Marianne's Quiet Books

Today we have two awesome quiet books to show you! These were by Marianne for her two godchildren, and as they were made for children of different ages they each have a different focus. The first is more of a sensory book - complete with flowers, ribbons, and leaves to feel, a little caterpillar to play peekaboo with, and a mirror to see oneself in. The second is made for a preschooler, and is more interactive. This book has buckles, weaving, shapes and colors, snaps, dress-up, and even an awesome little chalkboard complete with real chalk!

Both books are great and really well done. Like Marianne, I think my favorite page is her magnolia tree. The flowers are beautiful! I also really like the fabric that she made the pages out of, especially in the toddler book. Also, I want a cookie page just like hers. But I'm beginning to feel like I'm beginning to feel like I'm rambling, so I'll stop and let Marianne's books speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Baby quiet book:

Toddler quiet book:

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Marianne. I love to sew and craft, especially anything that I can give my god-daughters.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
Analiese (butterfly book) is 1 month old. Lillie is 4 years (and 1 month) old.

What's your level of sewing experience?
I have been quilting since I was 10 and got my first embroidery machine in college.  I worked at a sewing machine shop for 3 years where I learned A LOT.  On embroidery, I consider myself fairly expert.  On other sewing I consider myself average, I know a lot but can't always execute as beautifully as I would like.

How long did it take you?
Tough question, total probably about 48-60 hours spread over about a month and a half on Sunday afternoons while my husband was watching football. :-)

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used a template from you for the caterpillar and cocoon page and a template from Imagine Our Life for the cookie page, although in both cases I used the templates to digitize them for my embroidery machine.  Other pages were either free-hand or existing embroidery designs.

How did you bind your quiet book?
I put 2 eyelets in each page and put binder clips through them.  I did this so I can add/change pages as the girls grow and change.

What material are the pages made out of?
The pages are made out of calico cotton with 1 layer of felt inside to give some weight.

What other materials did you use?
Felt for various pages, tulle for the cocoon, satin and ribbons for the taggy flower, cardboard mirror and ribbon, fur and a pre-made cat collar and small dog leash for the cat page, cotton fabric, chalkboard fabric. The daisies, butterflies, and magnolia blooms are freestanding lace so they are made entirely of thread.  I also used buttons, snaps, velcro, small beads in the magnolia blooms, and eyelets (for the binding).  The paper doll was pre-printed cotton and I used fuse 'n' fix to fuse it to felt.  Because I used machine embroidery, I also used 2 different stabilizers.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
Fortunately I had almost everything in my stash.  I had to buy the chalkboard fabric, the mirrored cardboard (both from JoAnns), the buttons (from Michaels), the collar and leash (from the dollar store), and the chalk (from Shopko). Total about $15 (as well as having to purchase the magnolia bloom designs for my machine for about $15 on sale. All other embroideries I either digitized myself or already had on my computer)

What's your favorite page? Why?
DEFINITELY the magnolia tree.  I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  It also took the most work to put the flowers together.

Marianne, thank you so much for letting us enjoy your lovely quiet books!

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