Quiet Book

I can't believe I am just about done with this project!  (I still have to add the eyelets, when I can find them, everyone seems to be out of the larger ones.  And I'll probably add a pocket on the inside or back of the cover which is why I haven't top stiched it yet)  I have been working on and off on this thing for almost a year probably.  I had no idea how time consuming it would be!  My mom has been asking me to put up pictures of it, so here you go.

The three windows, door, and cloud all lift up to reveal pictures (oops, I forgot to sew on the door handle, see I will never finish this thing entirely).  I used vinyl to cover the pictures and left one side open so they can be switched out.

 All the tic-tac-toe pieces can be stored in the pocket.  And the finger puppets on Noah's Ark are stored in the zipper pouch.

Calin hid the other girl outfit I made, I'll hunt for it later.

The flowers all button on and off, and the fish have little magnets in them so they will catch onto the pole.  The peacock's feathers attach with velcro.

 The cars are stored in pockets in the house.  The blue funny looking thing on the bottom left page is supposed to be a carwash :)

The left page is a little memory game.  I used pictures of characters from his favorite movies.  And hopefully the football will help Calin learn how to tie his shoes eventually?

 All the shapes velcro on and can be stored in the envelope.  And the barn doors close to hide all the fun finger puppets inside.

The flap on the mailbox opens and you can slide things into a pocket inside.  

 I added the counting page at the last minute, and you can tell, haha.  And I added a little note on the back for my kids to read :)

I had two other pages I was going to add, but was worried it was already too big.  So my clock to learn to tell time, and mr. potato head never made it in.  Though I can easily add them if I want later since I used the binder rings.  

I spent hours and hours and hours trying to find every quiet book resource I could to make sure I knew what I wanted before it was too late.  In the end, I'm happy with my page selections, and happy Calin can start using it, and SO happy I am done (almost).

The biggest thing I learned on my own that I never read or heard anyone else do with a quiet book is use freezer paper to cut out the pieces.  SO much easier!  Tracing on felt isn't as easy as it seems since it's stretchy and fuzzy.  I didn't figure this out till I had already completed half the pages though.  I also started making the designs in Adobe Illustrator and photoshop then I would print them out on the freezer paper, or just trace them onto the freezer paper, cut out the paper, iron the freezer paper to the felt, and cut.  Then my pieces were perfect every time, plus I have digital copies in case I need to re-make a page or for any of you who are working on a quiet book :)  But you can just as easily trace your drawings onto the freezer paper instead of directly to the felt.

I wanted to make sure this book lasts a long time (I highly doubt I will ever attempt to make another) so I doubled up on all the pieces that come off, and sewed everything to white cotton muslin instead of just felt on felt.

It's so nice to see it all come together.  My kids better love it! :)