The Quiet Book is Wrapping Up

I have two blank pages left to fill for my quiet book.  I have loved this project so much, that I hate to see it end.

Here are my latest pages -

This is a classic shape the nose page.  My older kids has a similar page in the quiet book that I made for them.  However, this time I wanted to make the face a little more interesting.   I traced the face and then I sewed on the hat, hair and bandana and attached an old necklace for the nose.  It was a simple page to put together, but it is surprisingly entertaining to see how many nose shapes you can create.

 

 

Here is another classic quiet book puzzle page.  I really wanted a penguin in my book, but when I saw this little Eskimo guy, I just had to try and recreate him in fabric.  I can't quite commit penguins or Eskimo?

My Itsy Bitsy Spider Page is from the pattern on this brilliant ladies blog -http://www.imagineourlife.com/2012/03/07/itsy-bitsy-spider-quiet-book-page/

 

 

I still need to make the spider.  I have some fun fur left over from a knitting project that would make an adorable spider.  I just need to find a way to keep it from being too bulky.

Mini Quiet Book

A friend was teasing me for working so hard on a quiet book while I was still pregnant.  After all, my little boy wouldn't be ready to play with my big quiet book for at least a of couple years.   As I thought about it, I realized that she was absolutely right.  So I put aside my big quiet book for a couple of weeks and got stitching on a mini-quiet book.  I loved this project because it was all hand sewn.  I like the idea of sewing, but don't really enjoy the reality of it.  However, hand stitching through felt is so easy and everything went together quicker than I could have imagined it.  Again, most of my ideas came from other brilliant women who share on the internet.  I am not an artist, so I rely heavily upon Google images.  I'd find an animal I liked, resized it, printed it and used it for my pattern.



Quiet Book - My Renaissance Continues

The creator of the Old MacDonald Finger Puppet Page is a genius!  I loved the finger puppets so much that I couldn't stop making them.  I had to create an extra pocket in the top of the barn just to make more room.

The fishing page features two levels of water pockets and a removable sun.  I made the fishing pole (not pictured) with a dowel and a magnet with two holes drilled into it (it looks like a button).

Quiet Book - My Renaissance

I made a quiet book to keep my first two little boys occupied during church.  The book was simply made -- a little bulky -- but effective in keeping the boys entertained.  By the time my third son was three years old we had become tired of hauling the big book to church every week.  So I gave it away (with all of my other baby stuff), just in time to find out that boy number 4 was on the way.  After years of doing baby projects and with the added demands of three other kids, I didn't have the energy for homemade projects.  Baby 4 had to settle for glitzy store bought entertainment.  Seven years later, after again giving away all of my baby stuff, baby boy 5 showed up on the scene.  It seems as though the clock has wound backward and I am returning to the life I lived 17 years ago.  My appetite for homemade projects is renewed and this time I am armed with experience and the fabulous ideas shared on the Internet by women who much more creative that me.

Here are the first pages of Quiet Book Round II -

Peek-a- Boo Page.  Pull back the mittens to play peek-a-boo with the boy.  Lift the boy's face to play peek-a-boo with baby!

Lift the Flap House

It was a tricky finding a house that would have enough windows for the entire family, while still fitting on the page.  His four brothers "live" on the top floor, mom and dad are behind the windows on the first floor and you see baby when you open the door.

Page three is my changing seasons page.  On the left side there are crates that have different items to represent spring, summer and fall.  The leaves, fruit and flowers can be mixed and matched and then sorted back into their crates. 

The puppy page did not quite come out how I had envisioned.  I wanted to use faux fur to give some texture, but I don't like the way the pattern makes the puppies mouth look strange.  This page gives practice clasping and unclasping the collar.  I like that the collar has a button to release it as opposed to sides that need to be squeezed.  I'm considering adding a leash to the bindng of the book that can be attached to the metal rings.

The puppies' body is a pocket to hold the food that snaps into the bowl.  My older boys have already shown me how the dog food can serve a dual purpose.  BOYS!!!!

The weaving page is a classic that appeared in the quiet book my mom made, as well as Quiet Book Round I.  This is my favorite page and never fails to keep me entertained when the speakers get boring.

The piggy bank page is everywhere and I had to try my own version.

The spaghetti chef was something I really wanted to try, but had no idea how to make it work.  A little trial and error taught me that I could not put wonder-under beneath the entire face and hat.  I needed to leave a tube that was non-fusible so that the yard could travel back and forth freely.  The button on the chef's hat pulls the yarn through and makes it appear that the chef is slurping up all the spaghetti.  The yard can be pulled back through and clustered in the bowl to look like bowlful of noodles.