Outlander Quilt

Long before Starz began airing Outlander I had been a fan of the series of books by Diana Gabaldon.  I picked up my original copy at the Glasgow airport in 1993.  So, when Andover Fabrics announced an Outlander Collection, I was overjoyed.

Still have my original copy - falling apart, taped together, yellowing pages.

Andover also had free quilt patterns available for the collection, but I wasn't enamored with any of them, so I began searching for a pattern to use.  I found my pick at Fons & Pons:  Love of Quilting - "Blue Willow" by Janice Averill.  The instructions were included online.  The one major alteration I made to the pattern was that I only did 6 of the 16" blocks, making the quilt shorter than shown.

I used the following Outlander collection fabrics:

• Backing, Inner Border and block 2 border - A-8323-B (Blue Toile)
• Center Tile of Blocks - A-8342-R (Red Flowers)
• Outer Border and large block edges - A-8326-B (Blue Crest)
• Binding - A-8326-R (Red Crest)
• Unit #1 block border - A-8324-B (Blue Textured Plaid) 
• Large block edges - A-8326-G (Green Crest)
• Large block background - A-8323-L (Grey Toile)

I was quite happy with the way it turned out AND this is something for ME!

Quiet Books, Part 4

Triple Play - Girls

One thing that is important to me is that each quiet book is personalized in some way for the recipient.  Each of my books has the child's name appliqued on the cover.  The "Dress-up" Page suitcases all had luggage tags with the child's name and travel stickers with places related to their families.  If I know one of the children likes a certain thing, I try to incorporate it into his or her book in some way.

Now for the girls of 2015.

Again, the instructions for the size and layout of the books came from the Sew Baby pattern.  All the finger puppets were purchased from EMCreationsSewandEmb. on Etsy.  Eleven of the sixteen pages were exactly alike.  The other five pages had the same activity, but a different theme.  I'll start with the duplicate pages.

An Artist's palette for matching colors and ballerina slippers for tying a bow.  I found numerous examples of the artist's palette online.  I used a coloring book page for the template.  The ballerina slippers came from All the Quiet Things. 

Analog and Digital Clock for telling time is the same pattern I used for the boy's book.  Instead of  solid colored felt, I used different fabrics for the matching shapes page.

Again, I found lots of examples of using beads to learn counting.  I used letter beads to spell out their name.  Again, I used the old stand-by mitten from the Sew Baby pattern.

The Cherry Pie for weaving came from Riley Blake Designs.  For my Tic-tac-toe page I used "girly" print fabric and ribbon.

 The "Flip-Flops" matching page and a beach bag full of goodies is from Imagine Our Life.

Inside the bag:  iPhone, sun glasses, watermelon slice and flip-flops.  I opted to buy a pair of sunglasses instead of making them as described in pattern.

Flower pot with buttons page came from the Piece and Quiet pattern by "The Quilted Fish"

And now for the other pages.  Same activity; different theme.

Zipper Page

I created a very simplified "Elsa's Castle" from Frozen and added a purchased Elsa finger puppet.

My Princess Castle came from "Mommy Imaginings."  Instructions and pattern are available. I added a purchased Princess Sofia finger puppet.

Dress-Up Doll and Suitcase

Princess Doll with Disney-inspired costumes in the suitcase.  The suitcase was inspired by Empty Bobbin.  I got the template for the doll and clothing from Disney's Cheapskate Princess by Cory Jensen.  I have costumes for Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, and Merida.

"Hello Kitty" doll with a suitcase full of outfits.  I created Hello Kitty based on a coloring book page.  The outfits were inspired by pictures found online of Hello Kitty.  Each was made to fit.

Finger Puppet Page

Frozen sleigh.  I'm quite pleased with this page.  Totally designed by me.  I used coloring book pages to design the sleigh and Sven, the reindeer.  Finger puppets were purchased through Etsy.

Circus Train from Imagine Our Life, but this time with more "girly" colors.  Finger puppets from Restoration Hardware.

It was quite a task making three quiet books in one year.  Happily, I won't have to make another one until 2018, BUT again I will need to make three!

 

Quiet Books, Part 3

Triple Play - Boy

2015 was a busy year for Quiet Books.  I had to make three.  One for my brother’s grandson, one for my youngest sister’s second granddaughter and one for the daughter of my husband’s nephew.
I decided to put these together in an assembly line fashion.  I would a page for the same activity for each book and then go on to the next one.

This blog covers the one I made for my brother’s grandson.

As with all the others, I used the instructions from the Sew Baby pattern for the size and layout of the book.  This year I added a ribbon tie to the books.  They were a lot fatter this time around and wouldn’t stay closed.

Superman "Zipper" Page.  I used clear vinyl purchased from Jo-Ann Fabrics for the windows.  I purchased the finger puppet from EMCreationsSewingandEmb. on Etsy.  I purchased it back in January 2015.  I don't know if they are still available from this shop, but I have noticed other sellers have finger puppets available.

