I’ve been so super busy between work and starting Jax’s Halloween costume, plus starting to get ready for our California trip in two weeks. I’ve also sewn a bunch of his quiet book  pages into their final double-sided pages with grommets. So much to do! But today I got another page done at last!

I love the beads-on-a-string style counting pages that are common in quiet books, and when I came across these ocean life beads in the kids’ craft aisle of Joanns, I knew I had my theme.

It’s a pretty simple page in terms of cutting and sewing because the beads are so crazy.

Here’s what I used: aqua felt background, felt (in natural, lime, yellow, hot pink, blue, orange, purple and browns), blue ribbon, ocean beads and embroidery thread to match.

I started by sewing down the sand. My page is 9″ wide. If yours is different, you’ll need to adjust the sand pattern accordingly. You can totally just freehand it!

I sewed down all the numbers then went back with pale blue floss and did a stem stitch border around them to make them pop.

On the coral, I made large French knots randomly all over instead of sewing it down normally. For the plant, I stitch down the center of each leaf. I sewed down the starfish, then cut out some pebble shapes in tan and brown and sewed them on.

For the counting beads, I used 3 lengths of ribbon. I would sew down one end, add the beads and sew down the other end. I also sewed the ribbons into separate sections so they didn’t droop. I then cut out some bubble shapes and sewed them down over all the ribbon stitching.

All done! I think Jax is going to love this page because he gets so excited when he sees these beads.

What do you think? If you use this pattern, leave me a comment with a link so I can check your version out!

Dinosaurs! Roar! Here’s the next page in Jax’s quiet book. His book is seriously going to be 10″ thick… And there are more pages I want to add. I still haven’t decided how I’m going to do the cover/case.

This is a fairly simple page. It has ribbons for texture and a peekaboo flap with a baby dinosaur inside an egg. Here’s what I used: sky blue background felt, olive green ground felt, lots of ribbon scraps, felt (in 3 shades of green, brown, natural (the egg), camel (inside the egg and some spots) and pink (spots on egg)), batting/stuffing, pinking shears and embroidery floss to match.

Start with your sky blue background piece. Cut a piece of felt for the ground. I used olive green and cut a slight hill into the top. Pin the tree trunk in place and sew the ground down. Cut some leafy fern shapes out of green felt with pinking shears. I made 4. Sew them in a fan shape at the top of the tree. I sewed up the middle about 3/4 of the length. Sew the tree trunk down.

Dinosaurs: To make the faces, I made a stitch for an eyelash then a French knot eye. I stitched the smile in stem stitch. Stitch loops of ribbon along the spine – shorter at the tail and neck. Stitch long, thin “spikes” to the end of the tail. I used all kinds of ribbons and rickrack from my stash (many were scrapbooking ribbons) but you could use all one color.

Egg: Start out by sewing the grassy nest down where you want the egg to be. I cut 2 pieces for my egg out of a natural colored felt and one out of a camel color for the inside of the egg. Sew the inner egg to the grass and sew the dinosaur baby onto it. I took scraps of pink and camel to make splotches to sew onto one piece of the egg shell. Be creative and decorate your dinosaur egg however you’d like! Layer a loop of ribbon between the two outer egg pieces as a handle, then sew them together. Sew an inch long section of the outer egg down to make the flap.

To finish up, I sewed the big dinosaur down, then embroidered freehand “Stomp!! Roar…” into the lower left corner. You could do the same, or have a big “D” for dinosaur.

If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version! I think I’m in love with the little baby dino.

Do you like the page?

Another page done for the quiet book! Phones and clocks are classic pages that are almost always included, but I just wasn’t feeling the rotary phone and boring clock.

When I started brainstorming how to update them, I knew I wanted to do my white iPhone. Jax has a play phone app and loves to hold it up to his ear and say “Yeah-Oh?” (hello). I wanted to combine the clock with the phone since both deal with numbers and using household gadgets. My first idea was to have a slap bracelet covered in felt with a felt clock face to make a wristwatch, but I thought the scale wouldn’t work. Since phones go in pockets, I settled on a pocket watch and a big jean pocket to put them in!

My materials were: a 9″ blue felt square (you could use denim or even cut up jeans, but both items might not fit in the pocket), felt (in white, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, white, dark gray and light gray), clear vinyl, batting/stuffing, thin white ribbon, 7/8″ – 1″ wide ribbon 1 inch longer than your page width, a paper fastener and floss/thread to match. Everything was hand-sewn except the vinyl, but you could use the machine for parts.

