Quiet Book, Pt. II

Pages 7 & 8:

Gum ball matching colors. I appliqued everything using Wonder Under, then stitched around the edges. This is the part where I share the best quiet book tip of all: clear thread. You must buy it. I started switching threads every two seconds when I first started, but I discovered how easy it was to keep my machine threaded with clear thread.

The gum balls snap on and off and she can match the colors. I sewed the snaps on using my machine and lowering the feed dogs.

Inspiration here.

I found stiff felt in sheets at JoAnn's. It's cool stuff! I just sewed the frosting to the bottoms of the cupcakes with a tight zig zag, and they seem to hold up great. She used beads, but I had this silly little spangles in my stash, so I hot glued them. You are supposed to count the sprinkles and match it to the number on the cupcake liner. 

Pages 9 &10:

This was one of my first pages. I think decorating a Christmas tree is fun, so that's where I thought of this idea. The snowflakes are actually buttons. I used a cute decorative stitch on the ribbon too. They go on and off with Velcro. 

Inspiration here.

I love this one. The zipper is a cute addition.  Pretty self explanatory I think.

Page 11 & 12:

Hours of entertainment, right? I debated whether or not to add a place to put an extra "O", but I decided against it in the end. Do you see how the Velcro is attached with that cool little circle? That's a stitch on my machine. I'm sure it has a fancier purpose, but it worked for me.

I made mini batting sandwitches for the "X"'s and "O"'s, then just free-handed the letters with a tight zig zag. 

I love this one. It was my own idea to to an "I Spy" page. I think my daughter will love sitting and searching for stuff. I can imagine her doing this with a friend and seeing if they can find what the other sees. Can you find the harmonica?

These scraps were all in my stash. I ironed them on with Wonder Under and stitched around each edge.

I bet you're wondering how I got all the edges to finish like this. No pictures, sorry. Well, it's the basic idea you use for a lot of things. Like when you make a receiving blanket or something. You just put two pages together, right sides together, sew around the edges leaving a space to turn it right side out. Turn it right side out, push out the corners. Then you iron it and top stitch around the edges. 

I did add some thick interfacing to the back of each page to make it heavier. BUT, if you're going to do that, cut the interfacing smaller than your page--close to the finished size. If you try to sew two layers of interfacing together and flip it, the corners will be too bulky. It will be hard to get to lay right. 

I added a tag to show it was our family's, and that's it!

It really was such a fun project. A lot of work, but I think my daughter will really get a lot of good miles out of it.