantastic. Made by Maria, a kindergarten teacher, it is princess-themed, and just so detailed and adorable. The front cover looks like a castle, and opens up to another castle scene complete with horse-drawn carriage. As the pages go on children are able to change the weather through a window, practice numbers on a clock, play dress up, hang up laundry on a laundry line, put food together for a picnic, do puzzles, build a cake and decorate it with candles, play with a telephone, and put on a finger puppet show. It is a really remarkable book.


Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Maria. I'm 22 years old and I am a kindergarten teacher.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
This book is intended for all children. When I discovered Quiet Books I was excited and I began to make one.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
My level of sewing experience is medium.

How long did it take you?
I have been creating this book since August. I didn't work steady at this but I really don't know how many hours it took to complete!!

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
I didn't use any templates. I looked on Google, YouTube and Pinterest, for inspiration and after that I drew it by myself.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I sewed the pages between them.

What material are the pages made out of? 
The pages were created by felt mostly, but I used some other fabrics.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
The total materials cost was about 35 euros.

What's your favorite page? Why?
It's difficult to choose, I love each page!!!

Maria's craft Facebook page can be found here: My Quiet Book

Thank you, Maria, 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!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Ramya's No-Sew Quiet Book

Making a quiet book can be intimidating for a lot of people; if you haven't sewed anything before or if you think all the supplies will cost too much, it can be hard to get started. Ramya of the blog Ramya DIY, shows that this needn't be the case though. She created this quiet book with no sewing at all and all the supplies costing her only $7! How she did it was with a hot glue gun, felt, and foam sheets. She has so many cute pages that a child would love to play with. Enjoy!


Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Ramya, I am a stay-at-home-mom.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made this book for my one year old son.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Zero.

How long did it take you? 
It took me about 20 hours.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
No, I have used my own basic drawing skills.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I used a mini hot glue gun and stuck al the page to the spine of the book cover.

What material are the pages made out of? 
They are made of felt.

What other materials did you use? 
I also used foam sheets alternatively with felt for the design on each page.

How much did all the supplies cost book? 
Including the mini hot glue gun it cost me just around $7.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I love the outer space pages because I think I got all the elements and color co-ordination correct.

To see Ramya's quiet book on her own blog with more description, click here: Easy No-Sew Felt Quiet Book.

Ramya, thank you so much for sharing your creative 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!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Lou's Quiet Book

Today's quiet book is made by Lou, a stay-at-home mom who also makes custom quiet books for sale. This is a quiet book that she made for her son, and it's got a bunch of fun pages! Shape matching (with jungle animals), mix-and-match pairs, beads to learn to count, and colors and zippers to practice with. Enjoy!


Interview

What's your name? 
My name is Lou. I am a stay-at home mom and I love crafting.

Who did you make this quiet book for? 
I made this quiet book for my son. He is 23 months old now.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
My sewing experience is mostly limited to just hand-stitching torn hems or patching holes.

How long did it take you? 
It is hard to say how long it took me to finish my quiet books because I only do it when my son is sleeping and when I am free but is within the span of 2 weeks.

Did you use any templates? 
I didn't use any templates. I did the letter and number cutting myself but the rest is ready-made. I searched online for ideas on design.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I bound it by thread.

What material are the pages made out of? 
I used felt and denims for covers to add contrast.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
The zipper is my favorite page because my son loves it the most.


Lou makes quiet books for sale; you can see them on her Facebook page Quiet Book by Bluegem. Thank you Lou, for sharing your 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!

Monday, December 28, 2015

Kate's Roll-up Quiet Book

Today's innovative quiet book comes to us from Kate, a writer and book reviewer who writes the blog Blondie Marie. She made this roll-up quiet book mat for her son. The four pages are sewn side by side with a denim backing, and they can all be rolled up together and closed with a button. It's such a cute book and a great idea; I especially love all the animals that are hiding behind the doors of the barn! All of the pages look very fun and interactive.


Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Kate, and I am a writer, blogger and book reviewer living in northwest Iowa.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made this book (mat) for my son, Emmett. He's one year old now, but I'm hoping this can carry him through a few stages.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Intermediate to mildly advanced. I think the mat stayed beginner-to-intermediate.

How long did it take you? 
I spent about a month on it, working a few hours here and there. Total? Maybe 40? I'm not entirely sure. The farm scene by far took the most time. Most of the other ones I could knock out in a couple of hours.

Did you use any templates? 
Yes! The lion I took from Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, and I also used her barn template as the basis for my barn. The animals I found the basis for on another website, but I can't remember which one. I altered those patterns too, though.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I went roll-up-mat-style with a button and button-hole closure.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt. The backing is a denim-type fabric I had on hand. There's also a layer of felt between the panels and the backing, for a little added thickness.

What other materials did you use? 
Ribbon for the lion panel, elastic for the farm scene and the bead panels and Velcro for the farm scene and color squares panels. The stitching is all in floss. I used a strap along the backing as well, and a button to close.

How much did all of the supplies cost you? 
About $40, but I have a lot felt, floss, Velcro and beads left over that I can use on other projects.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I should say the farm scene because it definitely has the most blood, sweat and tears in it. But I love the color squares page, because I like the simplicity and the challenge for Emmett to match the swatches to the colors on the panel.

Kate, thank you so much 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!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Paula's ABC Quiet Book

Today's fantastic quiet book was made by mom Paula, who writes the blog "Making it up as I go."  She sewed pages for every single letter of the alphabet to help her girls learn their letters. Each page has the letter and several different items that start with that letter - for example, the "A" page has an embroidered apple, arrow, and ant. This book has so much cute embroidery - I love all the ideas Paula came up with for each letter! Please, enjoy!


A picture of the outside cover and handle:


How Paula bound the pages together with the cover:


Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
Paula! Stay at home mum, sewing nut, generally driven by the bizarre thought that I must be productive with everything I do.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
My girls who are two and a half and one.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Intermediate.

How long did it take you?
About four or five hours over six weeks. I was planning on it taking longer, but I put the pedal to the metal to get it done while my two year old was interested in learning letters.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
Nope. Everything came out of my head or from the scrap box and onto the page.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
Button holes and cord.

What material are the pages made out of? 
The pages themselves are bedsheets that I recycled.

What other materials did you use? 
Felt, cotton, scraps of who knows what, drill, rubber table protector, buttons, velvet, beads, cords, zip.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
I aimed to make all of it from what I already had (hence cutting up the old bed sheet for the pages), but I did buy some of the fancy buttons and the ABC print fabrics too. Probably about $40.00 AUD all up.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I love the C page for the simple reason that the car wheels turn.

To see Paula's quiet book on her own blog (with more pictures of details and explanations), click here: Making it up as I go: ABC Book Breakdown

Paula, thank you so much for submitting your adorable quiet book!


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