Tiffany's Etsy Quiet Books

Today's quiet books are awesome. They are made by Tiffany of Always Sewin' Somethin!, the same talented seamstress who made the books featured on Monday and Wednesday of this week. The books featured today are both really cute and available for sale in her Etsy Shop.

There are a lot of pictures below, so let me take a moment explain what all of the quiet books are before you scroll down. First of all, there are three different versions of Color quiet books. These three books are different sizes and have different features, but are all focused on color. Secondly, there is a Shapes quiet book. Finally, there is full, twenty-six page ABC quiet book, and an example of the Personalized Name quiet books that Tiffany makes. You can also see any and all of these quiet books in Tiffany's Etsy Shop.

So let's dive in!

The three Colors quiet books:

Interview for the Colors quiet books

How long did it take you?
Since I intended to list this in my Etsy shop, I kept extensive notes on how my time/money was spent. The button version took about 10 1/2 hours, the regular version took about 7 hours and the mini version took about 5 1/2 hours. I worked mostly during naptime over the course of a month or two.

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

Nope. The designs are completely my own. I did do some google image searches to help come up with good shapes.

How did you bind your quiet book?

Two metal key rings.

What material are the pages made out of?

Pellon Extra Firm interfacing.

What other materials did you use?

I went to JoAnns and got a four inch cut of anything I found that had a unique texture. There is some minky, vinyl, toweling, velvet, mesh, denim, satin, ribbon, and even a little burlap in there.

I also used buttons and velcro for attaching the shapes.

What's your favorite page? Why?

The pink pages are my favorite because I just love the furry pink minky.  :)


The Shapes quiet book:

 Interview for the Shapes quiet book

How long did it take you?

This book took me about 6 1/2 hours to make.  I worked on it during naptimes over the course of a week or two.

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

I designed all the pages myself.  In fact, I have gotten so many views from Pinterest, I decided to write a pattern for it, which can be found HERE.

How did you bind your quiet book?

Two Metal Key Rings.

What material are the pages made out of?

Pellon Extra Firm interfacing.

What other materials did you use?
Felt, Buttons, Ribbon, Velcro, Thread, Flannel

What's your favorite page? Why?

I think the car page is my favorite.  I like the big button wheels.


The ABC and Personalized Name quiet books:

Interview for the ABC and Personalized Name quiet books

How long did it take you?
The ABC book took about 20 hours.  I've been working on it off and on for a LOT of months.  Connor's book took about 6 hours and about a week.

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

Nope.  All the designs are my own.  Although I did do a lot of searching on Pinterest and later google images for ideas.

How did you bind your quiet book?

Two binder rings and a hole punch.  The ABC book turned out SO FAT that I had to add a strap to keep it closed!

What material are the pages made out of?

Pellon Extra Firm interfacing.

What other materials did you use?
Felt, Buttons, Ribbon, Velcro, Thread, snaps, beads, craft sticks, googly eyes, yarn, zipper, faux leather.

What's your favorite page? Why?

I love how Connor's octopus page turned out (it's much cuter in real life) and I love the xylophone page.  My boys' favorite seems to be the puzzle page.

To see the Colors quiet books on Tiffany's blog, click here: New Quiet Books: Colors!
To see the Shapes quiet book on Tiffany's blog, click here: Shapes Quiet Book. 
To see the ABCs and Name quiet books on Tiffany's blog, click here: New Quiet Book: ABCs!
To see all of these books in Tiffany's Etsy shop, click here: Always Sewin' Somethin! Etsy Shop.

Thank you for sharing all of your fabulous quiet books with us, Tiffany!

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 "Things That Go" Quiet Book

Today is the second quiet book from Sami of Diary of an Overworked Mum's Kid Spot! This book is as cute and creative as her first. The theme Sami chose for this quiet book was "Things That Go," and she made pages of a hot air balloon, a boat, a crane, a car and traffic light, a rocketship, an airplane, a tractor, and a train. What a fun book!

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 will post on Friday.)

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. Thank you for sharing this with us Sami!

Check back on Friday for Sami's third 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!

