Quiet book cover and inside

My quiet book is not a finished product, as I plan to keep adding to it over the years. It's actually more of a quiet....briefcase. I was going to post instructions on how to make the cover, but I changed it so much while I was making it that I didn't have time to keep track of all the measurements. I will tell you though that I picked two cute coordinating fabrics out of cotton. I used a heavy duty nylon 36" zipper that zips all the way open (parka zipper). If you are afraid of sewing on zippers, or don't have much experience-then this is a great place to start! It was so easy to sew on because you can zip it apart from the other side while you sew it on the strips of fabric.

I used heavy duty iron on infusing- that can pretty much stand up on its own. It made for a nice stiff cover. I also used 3" binder rings, so I could remove the pages and pass them out to kids and choose what to put in it each time I take it somewhere. I found them on the Internet.

If you're a local..I could show you how to make the cover.

I also added pockets in the front and back inside cover so I could add paper and pencil or crayons, etc. I really like how it turned out!

All the pages are either made with felt or fleece. I used lightweight infusing on the insides of each of them to help them last longer and hold the stitching better.

My pages are all 11x11 and the cover is made 12x12, with a 3 inch spine.

Happy to give more details if you need them!!

Quiet book page 15

Our piggy bank! There are 10 coins, and I put plastic bag in them so they make a wonderfully quiet crinkle noise.

Loved the idea I found here http://craftingchicks.blogspot.com/2009/09/quiet-book-i.html

Quiet book page 14

Just a cute lion with a ribbon mane. I just found a lion face in free clipart and used that. It was time consuming pinning all the ribbon on, but then I sewed them down and added the face on top. My little Miss loves to pull on the ribbon.

Got the idea from here http://thedixonstory.blogspot.com/2009/10/guess-what-i-finished.html

Quiet book page 13

Oh how we love monsters!!
I got this idea from Joann Fabric. I don't remember the name of the monsters, but they are pillows and you can add different faces, arms legs, wings, etc. (if someone knows what they are called..leave me a comment)

Adorned with purple hair, eye brows, three eyes, a nose and then arms and legs.

Extra pieces

Quiet book pages 11 & 12

Noah's ark pages!! Match the raindrop color with the rainbow.

(sorry for the bad pic...the background is light blue on this page)

You can weave the side of the ark. And no, there are not animals in it yet. I've been putting little animals in that are not the right size and haven't found any that I like or taken the time to make them yet. BUT there will be a Noah and several pairs of animals.

Quiet book page 10

I'm finally posting the rest of the book. I'll go back and add the info of where I got my ideas at a later date. For now...here is the rest of the book!

Quiet book page 9

Did you think I gave up on the quiet book? Not a chance! I have been super busy with so many other things going on...like Christmas shopping.

Here is my Autumn page:

Obviously the leaves come off and are attached with very small pieces of Velcro. I sewed some of the leaves to the tree, which I made smaller than the ones that come off. Someday I'll make apples to go on the tree to "harvest", so I wanted some leaves to stay on for that.

The little basket holds leaves, and the grass can be moved and grasped by little fingers.

My little girl tried this page already and loved pulling the leaves off, she also tasted them repetitively....and didn't find them tasty at all. I don't think she enjoyed the Velcro on her tongue.

Quiet book page 8

This is now my favorite page! I am a huge s'mores fan. I tried to think of what would portrait summer for us, and s'more won as the favorite thing of summer. We love to camp, but make s'more at home too.

The page lays flat of course.



But then the fire and tent can stand up.

The fire quietly "crackles" when the flame is wiggled. (crackly plastic is inside)

Marshmallows and chocolate bars hide in the tent which attaches with velcro.

The graham crackers and roasting stick hide in the sleeping bag which is sewn on two sides and and a quarter way across the top. They fit in quite snug.

The marshmallows can lay flat and are "roasted" on one side, and fresh on the other.

They can be folded in half and attached with velcro around the stick.



MMMMM MMMM S'mores!

I may make some little bears to "play" on this page as well, but am calling it done for now.