Sewing the iPhone: I appliqued the symbols to each button and outlined them in white stitching. I hand-stitched the phone numbers to the dark gray screen in stem stitch and the “HELLO!” to the aqua header in running stitch. I sewed the buttons, header and light gray top bar to the screen then sewed that to the phone front. I sewed the home button to the front as well, then did some embroidery and a French knot to make the speaker and front camera. On the sewing machine, I sewed clear vinyl over the phone screen. On the back of the phone, I sewed the camera circle and Apple logo. Layering batting and the end of a white ribbon, I sewed front and back together.

Sewing the pocket watch: I hand-stitched the clock numbers to the face with stem stitch. I made the clock hands by sewing two layers of felt together for each, then pushed a paper fastener through the ends of both. I pushed the fastener through the clock face and bent the backs so that there was plenty of height for the hands to turn around. I sewed the face to the front of the clock. I sewed the end of a white ribbon between the two pieces of clock dial, then layered that and some batting between the two clock sides and sewed them together. I actually added a small rattler to my clock. I got a stained baby toy for 50 cents at the thrift store and cut it open. I don’t need my quiet book to be silent.

I decorated my pocket with two rows of stitching along the top and used my paper pattern to do two rows for the decorative arch. I sewed the other ends of the two ribbons down under where the pocket would go, then sewed three sides down with double rows of stitching. I sewed the three belt loops on and ran a ribbon through it, tacking it down on each side on the back.

What do you think? For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version!

New to Imagine Our Life? there are more quiet book patterns here!

Lot’s of quiet books feature train pages. And there are also a lot that have a barn with finger puppets. Jax has started to point out all the “choo choos” he sees, so I knew I needed a train. And, I loved the idea of finger puppets, but wanted to do something original. So I ended up with a circus train!

I didn’t want the animals in cages. These guys are liberated animals who run their own circus! So Mr Lion is driving, Miss Elephant is in the middle car and Monkey is riding in the caboose. All the animals come out of their train cars, and the wheels spin around.

My materials were: two 9″ sky blue felt squares, felt (in hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, purple and black), alphabet ribbon for the “track”, 2 types of star ribbon for trim, embroidery floss for the hair (and all the stitching) batting scrap as the “Steam” and assorted colors of buttons.

Each of the finger puppets were decorated before I sewed the fronts and backs together. For the lion’s mane, I went in a circle making loops of embroidery floss then securing each with a stitch at their base. I did one row that was a mix of an orange color and a dark gold, then a second layer that was bright gold. His face covered the stitches so just the loops showed. For both the lion and the elephant, I made little bunches of floss and tied them at one end, then hid the tie between the two layers of tail. For the elephant I used a textured felt that is supposed to look like gray stone. I liked how it looked wrinkly.

The train cars are all sewn on with open tops so the animals can go for a ride. I cut out a random steam shape out of batting and sewed it to the background behind the smoke stack. The ribbons were sewn on before I attached the cars. Everything was hand sewn, but you could use a machine.

I cut tiny holes int he centers of the wheels then attached the buttons through the holes. This allows the wheels to spin but not come off and get lost. You could do button holes if you want yours removable. I’d use two layers of felt for that, though.

For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. If you have any questions about how anything was done on this page, just let me know!

Would you like to sew and sell items made from this pattern? Commercial licenses are available!

Another quiet book page is ready for Jax’s book! When I was doing the laundry this week, I managed to pull 6 of Jax’s tiny socks out of the dryer before I found one with a match. That inspired this page!

This page has a dryer with a clear door closed with a snap. Inside there are 6 socks without their other halves. The opposite page has the remaining socks. You match them together and the stick with magnets.

My materials were: two 9″ blue felt squares, felt (in light blue, gray and charcoal for the dryer, then assorted scraps for the socks), clear vinyl, a snap, 2 buttons and 12 magnets. I had to use 2 different sizes as I didn’t have enough small ones. I put those in the loose socks and the heavier ones on the page. Either size worked fine. You can find them in the craft store.

