Sarah's Quiet Book

Happy Monday! I hope the start of your week has been good. Today I get to share with you a beautiful quiet book made by Sarah, who made it for her nieces. She used lots of bright, colorful patterned fabrics that add so much life and interest to her quiet book. Her different pages include a chalkboard page, mailbox page (with handwritten letters inside), a color page, a dress up doll page (with a wardrobe full of little clothes), a memory flip page, a button and lace page where you can make shapes, and a counting page. It is an absolutely beautiful book. I can't get over the fantastic color page or all of the beautiful, unique little clothes for the dress up page. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Interview

What's your name? What's your level of sewing experience?

My name is Sarah and I just get such a kick out of sewing pretty things! I started with quilting, but have enjoyed the much faster results that come from quiet book piecing! I learned to sew basic embroidery and piecing from my mom and grandma when I was about six.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made this book for my nieces, ages three and one; (more for the three year old, obviously.) :)

How long did it take you?
I have been doing sketches for it for over a year; but they have set in my "unfinished work" basket for months and months. I decided this Christmas would be the one-that-I-got-the-book-done. I have no idea how many hours it took, start to finish, but I would estimate around fifty. Eek.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I used a template from Serving Pink Lemonade's blog for the paper doll-girl. I got the idea for the memory flip page from thisishappystuff.com (Busy Book: Memory Flip), but I improvised the execution of it.The other pages were inspired from various education and craft blogs and Pinterest.

How did you bind your quiet book?
The book is basically made out of three 12"x 24" mini-quilts. the first one is slightly longer, and serves for both covers. the other two quilts (which contain four pages; two on front and two on back) are sewed down the center directly onto the cover "quilt."

How much did all the supplies cost you?
Since I have done quite a bit of sewing and have a stash of scrap fabrics, I didn't have to buy anything specifically for this project except for some buttons, and iron-on vinyl (with which I covered the "letters" and "picture memory").

What's your favorite page? Why?
My favorite things about this book are: the letters to my nieces with the photos of the first time I met each of them, and the photo memory game, because those pages make it so personal to the girls. I enjoyed making the felt doll clothes the most, and reminiscing about past sewing projects I had done for my little people as I used scraps for the color/texture page. The book is absolutely full of good memories for me! I am working on one for my little sons now, and using some of their outgrown baby clothes, which makes is extra special to me.

Sarah, thank you for sharing your beautiful 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!

Donna's Quiet Book

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week has been a little bit warmer than ours; we had some freezing rain last night and all the schools in the area canceled school because of the ice! So we're wearing warm clothes and trying to stay cozy inside.

Today I get to share with you a quiet book made by Donna, a stay at home mom who made this book for her friend's son. It is such a cute book and has some unique, really fun pages! The first page is a "Dress Jake" page, for fans of the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" show. Donna's Jake and his clothes are so cute and so like the cartoon! I love it. She also has a piggy bank page, a camping page, a toolbox page, a dog page, a pizza page, and a car page. One of the details I really like is the pepperoni on the pizza page - each pizza slice has a different number of pepperonis, so kids can use the different slices to count up to four. Very easy, and clever! So without further ado, her is Donna's adorable quiet book!

 Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
Donna, I'm a stay at home mom and love crafting.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
My friends little boy. He is two.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Beginner.

How long did it take you?
About 10 hours over about one week.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
No templates really. Just kind of drew them out from looking at pictures. I did get some ideas from other books I have seen on Pinterest. The camping idea came from Imagine Our Life: Camping Quiet Book Page.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
With eyelets.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Felt.

What other materials did you use? 
Cotton.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
Around $20.

What's your favorite page? Why? 
The dress up Jake because that is my friends sons favorite character.

Thank you so much for sharing your super cute quiet book, Donna!

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

Sarah's Creation Quiet Book

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had wonderful holidays and have had a good start to the new year. The Quiet Book Blog is back after its holiday break, and I have some cool new books to show you!

Today's quiet book comes to us from France, made by Sarah of the blog Napirasu for her friend's son. Her book is based on the first chapter of the bible, which describes the creation of the earth. Each page shows another part of creation - first the division of light from darkness, then heaven, and so on. Each picture also has the (French) word describing that step of creation. Sarah was kind enough to provide an English translation of the book, which is below. I think my favorite page is the sun and moon page - I love the twinkly little stars! Please, enjoy!

au commencement : In the beginning

jour : day

nuit : night

ciel : heaven/sky

plantes : plants

soleil : sun

lune : moon

piseaux : birds

poissons : fishes

homme et femme : man and woman

 

Dieu vit tout ce qu'il avait fait : c'était très bon. : God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

pour Célestin : for Celestin

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence.
My name is Sarah. I'm french, I'm 32, I have no kids but I love sewing for my family's and friend's children.

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they?
I made this book with a friend of mine (who did the embroidery) as birth gift for baby Celestin, the son of friends of us.

What's your level of sewing experience?
I really like sewing, for 7 years now, but I still lack of technique.

How long did it take you?
I can't tell exactly. Maybe a few hours sewing; the shapes are all really simple.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I didn't use templates, but found some inspirations in medieval books, where the creation is symbolized with circles.

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

What material are the pages made out of?
Cotton, and a lot of scraps I had left.

How much did all the supplies cost you?
1€ for the cotton.

What's your favorite page?
I like the one with plants.

To view Sarah's quiet book on her own blog, with more description and images of where she got her inspiration, click here: Napirasu: Au commencement.