Kaitlyn's Name Quiet Books

I love quiet books that spell out a child's name on the pages. They're such a cool keepsake - fun to look at and play with when the child is little, and a tender reminder of someone's love for them when they're older. Today's post features two name books made by Kaitlyn of Creatv.ly - and they are stunning. The detail that she put into each page is really just beautiful, and I find myself wishing that I had such talent. : ) I think my very favorite page from these books is the hummingbird one - I just love the bird and the flower! But it's hard to pick a favorite when there are so many awesome pages here. Enjoy!

Mason's Name Book:

Charlie's Name Book:

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Kaitlyn. I'm a wife, a mom of two young boys, a photographer, a crafter, a minimalist, and a CrossFit-er.

Who did you make these quiet books for? How old are they?
I made both felt books during my pregnancies for my two boys. Mason was born July 2008 and Charlie was born September 2010. They still like to look at the books at ages 4-1/2 and 2-1/2.

What's your level of sewing experience?
My mom started teaching me how to sew when I was about 8 years old. I sewed costumes, dresses and doll cloths throughout my adolescence. In my late teens I learned how to sew quilt tops. I often use patterns, but I have also been known to make my own patterns as well. I learned how to embroider when I was about 12, but didn't really get into it until later in my teens when I made my first crazy quilt. The fancy embroidery was my favorite part and reminded me of my great-grandmother.

How long did it take you?
The first quiet book I made took several months to complete. Mostly because I had to take a lot of breaks. I used fabric glue to tack all the felt pieces down before I started embroidering, and later learned that fabric glue plus several layers of felt is almost impossible to hand-stitch through. I ended up using a pair of pliers to push and pull the needle through the felt, and bent several needles in the process. It was so difficult to finish, I swore I would never make another one.

When I found out I was pregnant with my second son, I decided to make another quiet book. By then I had learned about fusible webbing (aka Wonder-Under), and I was able to work much faster. I completed the whole thing in about two weeks, working on it a few hours each day (mostly during nap time).

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I made my own templates for both books. I drew my designs out on printer paper, and then cut them up into pattern pieces. I never had any intention of turning them into actual patterns, but after I finished the second book, I started getting inquiries about my patterns, and eventually I was persuaded to complete the alphabet and turn all my hand drawings into digital patterns. My patterns can now be purchased on my website at http://creatv.ly/shop/.

How did you bind your quiet book?
First,  I blanket-stitched around the edges of my pages. Each page is made up of two single felt sheets placed wrong sides together. Once all the pages were stitched, then I sewed through the blanket stitching of all the pages on one side to turn it into a book. It's kind of hard to explain in words, so a few years ago I made a video tutorial. It can be found at http://creatv.ly/felt-book-binding-tutorial/.

What material are the pages made out of?
I LOVE felt, and used it for all the pages!

What other materials did you use?
As I mentioned earlier, I started using Wonder-Under to fuse the felt pieces together. I also used cotton embroidery floss for all my stitching; and buttons, beads, yarn, sequins, and ribbon as embellishments.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I don't remember the exact cost, but we were poor college students at the time, and I tried really hard not to spend a lot of money on it all. I used the cheap Eco felt you can find in precut sheets at the craft store for 25 cents per page. I also had a lot of stuff on hand, but I did have to buy some of the embellishments and embroidery thread.

What's your favorite page?
In Mason's book, my favorite page is probably the giraffe. I have a thing for buttons, so it was fun to get to use so many on one page. In Charlie's book, my favorite page is definitely the crab. The bubbles and beading on the sand are just so eye catching.

To see more details of Kaitlyn's quiet books or to find the patterns in her shop, check out these links on her blog:

• Mason's Felt Name Book
• Charlie's Felt Name Book
• Felt Alphabet Patterns, Animals (Basic)
• Felt Alphabet Patterns, Animals (Expanded)
• Felt Alphabet Patterns, Objects
• Felt Alphabet Patterns, Combination Pack

Kaitlyn, thank you so much for sharing your quiet books, templates, and tutorials 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!