I started by laying the dryer back and front together on the page and machine stitching around the outside. I pieced the door together by layering the clear vinyl between the two door rings. I also stuck the double-layer door hinge in the left side. I sewed twice around the ring. I placed the door in position and tucked the hinge into the pocket (trim it if it doesn’t fit with the door in the right place.) I hand-sewed the hinge down through all the layers of the page. Using 5 strands of embroidery floss, I whip stitched around the hole of the dryer to fortify it a bit. The latch got a snap on one piece, then I sewed it by hand to the right side of the door. I lined the other half of the snap under it and stitched it on. I added buttons to look like the controls on the dryer.

I had fun with the socks. You need to cut three of everything for each sock design: one layer for the sock appliquéd to the page and to sides for the loose socks. My pattern includes pieces to make a cuff and colored toes and heels. I also included a little star. My favorite socks are the white and aqua tube socks and the zebra print with hot pink accents! When you sew them together, place a magnet inside and stick a ring around it so it doesn’t shift.

Jax was fascinated as he watched me sew the little socks. He is big into socks and shoes right now. When it was all done, he begged to try it out. I was surprised how fast my little 19-month-old understood what to do. He just started pulling the socks out of the dryer and sticking them to their match! Go Jax

For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version! Go crazy with the socks!

Welcome to Antarctica! This is the next quiet book page for Jax’s book! As you can see, I’ve finally started sewing some actual book pages. It is a bit labor-intensive, so I only have 2 double-sided pages done so far. I decided to be thrifty and use plain white fleece with some batting inside and 2 grommets per page. I’d considered using themed fabrics that matched each page, but the cost would be too high.

The page features a stuffed penguin who comes out of his igloo attached to a ribbon. You can pull the ribbon to make him go back into his igloo. A furry baby seal is smiling by a frozen pool. You can see two constellations in the sky (Not accurately placed, I know. But, penguins don’t live in igloos either!)

My materials were: a 9″ white felt square (if your pages are a different size, adjust the white hill and purple sky pieces to match your page width), purple felt for the sky, felt (in white, sky blue, black and yellow), clear vinyl, white fur (I used this), batting/stuffing, white ribbon, star sequins and floss/thread to match.

I started with my white square and used the water shape to cut a hole for the pool. then I layered some clear vinyl over light blue felt and put those behind the opening (I made my light blue cover the page from the hills down so it made the white ground slightly blue.) Using a machine, I stitched all the way around the pool.

The only other thing I did on the machine (beside sew the actual book page) is stitch white-on-white guides for all the lines on the igloo. That made it easier for me to hand-embroider straight lines to show the ice blocks. I used all 6 strands of light blue embroidery floss (I usually use 2 strands for everything.) When all the igloo embroidery was done, I sewed the felt backing piece on to hide the back of the stitching. I then sewed a rectangle of purple to the top of the page to create a night sky, then layered the white, snowy hills on top.

To make Mr Penguin, I made a French knot in brown on each of the white pieces for his eyes. I then sewed the two pieces together with some batting and his feet to make a little naked penguin. I made sure one end of a white ribbon was coming out of his back. I folded the beak over his nose and sewed that on. I layered the two halves of his black “suit” over his back and stitched them on. The last step was sewing the tops of his flippers onto each side. To make a little pull tab for his ribbon, I sandwiched the other end of it between two felt circles and decorated it with star sequins. You could just embroider a star or snowflake.

I cut the baby seal out of white fur then shook off any loose hairs. I gave him a little haircut to help show of his shape and shorten his face fur. His face has a satin stitch nose, straight stitch smile and eyes made from one straight stitch in the outer corner and a French knot. To make whiskers, I knotted a few strands of thread behind his cheeks then again in the front, then cut it to size. I stitched baby seal directly to the pool.

To make the slider ribbon, I took a long piece of scrap felt and  cut it to the width of my igloo. (The picture shows my igloo before I sewed the backing piece on. I ended up moving my strip to the halfway point of the igloo, so it ended up a little shorter than shown.) Pin your ribbon to the page (no pins where the felt tube will be!) then sew the strip of felt like a tube over top of it. Remove the pins then sew your igloo in place. I sewed from the top of the door to where the ribbon comes out of the back, then sewed from below that ribobon opening to halfway across the bottom. This left a flap of igloo that can lift up to let Mr Penguin in and out easier.

I decorated my night sky with star sequins, some of which I sewing into southern hemisphere constellations. You can copy the placement of mine from my photos, or even design your own (your baby’s name, perhaps?) If you aren’t comfortable using sequins, you could use felt or just embroider stars.

What do you think of it?

For more free quiet book patterns, go here! If you use this pattern, please add a comment or link to me. I really would love to see your version!