Sarah and her friend also made another quiet book about baptism, which incorporates the elements found in a Catholic baptism (a church, cross, water, oil, white garment, and light). It's lovely (and I love the embroidered cover); if you'd like to see that quiet book, just click here: Napirasu: Quiet Book - Bapteme.

Thank you so much, Sarah, for sharing your beautiful quiet books 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!

Megan's Quiet Book

Good morning everyone! I hope your holiday season is going well for you so far; Christmas is in full swing over here at our house, and the new favorite activity of my two little daughters is rearranging all the ornaments on our tree, haha. :) After this post I'll be taking a break until the new year. If you send emails to the blog account in the next couple weeks, I might be able to respond, but it's more likely you'll get a response in January. With that said, let's move onto today's fantastic quiet book!

Today's quiet book was made by Megan, as a Christmas gift for her friend's three little girls. She plans to add more pages in the future for their birthdays and future holidays, which is such a cool idea! The pages she started off with are great. She has a rice bag "I Spy" page, a colorful zipper page, a ballet shoe lace-up page, a Rapunzel tower page where you can braid Rapunzel's hair, and an adorable dress up page where you can dress up a doll in different princess dresses. The dresses are so cute - she has Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Ah! Adorable! So, please enjoy Megan's quiet book.

Here's the dress up doll:

And her dresser full of clothes:

And all of her princess outfits!

Interview

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

Megan. I am a Kindergarten teacher turned stay at home mom of an almost 1 year old, who wishes there were more hours in the day for my sewing projects!

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
My best friend has 3 daughters, ages 4.5 years, 2.5 years, and 4 months. This book is their Christmas gift, and I plan to add a page as each child's birthday and Christmas gift for the next several years.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
Intermediate

How long did it take you? 
I worked on it for an hour or 2 a night after bedtime. I was finished in 3 weeks, but didn't work on it every night. My best guess is 10-15 hours.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found? 
I used LOTS of ideas I found on pinterest!!!
I-Spy page: Inspiration from Sweet Juicy April: Baby Quiet Books
Zipper page: I planned to do this Metcalf Crew: Quiet Book, but decided to place the zippers at haphazard angles instead
Rapunzel page: Inspiration from PA County Crafts: Rapunzel and Button Flowers Quiet Book Pages
Ballet Slipper page: Serving Pink Lemonade: Quiet Book
Dresser page: Modeled after this dresser Love Charla Anne: Made With Love
Doll page: Cheryl Style: DIY Felt Dress Up Dolls
Dresses: I made up the patterns, but got some ideas from What is Bridget Reading?: Flannel Friday - Fairy Tale Princesses

How did you bind your quiet book? 
Each page has 3 button holes, The pages are contained in a 3 ring binder, so that pages can be added later on or taken out and passed out to each child.

What material are the pages made out of?
9x12 felt sheets.

What other materials did you use? 
Vinyl, un-cooked orzo noodles, buttons, beads, jewels, ribbon, zippers, yarn, hair clips.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
I spent $25, but have lots of leftovers now. If you already had a variety of colors of felt it wouldn't be nearly as much.

What's your favorite page? Why?
I loved how the princess dress up page turned out! I am sure the girls will fight over that one!

Megan, thank you so much for sharing your adorable 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!

100th Post - and Stitch People Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I have something exciting to tell you - this is the 100th post on the Quiet Book Blog! Thank you to everyone who has shared their quiet book on the blog over the last couple of years; everyone's awesome books have made a truly wonderful collection of ideas and inspiration.

Today, for the 100th post, I wanted to share with you Stitch People.  Once upon a time, my friend Lizzy started this amazing company where she creates custom cross-stitch family portraits.

Each family portrait is completely customized to your family. Here are some of the portraits she's done:

She also does wedding portraits and pet portraits. Something else she offers on her website (and this is what I think you guys will especially like, since you're crafty) is a Do-It-Yourself Stitch People Book.

The description on her website for the DIY Stitch People Book is this:

"Do - It - Yourself Stitch People Book: Instructions & Patterns for Designing and Stitching Your Very Own Stitch People Portrait.

Order the Stitch People DIY "bible" filled with over 500,000 cross-stitch pattern combinations! Includes designs and patterns for hairstyles, clothing, and dogs and cats of many breeds, as well as color suggestions, illustrations and examples to help make your cross-stitch family portrait look just right!

The physical book is 8.5"W x 11"H, and spiral bound for easy use. The E-Book and physical book are identical."

This book is awesome. Just check out a couple of the pages inside that help you stitch your own family portrait:

To see or order the DIY Stitch People Book on the Stitch People website, click here:  Do-It-Yourself Stitch People Book: Instructions & Patterns for Designing and Stitching Your Very Own Stitch People Portrait.

Now, I wanted to tell you about Stitch People this week because they're having a holiday giveaway! You could win a cross stitch starter kit and the DIY Stitch People Book. Here's what you have to do:

Stitch People Holiday Giveaway
Free Cross Stitch Starter Kit & DIY Stitch People Book

1. Sign Up for the Stitch People Email Newsletter at StitchPeople.com
2. Like Stitch People on Facebook! Facebook.com/StitchPeople
3. Follow Stitch People on Instagram (@StitchPeople)

You can also share the giveaway on Facebook or Instagram for more entries - the more times you share, the more entries you'll get!  The giveaway ends Sunday, December 8th at 11:59pm MST, and the winner will be announced Monday, December 9th.

To just go browse over on the Stitch People website, check out these pages:
Custom Cross-Stitch Portraits
Custom Family Portrait Patterns
Do-It-Yourself Stitch People Book

 I hope you're all having a great week, and I hope you enjoy checking out Stitch People!