Helga's Felt Quiet Book

Good morning! Today I get to share you another quiet book made by Helga, who made the cotton and transfer paper book that was featured on Tuesday. I really love this quiet book; each page is so cute and I absolutely love all of the animals.

Here's a peekaboo tree page with an owl, a bird that can be taken in and out of its nest, a fox, a hedgehog and mushrooms, and a bee:

 A garden page with carrots and radishes that can come in and out, a ladybug, and a hiding bunny:

A farm page with finger puppets, a dog, a hiding pig, and a little chick (I love the chick!):

An arctic page with a penguin, a seal, and a peekaboo igloo with a polar bear inside:

A mountain page with a peekaboo bear cave, a raccoon, and a squirrel:

And a really cute nature scene with a caterpillar, a peekaboo log with a beaver hiding behind it, cute details like the little mushroom, and a cloud pocket:

This quiet book is so cute and so sweet, and each page looks so fun to play with. Thank you so much, Helga, for sharing it 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!

Courtney's Quiet Book

A few weeks ago I came across the quiet book of Courtney from Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom, and I loved it! All of her pages are so cute and well made (I know I've said it before, but I love handstitching), and she has some really great ideas and pages I haven't seen before.

Some of the pages are new ones of her own design, and some of the pages are from patterns from Imagine Our Life that Courtney's put her own details on. For example, the train page from Imagine Our Life is usually only two pages, but she made it four pages long and then bound the pages cleverly so it could all fold out into one really long train. She also added a bottle of Tide to the laundry machine page, which is such a great idea. One of the pages of Courtney's own design that I absolutely adore is her weaving picnic basket page - it is so cute! I can't get over it.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling so you can look at her pictures. Enjoy!

Dinosaur page (pattern here):

Kitty tie-the-ribbon page:

Owl page (pattern here):

Igloo page (pattern here):

Train page and finger puppets (pattern here):

Here's how Courtney bound the train pages - with a clever "hinge" in each page:

Pocket for the finger puppets:

I Spy page:

Sock matching page:

Shiny fish and fish peekaboo pages:

Ants in the Picnic Basket Weaving page:

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Courtney. I am a stay-at-home mom and I love making things for my daughter.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made this book for my 2 year old daughter but I started making it when she was about 16 months old.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
I have to admit, my sewing experience isn't very high. I decide I want to do something and I do it. It may take me longer than other people but I try to do my best and learn as I go. I am a bit of a perfectionist and I'm slow.

How long did it take you? 
As a guesstimate I would say each page took anywhere from 2 to 10 hours. However, I choose to hand sew almost everything even when you have an option to use a machine. I really don't know how long it has taken me to make my whole book. A long time! :)

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
For the picnic page, fish pages, and kitty page, I designed them myself but haven't really made full patterns for them. The rest I got from imagineourlife.com. She has tons of great patterns!

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I used imagineourlife's patterns for the basic page and cover patterns which use 2 grommets in each page and then you can use giant rings to attach the pages in the book. I have had a difficult time finding large enough rings so I have just temporarily tied mine together with ribbons or bungee thread. Whatever works :)

What material are the pages made out of? What other materials did you use? 
The main material I use is felt and thread,(some people use embroidery floss but I just use normal sewing thread folded over once or twice to make it thicker). In some pages you can use ribbons and colorful fabrics and really whatever you want to add to it. One of the funnest parts about making the quiet book pages is making it your own. The cover is made with flannel or really whatever fabric you would like. You can use a clip or a giant button to close the book.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
Supplies are generally very cheap. That's one of the best things about felt crafts. I get my felt at Hobby Lobby for $0.25 each and thread is a couple dollars per spool. The cover and binding will cost a little more but part of that depends on what fabric or method of binding you choose.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
My favorite page is probably the circus train. I extended the pattern to make is a much longer train and used the basic animal finger puppet patterns to design some more animals of my own. I added my own background, switched up the colors, and changed a few other minor things. I made my train four pages long! In order to get it to fit in the book I made it so that each side folds in. It's pretty fun to open it up and have a giant train! :) I also made an envelope pocket on the back side of one of the train pages to keep the animals stored in. The best thing about making a quiet book is seeing kids get excited to play with it. Just a few minutes ago my little girl was playing with hers. I love being able to make things for her!

To see Courtney's quiet book pages on her own blog (with more pictures and explanations), check out these posts: Quiet Books, Matching Socks, My Fishy Page, Picnic Basket Quiet Book Page. She also makes cute crochet flower headbands for babies and women. To check out her Etsy shop, click here: Cabin Fever.


Thank you so much for sharing all of your adorable pages with us, Courtney!


Also, everyone, don't forget to enter into this week's Bible Quiet Book Template giveaway! Click here to go to the post where you can enter, or click on the picture below!

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

Magda's Christmas Quiet Book

Okay, before getting to today's post (which is an AWESOME Christmas quiet book), I want to remind you guys to enter this week's giveaway! You might win Amy Pincock's "Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children."

Just click on this picture!

All right, now today's quiet book comes to us from Magda, a stay-at-home mom from Poland who's currently living in China. She made an adorable Christmas/winter-themed quiet book (two of them, actually) as a Christmas present. I love so much about this quiet book, but some of my favorite things are the Christmas tree branch (on the first page), the Christmas tree with different shape ornaments on it, and Santa and his reindeer. I love how well done everything is and how interactive the pages are - the Snowman dress-up is a great idea, and I love how the penguin's igloo is also a puzzle. I know it's March and Christmas is a long ways away, but it's never to early to start planning quiet books! Enjoy!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Magda. I'm Polish but currently living in China. I'm a stay-at-home mum of 2 kids.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made two books. They were Christmas gifts for a boy who is 2.5 and a girl who is 1.5 years old.

What's your level of sewing experience?
I'm a beginner.

How long did it take you?
About 2 weeks. I sew mostly for about 2-3 hours in the evenings.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used part of the "Penguin & Igloo" template from Imagineourlife.com for the igloo page. Christmas tree - the idea taken from iSLCOLLECTIVE: Shapes and Colors worksheet.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I sewed the pages together with embroidery floss.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt.

What other materials did you use? 
Snaps, Velcro, ribbons, buttons and beads.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
Not sure. I had all the supplies at home.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
I love a gift page and a Santa page. They were real fun to make and I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful quiet book with us, Magda!

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