Natalie's Quiet Book

Good morning! I have such a cute quiet book I get to share with you today. Natalie from the blog The Virginia Capells made this book for her son, using templates and inspiration from tons of different sites, and she did a great job!

Each page is so well made and looks so fun to play with. Natalie did a great job of choosing all the different pages and different activities - there are so many fun things in this book to keep someone occupied. It's really fun to see some made from The Quiet Book Blog's own templates! I don't think I could choose a favorite page from all of them, but one I haven't seen before and think is sooo darn cute is the piggy bank page. Also, I really liked how Natalie alternated blue and white pages for the backgrounds, and I really like the way the book is bound. Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Please enjoy Natalie's quiet book!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
I'm Natalie; I'm married, love to craft and sew, and am a stay-at-home mom to an adorably active little boy.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made it for my son Hayden, who is just about to turn 2.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Between Beginner and Intermediate. I like to do little sewing projects.

How long did it take you?
Well, I started in January and worked for a few weeks during nap time (2-3 hours each day) cutting, organizing, and doing a little sewing. I became burnt out and stir crazy so I put it away at the end of February. I picked it back up in May and worked solidly for two-three weeks for 3-5 hours a day. So, total assembly time, probably 3-4 hours a day for 4-6 weeks.

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

I used a TON of templates...

Potato Head: The Quiet Book Blog 

Barn: The Quiet Book Blog

Flowers: The Quiet Book Blog

Tic Tac Toe: Serving Pink Lemonade (I came up with my own thing for the X and O)

Toolbox & Tools: Serving Pink Lemonade (I just scaled it down to fit on the page) 

Road: Serving Pink Lemonade's Quiet Book Patterns, I got the house/building patterns from Camille's Casa

Noah's Ark: Free Patterns (I had to scale everything WAY down to make it fit, but it worked great!)

Dump Truck: All the Quiet Things (I decided to make it a counting page so just used the truck pattern)

Seasons Tree: Serving Pink Lemonade's Quiet Book Patterns

Mailbox: Imagine Our Life

The rest were inspired by things I saw online...

Baseball glove: Shouting for Ha

Shapes: Armelle Blog (I wanted more shapes so I used the patterns from Serving Pink Lemonade)

Piggy bank: The Crafting Chicks (We just made it look like the one in his room)

Cleat: All the Quiet Things

Balloons: Montoya's Meaningful Memories and Musings

Robot: The Riley's

How did you bind your quiet book?
Button holes & ribbon.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt (I added iron-on interfacing to the back-to-back pages to secure them better to each other).

What other materials did you use? 
Felt, freezer paper (to help cut out all the pieces), buttons, snaps, velcro, zippers, ribbon, puff paint, printable iron-on transfers, eyelets, cording.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
Between $30 and $40. I didn't have much on hand to start with, and I wanted all my thread colors to match the felt, so I went a little overboard. I have leftovers of a lot of supplies so the next one won't cost as much.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
The mailbox. My husband and I typed up little notes to Hayden and I ironed them onto the felt, so he has actual letters from Mom and Dad in his mailbox.

To see Natalie's quiet book on her own blog (with more pictures and description), click here: The Capell Family: The Quiet Book.  Thank you so much for sharing your awesome quiet book with us Natalie!

 

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

Debbie's Bible Creation Quiet Book

Like I mentioned in a post just a couple days ago, one of my favorite things about quiet books is how unique they all are. Machine sewn, hand sewn, hot-glued, felt, cotton, vinyl - they're all so different and personal. The lovely Bible Creation quiet book that I get to show you today, made by Debbie, is an excellent example of that. Debbie used printer fabric to print out her designs directly on to fabric, cut them out, and she was ready to go! She was able to easily create some really cute figures and graphics with this method. I've never heard of printer fabric before, but what a great idea for quiet books! It opens up a lot of possibilities for pages and figures. So enjoy Debbie's Creation Quiet Book (which goes through each day of the creation of the world), and remember printer fabric as a possibility in the future!

 

 Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
Debbie - I am the mother of three grown children and a huge Disney fan.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
 I made it to donate at a silent auction to raise funds for scholarships for students attending Florida College, a small Bible college in Tampa.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Not too high - I only use my sewing machine for crafts.

How long did it take you?
Five hours or so - I rarely have time to sit and craft for a long period. This quiet book is easy to start and stop and start in again.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
I use Colorfast Printer Fabric to print out the graphics. Printer fabric is super easy to use and makes very professional looking pages, especially when you aren't especially artistic and you don't have to have an applique machine to make good looking pages. I just discovered printer fabric a few months ago and have used it a lot ever since. You can find the graphics and directions at my Etsy store: Live for it Quiet Books.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I use 1 1/2" album rings and a hole punch.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt with Peltex in between the pages for added stiffness.

