Lucas' Quiet Book

The quiet book is done! I started Lukie's quiet book in March and completed it yesterday, my dad's 96th birthday. Our trips to Colorado, Utah, Kentucky, and Tennessee slowed the progress down as did my model horse show, Happy Trails, but I have kept at it and am so pleased with how the book turned out.

Vanessa asked for a music-themed book so the book's cover is a print of a variety of instruments. Because there is so many pages that are 3D, the book is very fat!

 The title page with an Illini-orange ribbon bow to tie.

I used sparkly felt for the background and the snowman, and the snowflakes, "coal," and carrot are buttons.

I liked the background felt with the snowman so much that I decided to experiment by using it on other pages. I loved the effect!

 A little bit of my mom is in the dashed bee-paths. That was her idea years ago.

 A brand new page. I tried to use vinyl for the drum top but could not stitch through it. Hopefully Lukie will not use the drumsticks to whack his siblings in the head.

This was the hardest page to design. I combined several ideas I saw online. Lucas can put the notes on the staff and "write" music or match the colors on the keyboard letters to the staff lines.

My own design and new to this book. The pony is stuffed and can be removed for play. The saddle comes off and on.

 I morphed my counting page into this one, partly because the instruments were so big that I could not get them all on the page and had to be creative.

I think this is my favorite page, and it is a new one for me. I saw the idea online and drew up my own pattern. Of course, it is orange and blue! (With some Boilermaker gold since Curt and Vanessa are Purdue grads.)

 I added some fish behind the tentacles for added interest.

 I still need to find a matchbox car to fit into this garage. And I forgot to add a window!

 A family favorite. Curt asked that I include this page in Lukie's book. The barn appliqué is new and I think adds a lot to the picture. I also used fabric for the leaves of the tree instead of coloring it with green fabric paint or using green felt. I like how it looks.

Another new page and one I love. (Curt, who dislikes spiders intensely, probably will not like it so much.) I saw the idea online and made it my own. It took forever to stitch all those buttons into place!

I will be giving Lucas his book (and the matching pillow made from leftover cover fabric) tomorrow when he comes for Sunday dinner. Can't wait!

Quiet Book Repair - Julie

Cole texted me last week with the news that Julie had torn one of her quiet book apples, was upset, and afraid that this would be the beginning of a bad Christmas.

Easy fix - I knew that I could whip one up in a half hour.

And I saw no reason to make her wait two weeks for the replacement piece, so I popped it into the mail the next day.

No bad Christmas now, sweet Julie!

Kate's Quiet Book

Kate's quiet book is done! I began in early January and have been working on it every Saturday. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

I could not find the matryoshka fabric I'd bought for her book even though I looked everywhere in my sewing things, so I went with some mischievous monkeys instead.

This page is a family favorite. My mom had the idea to add the dashed lines to show the bees' path so a part of her is in this book.

 The barn applique is new and adds a lot, I think.

 I put this page in Mila's book and Emily asked for it in Kate's (I saw the idea online and recreated it.)

 A page from one of our favorite childhood books.

 Next time I am going to find some bird appliques or clouds to add to this one.

 I drew the cattails; the dragonfly applique is new.

 This page takes FOREVER to make, but is worth the time.

 Those are earrings that Kate can wear.

 Cole requested this page - a connection to the family apple orchard.

 The rainbow is a new addition to this page.

Something else new that I tried was to color the velcro so that it wasn't just stark white patches on the pages. I think it blends in much better.

 As I was making the cover, I noticed that I was running short on thread.

 And sure enough, I ran out!

But I had another spool that was a very, very close shade, and it worked to finish the cover and make the pillow.

I can't wait to give this to Kate when she comes at the end of May!

Kate's Quiet Book - Making Progress

I am on Spring Break and so yesterday I spent most of the day in my horse room working on Kate's quiet book.

This panel is the furthest along, but there is still some final coloring and sewing to do (as you can tell by the missing apple on the apple tree.)

The panel in this photo is the one I worked on for the longest yesterday. If I could just use one color of thread for everything, that would speed things up tremendously. The tiny apple took four colors, brown, green, red, and white, and some of those colors only had a few stitches. (For example, the apple's stem had a total of five!)

But I am more interested in making something that will last and hopefully be a hand me down to my great grandchildren and so I put in a lot of work that is essentially unnoticed. I back everything with felt or cotton and that takes forever to do. I also use high quality stitching which means lots of thread changes and stitch-type variations (zigzag, straight, buttonhole, decorative, etc.) But I do think it's worth it in the end!

All the pieces are cut and prepped for the third panel of four pictures. I learned a long time ago (Kate's book is my seventeenth!) to have everything cut out and prepared so that they are ready to go as it makes the assembly of the pages go so much faster.

The grandchildren seem to enjoy the fruits of my labor whether it is a quiet book or their holiday pillowcase set. Kate and Julie just received their Easter package from me, and inside was Kate's Easter pillowcase.

You can see it tucked under the book on her lap.

I enjoy it, too!

Mila's Quiet Book

Mila's quiet book is done! I am very pleased with how it turned out.

 I got some new yellow terry cloth for the lamb.

I had the cutest ghost appliqué for this, but I dropped it and lost it. I looked for twenty minutes and could not find it. Craig came in and looked - no luck. I am a bit disappointed in how plain the page looks now.

 No, "Step" is not misspelled. Lisa called me after I sent her this photo thinking it had been, but it is a hump in the fabric that hides the "t".

 An old favorite. Makes me think of my dad.

 I may spiff up the background the next time I do this page.

But I LOVE the giraffe I found in the dollhouse section of Hobby Lobby. I need to go back and get some more!

 I can now squeeze five dresses onto this page, haha!

 The Purdue and Illinois appliqués reflect Curt and Vanessa's college preferences.

The fluffy fur on Millie is to die for!! And the clip on earrings are stinkin' cute. I love how this page turned out. (My mother drew the dog a few years ago.)

I was excited to find the hotdog and the popcorn appliqués for this page and have ordered some more for future quiet books.

 I am trying to think of a way to make the crown removable so it can be played with but just haven't figured it out yet.

 My mom drew the palm tree for this one a while ago.

Inside is a tiny purse that's on a hook and can be clipped to things. Inside the purse is an orange M&M.

First time page! I saw a pattern book on Etsy that had a counting rainbow in it and just adapted it for my own use. I am pleased with how it turned out.

 Vanessa chose the fabric for the cover. It has pink unicorns on it and is beautiful.

Per usual, I made a matching pillow for Mila out of the leftover cover fabric.

(What an odd coincidence. I finished Titan's book on the anniversary of Craig's mom's passing, and Mila's on the anniversary of my dad's death.)