Quiet book page 7

I've been busy with other things lately and a sick kid at home. My quiet book got pushed off of the priority list!

I am working on a page for each season. Here is spring!

All of the flowers unbutton and the leaf on the left lifts up to see a butterfly underneath.

Quiet Book page 6

Hey! Your shoe's untied!

Another happy page! As you can see, it's not a dress up page-exactly....but one is in the planning process. I really need to stop looking at more great ideas and then I could get the pages done I originally planned to make.

For this page, I totally borrowed the idea from this blog http://craftychiclyric.blogspot.com/2009/07/girls-quiet-book.html. (minus the converse star- I'm not a complete pirate!)

I have also seen on several blogs pages dedicated to seasons, and am in the process of doing the four seasons. More on that hopefully tomorrow.

Quiet book page 5

Took a break from the quiet book to get some shopping and housework done...priorities ruin the fun sometimes!

Here is page five. I used a pattern for this one- Simplicity. I bought the pattern thinking I would do most of the pages that came with it, but then after seeing so many other really cute ideas, I was really only sold on this one.

Next I'm thinking about a dress up page. We'll see what the fabric decides.

Quiet book page 4

I saw a cute purse idea on this page http://itybtyfrogcreations.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-quiet-book_25.html and probably a few others. My kids have always loved digging through my purse and pulling everything out. I just had to add it!

I put a few things in it we already had, but plan to hit the $$ store sometime before Christmas and pick up a few other things to put inside, like plastic lipstick, bracelets, maybe some rings. I am going to make some fabric car keys for it too.

Quiet book page 3

This page was a lot easier to do than the others so far. I used the idea from this page to do it. http://swishina.blogspot.com/2009/10/quiet-book.html
Scroll down to the puzzle.

I saw on another blog an idea that I will most likely do. It had three pockets on the previous page with different puzzles in them. I didn't do anything else to my page, since I'm not sure if I will add the additional puzzles to it.

I have not added velcro to the page yet either, because the pieces stay really well on it. I may change my mind and add it. I don't like to overuse velcro because the "ripping" sound is distracting at church. If I do add it, it will just be the rough side added to the puzzle pieces, and no backs attached to the puzzle board. I think it will stick well enough that way.

So far, I'm pretty happy with how the book is turning out.

Quiet book page 2

I finished the second page in my quiet book. I definitely was inspired by the space page from this blog http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/06/finished-quiet-book.html.

I had the space fabric from long ago when my son was little and had a space bedroom. (I pack rat fabrics and craft items).

On Jill's blog, she mentioned that her little boy wanted to take the rocket ship off- not a feature of the page. I decided to make our rocket removable. While attached with a snap, the rocket can slide up and down the ribbon. I also made two planets removable and added crinkle plastic to them so my daughter would have fun making quiet noise with them.

More pages to come!

Quiet book

I've been wanting to make a quiet book for Lovebug and finally decided to jump right in! I looked for ideas on the internet and found that there are some pretty talented and creative people out there making some really great books! I borrowed some ideas for inspiration and some were so adorable that I had to make one just like it!

Here is my first completed page. We have lots of little finger puppets, and I am going to make more for this puppet stage!

I'm making my pages 11x11 so that the cover will be 12x12. It gives me more room for fun things I want to include. If you'd like to peruse some of the pages that I have fallen in love with, visit the following websites:

http://quietbook.blogspot.com/2009/06/page-14-15-oven-cupcakes.html

http://swishina.blogspot.com/2009/10/quiet-book.html Love the fish puzzle and flower vase!

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/04/quiet-book-page-1.html This is my biggest inspiration. Click on quiet book on the sidebar, then "my quiet book" at the top to see all her pages.

http://fortytworoads.blogspot.com/2007/10/close-your-clothes.html cute, I'm going to do one thing from here, not sure what yet.

So that's where most of the ideas that got my own wheels turning came from. The barn with puppets idea on Jill's page is what made me think of doing a theater.

I'll post more pages as I get them done. Hopefully if you are working on one too, you'll get some good ideas from mine and these others.