I make each grandchild a quiet book for their first birthday. Due to last summer's upheaval (our moms died and I had a spinal fusion) I made little progress on Titan's and thus missed his first birthday in August. I began sewing in earnest in January after the holidays were over, and finally finished it today!
Since Titan's middle name is Rex, it seemed appropriate that there be T-Rexes and other dinosaurs on the cover fabric!
A tying activity is on the cover page.
An old favorite that has appeared in just about every quiet book I've made is Katy Caterpillar.
I redesigned this page by making the garage much, much larger than the one in the pattern book. Inside are two Matchbox cars for Titan to play with.
Another family favorite. My mother had the idea to add the bees and the dotted lines indicating their flight patterns. She helped me make a few of these books, and so when I added those dotted lines, I felt very close to her. Nice to know a piece of her is still in her great grandchildren's books.
I'm not much of an artist, but I can look at pictures and then try free handing some cattails and rushes!
This is a brand new page that I designed for Titan. I couldn't figure out a feasible way for the caterpillar to chew holes in the food as he does in the book, so I made it a page where he chose the foods he wanted to eat and put them in the basket.
Another redesign page is this football. It is supposed to be sewn down onto the page, but that makes it very hard to lace. So, I made a loose football that attaches to the page with velcro. And, I drew the crowd/grandstand. Jessica and Andrew are Seattle Seahawks fans.
Another oldie but goodie. I embellished the bucket with Titan's initial and added a circus tent appliqué to the background for interest.
I designed this page for Braden and Kyle. My kids loved the story,
Caps for Sale, so the monkeys originally were being scolded as they are in that book. I changed it for this so it goes along with the jingle,
Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed! I hid a monkey under the bed - I hope Titan likes that!
A BYU patch reflects where both Jessica and Andrew went to school.
I created this page originally for Whitney. The cow has a real bell attached to it, and you jump it over the moon. I had planned to add a wordstrip saying, "Jump the cow over the moon" on the blue felt, but there just wasn't enough room.
Lastly, I drew this dino for Ian's quiet book. It's a bit large and needs to be resized, but it's still fun. I use pinking shears to open the zipper, and that gives the effect of teeth.
Now that Titan's is done, I am going to begin working on Mila's. I have her book all planned out so I'll be able to jump right in tomorrow morning.
