Lily's Quiet Book

Today's adorable quiet book is made by the talented Lily from the blog Craft Learn & Play. This is the first quiet book she made, for her nephew. She now makes quiet books that are for sale in her Etsy shop. You can see the quiet books she has for sale here: Vivid Leaf: Quiet Books for Babies and Toddlers.

Please enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Lily Zunic and I'm a first time mom who loves to create things; toys, games, decorations, accessories, food...well whatever I can think of. 
 
Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I've made this quiet book for my 2 year-old nephew who lives in Croatia. It was my first quiet book ever and had 16 pages in total.
 
What's your level of sewing experience?
Although my grandma taught me to sew when I was a kid, and I had a sewing course many years ago I would say intermediate.

How long did it take you?
It took me almost two months, not sure about hours. My baby girl was 5 months old at that time so I would sew whenever I had a little spare time.
 
Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
No, I didn't use any templates for that book, though I found many ideas on Pinterest. Whatever I make I like to cut shapes and tell the story on the go. It is part of the process and is much more fun. And not using templates makes my books different one from another. But on the other hand I started making free templates from my quiet books for moms who want to make their own quiet book. They can be found on my blog: Craft Learn and Play: Quiet Book Ideas - Mother Hen with Chicks.

What material are the pages made out of?
Pages are made of cotton fabric in different patterns and colours. Inside every page is batting to make pages thicker and soft to touch.

What other materials did you use?Besides cotton I’ve used felt, ribbons, velcro, KAM snaps, magnets, nuts and wooden stick (for fishing page), zipper, minky fabric, wooden beads, buttons and even photograph for tractor page.  

What's your favorite page? Why?

Mine favourite page is piggy bank. I’ve made secret pocket, that little project was going on for two days until I manage to sew it properly. But it works perfectly. Every coin you put in piggy bank falls down between pages into wallet. It is great page for practice fine motor skills and zipping. But I love the most soft piggy made of my favourite minky fabric.

To see pictures of Lily's quiet book on her own blog (or to see more of her felt crafts), click here:  Craft Learn & Play: Very Special Boys Themed Quiet Book.

To see the quiet books Lily sells in her Etsy shop, click here: Vivid Leaf: Quiet Books for Babies and Toddlers.

Lily, thank you 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!

Tara's "Under the Sea" Quiet Book

Oh my gosh, you guys. Today's quiet book is so cute. So cute. I am constantly amazed at all of the talent you guys have, and this book that's been shared with me has brought that home again. You. guys. are. Amazing.

Tara from the blog Spot of Tea Designs made this "Under the Sea" quiet book, and it is fantastic. Each page is so colorful and cute. It has a colorful swimming fish page, a peekaboo clam page, an octopus with beaded arms to practice counting, a colorful snails page with velcro shells, a build-a-sandcastle page, a shell-shapes turtle page, a treasure chest page filled with sea animal finger puppets, a whale (with a zipper mouth) page, and a fish puzzle page. And do you know what's absolutely awesome? Tara made templates for every page in her book, and they are free to download and use if you visit her blog. Enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
Tara. I was creative a long time before I was a mom and now I found a way to be both!

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
My daughter, age 18 months.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Beginner, self taught hand sewer.

How long did it take you?
I have no idea, but longer than I expected! I completed this over several weeks whenever I could find time to work on it. Mostly at night or as a passenger in a long car ride.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
Yes! I made my own and they can be found as free downloads on my blog posts.

• Swimming Fish and Lift the Clam Templates: Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 1 
• Counting Octopus, Colorful Snails, Sandcastle, and Shape Turtle Templates: Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 2
• Treasure Chest Pocket, Finger Puppet, Zippered Whale, and Puzzle Fish Templates: Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 3 

How did you bind your quiet book? 
Book rings and grommets.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt.

What other materials did you use? 
Buttons, beads, velcro and shoelace cords were used as accents.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
I spent maybe $15 on the whole thing as I used a lot of what was already in my collection.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I like the treasure chest with the pocket for finger puppets.

To view Tara's quiet book on her own blog and to download her templates, check out her "Under the Sea" quiet book posts:
Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 1
Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 2
Spot of Tea Designs: Under the Sea Quiet Book Part 3

Tara, thank you so much for sharing your awesome quiet book with us! Now off to make my own, haha!

 

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

Caroline's Quiet Book

Today's quiet book is so cute and I'm so excited to share it with you! It was made by Caroline from the blog To the Piechecker! for her son Luke, and it is just adorable. All the way from the front page with her son's name sewn on it, to the awesome garden page, to the build-your-own sandwich page, to the cute fabric (bugs in jars) she chose for the quiet book cover, this book is full of cute details and fun activities that any kid would love.

 Shapes page with snap-off shapes and shapes sewn in matching colors on the page:

 An abacus/counting page:

I like that the circles are made of all felt - I've wanted to make a counting page like this before, but they're usually made with beads and I don't have any beads lying around my house. Felt circles are a great idea!

A space page (love the Tardis): 

Adorable garden page:

 I really like how Caroline added the tomato plant growing up from the hill; it's so cute and such a great use of space!

A bees and flowers threading page where you string the bee through the loops on the flowers, all the way to the beehive:

A dinosaur page:

A fish page with tails you can switch around:

A rainbow page with matching color names that can snap on the rainbow:

A "collect the fireflies" page with an awesome vinyl jar:

 (I absolutely love this lightning bug page - I've never seen a quiet book page like it before!)

And to top it all off, a build-your-own sandwich page (with "ingredients" for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a meat and veggies sandwich):

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.

My name is Caroline, I'm an art school grad and currently a stay at home mother.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made this book for my son Luke, he is two years old.

What's your level of sewing experience?

I would say I have a novice level of sewing experience, I am much better at sewing by hand than on a machine.

How long did it take you?

I worked on this book for about 3 months, a few hours here and there after my son went to bed. It was impossible to work on with him running around, he kept stealing all the felt!

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?

I looked at a lot of other quiet books for inspiration. Many of my pages were inspired by the Imagine Our Life blog. I also traced objects like shapes from my sons shape sorter, and letters.

How did you bind your quiet book?

I put grommets in all my pages and used binder rings to bind the book. I also sewed a cover that snaps closed.

What material are the pages made out of?

The cover is flannel and cotton, the pages are almost exclusively felt, except for a small amount of clear vinyl.

What other materials did you use?

I also used snaps, thread, ribbon, and d-rings.

How much did all the supplies cost you?

I probably spent over $50 for this project. It's hard to tell because I bought a bunch of felt by the yard, and only used a small amount of each color. 

What's your favorite page? Why?

I think my favorite page is the gardening one. It came out exactly as I imagined it and I love all the details. Plus we love gardening!

To see Caroline's quiet book on her own blog, with more details about each page, click here: To the Piechecker!

Caroline, thank you so much 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!