What other materials did you use? 
Printer fabric, tacky glue, velcro, snaps, Heat-n-Bond.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
Approximately $30-$40 dollars.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
The ladybug page (Day 6 of Creation) - there are so many things to do with it; the ladybug zips to hold Adam and Eve and their changes of clothes; the giraffe's spots can be snapped on and off and the tiger's tail moves back and forth - lots of fun to play with.

If you'd like to purchase Debbie's templates to download, check them out in her Etsy shop here:  Live for it Quiet Books.

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

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

Desna's Quiet Book

One thing I love about quiet books is how unique they all are. The quiet book I had as a kid, made by my mom, was made out of a kind of muslin material with cotton sewn on top. The quiet books I've made for my own girls have been almost entirely made of felt. Some quiet books are machine sewn, others are hand-sewn. And they all have different activities! Today's quiet book, made by grandma Desna, is made out of cotton and bound like a quilt. Each of the pages are so cute and look so soft and fun. I love all the different patterned fabrics she used, and the way the pages are all connected together! It's such a bright and happy book; take a look and enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Desna; I am married, a mum of two daughters and one son; a granny of two little granddaughters and one little grandson.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made this quiet book for my granddaughter Elise for her first birthday.

What's your level of sewing experience?
I did a little sewing at school and made some dressing up clothes for my daughters but never really took sewing seriously until my eldest daughter was expecting her first child, who is soon to be three years old. I wanted to make something for my first grandchild so decided to teach myself how to quilt through the internet... now I am hooked!

How long did it take you?
Rough guess on how long this project has taken... I spent a long time researching for ideas on the net and deciding how I should make the actual book... then choosing fabrics (any excuse to go fabric shopping!!). The actual sewing, quilting and binding was around a month.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I looked at lots of ideas and kind of put my own spin on them which I saw on Instagram and many other sites... I loved the Lion Roar page on this blog which simple had to be included and it is one of Elise's favourites.

How did you bind your quiet book?
I bound my quiet book as I would a quilt, as that's what I know best, then connected each page with matching fabric strips. I put a handle for easy carrying and a velcro closure to keep it tidy.

What material are the pages made out of? What other materials did you use?
The main material I used was cotton fabric, mostly from my stash, batting, ribbon, buttons, velcro, snap fasteners, corduroy, lace, pompoms, rickrack, Heatnbond, fusible fleece and fusible interfacing. I was afraid of the little pieces being mislaid so I attached every piece to a ribbon which was attached in the binding.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
This one is difficult! I really have no idea what it cost but it was quite a lot as I was buying in bulk as I have three grandkids and I knew I would be making more. Fabric and batting is expensive... but sure who is counting when you are having fun :)

What's your favorite page? Why?
My favourite page... it is between the weather page and the bird in the nest page but I am so proud of my rainbow as I really struggled and experimented as to how to make it and love it now.

Desna, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful 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!

Sami's ABC Quiet Book

Today is the third and final quiet book from Sami of Diary of an Overworked Mum's Kid Spot. This one is an ABC book. It's not the whole thing, more of a "sneak peak." I think she'll eventually post the whole thing on her blog. I really like everything she's done on these pages - the alien finger puppet on the A page, the velcro number blocks, the super cute ladybug with zipper, the mitten with polka-dot ribbon, and the peekaboo alien. Take a look!

Interview
(The answers in this interview also refer to Sami's other two quiet books, one of which posted on Monday and one of which posted on Wednesday.)

What is your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Sami. I am currently a stay at home in Brisbane, Australia.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made them for my three children who are 6, 4 and 2.

What is your level of sewing experience? 
Beginner. My "On The Farm" quiet book was my first ever sewing project.

How long did it take you? 
I honestly could not say exactly, maybe about a week or two for each book with about 2-6 hours a day. With them being my first sewing projects and having no one to teach me anything it was made up of a lot of trial and error.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
I used no templates; however, I did use some ideas that I found online.

How did you bind your quiet books? 
I just kind of poked a hole in the pages and stuck binder rings through them.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt.

What other materials did you use? 
Just felt and ribbon.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I don't know exactly but it was definitely in the hundreds.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I think the ladybug is my favorite. Probably because it was my first zipper and press studs and I felt like they turned up really well.

To view Sami's "Things That Go" quiet book on her own blog, with more detail about each page, click here: Things That Go Quietbook. To see her "On the Farm" quiet book, click here: On the Farm Quietbook.

Again, thank you for sharing all of your quiet books with us, Sami!

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