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!

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!

Amy's Quiet Book

The quiet book I get to share with you today is one of the classics, one of the ones that started it all. Amy of the popular blog Serving Pink Lemonade made and posted her awesome quiet book almost three years ago, in January 2011. Very soon after she posted her templates and helpful instructions. And just a few months ago, she published her very own book on how to make a quiet book! Her book, Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children, is available on Amazon.com and looks awesome.

When I was making my own quiet book back in 2011, Amy's was one of the first ones I found. The quality of it inspired me, and I loved her different activities. I based my barn on her lovely, clean-cut one. And my favorite page in her book is the seasons tree - I definitely want to make one in one of my future quiet books.

So enjoy Amy's awesome quiet book, and definitely take a look at her Quiet Book Pattern book on Amazon!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
My name is Amy.  I am a mother to three cute kiddos and a recent first time author of "Quiet Book Patterns: 25 easy-to-make activities for your children"--which are completely different ideas than what I'm sharing with you today.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made my quiet books for my oldest two children when they were only two and four years old.

What's your level of sewing experience?  
I started sewing as a young girl.  I remember sewing simple straight lines to help my mom make cloth diapers for my younger siblings.  I made my first dress when I was ten years old and made skirts, handbags, and even my prom dress in high school.  I perfected my sewing skills in college by taking a few clothing constructions and pattern making classes.

How long did it take you? 
I worked on my quiet books for over the period of two to three months, a little here and a little there.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used some of the quiet books my mom had made when I was a little girl for inspiration but I drew up each template from scratch for my own quiet book.  You can find the templates on my website: Serving Pink Lemonade: Quiet Book.

How did you bind your quiet book?
To bind my quiet books I punched holes through the Pellon Peltex pages with a single paper hole punch.  Peltex is strong and won't fray or tear so you don't have to worry about reinforcing the holes.  Initially I strung ribbon through the holes to bind the pages and then later replaced the ribbon with 1" binder rings.

What material are the pages made out of?
The pages of my books are made of Pellon Peltex (a thick non-fusible interfacing).  I love it because it doesn't "pill" like felt and it is sturdy and the edges will not fray.

What other materials did you use?
I used a lot of still felt on my pages and ironed most of the pieces on using Pellon Wonder Under so I didn't have to do very much sewing.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
I didn't keep track of the cost since I bought the supplies a little at a time.  A lot the the supplies I already had on hand too.  Making a quiet book is a great way to use up small scraps!

What's your favorite page? Why? 
My favorite page by far is the car mat page.  I love how it turned out and my kids love playing with it.  I think the road signs add a professional touch.


To view Amy's quiet book on her blog, with helpful instructions, templates, and supply lists, click here: Serving Pink Lemonade: Quiet Book. To see Amy's Quiet Book Pattern Book, click here: Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children.

Thank you so much for sharing your book, your templates, and your instructions with us Amy!

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

Moira's Number Quiet Book

Hi everyone! Sorry the last month was so slow on the blog; I'm getting ready to have our second baby and have been trying to get everything in order before she gets here!

The quiet book I have to show you today is made by Moira, the same skilled retired textiles teacher that made this Colors Quiet Book. Her new quiet book has a different theme: counting! Each page has a prominent number, a matching number of objects (embroidery or buttons), the number written out in English and French, and that same number of ribbon tabs on the side of the page. It's awesome! I think a book like this would be perfect for my almost-two-year-old; she loves practicing counting, and a book like this would help a lot. Take a look at Moira's awesome counting quiet book!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Moira Elliott. I am a recently retired Textiles Teacher in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I have made this quiet book for my Grandson Daniel who is 15 months and lives in Quebec, Canada. He loves my first quiet book which was about colours and so this book is about the numbers one to ten.

What's your level of sewing experience?
Having been a textiles teacher for many years I am fairly skilled in all aspects of creative textiles work.

How long did it take you?
The numbers book took several days to make including the CADCAM embroidery of each number in both English and French.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I did not use any templates.

How did you bind your quiet book?
The book is stitched together down the central pages.

What material are the pages made out of?
The fabrics are mostly cotton, the embroidery threads used are viscose. The ribbons are mostly synthetic.

What other materials did you use? How much did all the supplies cost you?
The main cost was for the buttons and the ribbons. These totaled around £15.00. The fabrics used were taken from my large stock!

What's your favorite page? Why?
I do not have a favourite page but may do so after spending thus coming Christmas in Quebec and being able to see Daniel playing with the book.

Thank you so much for sharing your awesome, second quiet book with us Moira!

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