 

Gumball "Matching Colors" is a frequently used page.  Thanks to Empty Bobbin for suggesting the "Mi Casa Es Shoe Casa" page from the Piece & Quiet pattern from The Quilted Fish to adapt the shoe pattern into a Converse Sneaker.  It really made my life easier.  When I made the last one back in 2013, I created my own pattern and it took a long time to figure out all the pieces.

I got the idea for the suitcase from Empty Bobbin.  I loved her idea of travel stickers.  Mine were based on places related to my great-nephew's family.  The "Dress-up" face and all the costume pieces came from All The Quiet Things.  If you scroll down to the bottom of that site, there are templates for the face and costumes.

For the new book, I added a digital clock along with the traditional clock face.  The time pieces are stored in a pocket.  Now he can learn both ways to tell time.  Instead of plain shapes, I decided to use traffic signs.

The Circus Train is from Imagine Our Life.  This is such a wonderful site for finding Quiet Book ideas!  The finger puppets were purchased from Restoration Hardware.

The "Pizza Counting" Page is adapted from Magda's Toy Story Quiet Book.  The iPhone and blue jeans pocket is from Imagine Our Life.  I decided to step into the 21st Century and leave the old dial telephones in the past where they belong.  (Although I still use one!)

Sandcastle page is from Imagine Our Life.  I told you I LOVED this site!

I adapted the "Mitten" page from the Sew Baby pattern into a baseball glove, and then added a baseball.  For the "Tic-Tac-Toe" page I used baseball-themed fabric and ribbon.

The "Dump Truck" page is from All the Quiet Things.  The wheels "unbutton".

I will describe the two quiet books I made for my great-nieces in my next blog.

Quiet Books, Part 2

The Doctor Will See You Now

2013 was a VERY busy year.  My daughter moved to DC to attend graduate school at Georgetown, I performed in the play Arsenic and Old Lace at a local theater, my husband and I traveled to Indiana, New York City, London, and Aruba AND I knitted those eleven sweaters.

Even with all that going on, it was also a year I needed to make another Quiet Book.  This time for my middle sister’s grandson.  My niece is a big Doctor Who fan.  I had already knitted her son a Dalek sweater, so I decided to make him a Doctor Who-themed Quiet Book.

I purchased a pattern for a Doctor Who Quiet Book from SpaceBatdesigns on Etsy.  The pattern only had 8 pages and I needed 16, so I had to come up with additional pages.  Also, although the pattern had great ideas and templates, I altered many of them to suit my needs.

As with my earlier books,  I used the instructions from the Sew Baby pattern for the size and layout of the book.  I ordered all the Doctor Who fabric from Spoonflower.

I used the template from the pattern, but instead of velcro I used a zipper.  Inside was a 11th Doctor finger puppet.

Both of these are my design.  I created "Jelly Babies" for matching colors and made a Converse sneaker for learning to tie a shoe. 

I used some of the clothing templates from the pattern for my "Dress the Doctor" page.  Others I created myself.  The Doctor doll used the template from the Modern Maven pattern.

I modified the clock from Modern Maven pattern into a pocket watch.  The "Count the Adipose" is from the Doctor Who pattern.  

The K-9 page is from the pattern.  A Fourth Doctor finger puppet is hiding inside.   Behind the sign is a phone.

I adapted the Weeping Angel template into a "Peek-a-Boo" page.   "Weaving" page using two hearts.

I actually think that face behind the hands is scarier than an actual Weeping Angel!

I used the pattern templates for both of these.  I used buttons to "Pose the Cyberman" and the Dalek was for practicing snaps.

I adapted the "I Spy" page  from Imagine Our Life. 

I had seen several memory pages, so I created a "Match the Companions" Concentration Game. 

Doctor Who Logo "Jigsaw Puzzle" page.

Although I had a lot of fun creating this Quiet Book, I don't know if I would make another one that is so specific in its theme.  I found it very difficult at times to come up with activity pages that would match the theme.

Quiet Books, Part 1
The Early Years

One of my all-time favorite things to make are Quiet Activity Books for toddlers.

I made my first one in 2011 for my older sister's grandson as a Christmas gift.  Since I had never made one before, I purchased the I Can Do It! Cloth Activity Book pattern from Sew Baby.

 

It was a great introduction to making these books, and I followed the directions without straying from the pattern.   Sadly, I don’t have any pictures (or at least not any that I can find). 

I had so much fun making it, I decided that I would start a tradition - that each of my great-nieces and nephews would get a Quiet Book from their Great-Aunt Teresa for Christmas when they turned 2 years old.

In 2012 I made my next one for my youngest sister’s granddaughter.  Because I liked the size and layout of the Sew Baby pattern, I decided to use it again for my basic layout.  However, this time I changed many of the activities.  I continued to use the fleece mitten, clock, traffic light, and shoe from the Sew Baby pattern.

The bulk of the other activities came from Sew a Quiet Book by Modest Maven.  There is a link that opens a pdf file of the instructions and templates.  I also used the Circus Train, Mailbox and Breakfast food from Imagine Our Life to complete the book.

Refrigerator was my design.  Additional food is stored inside.

Finger Puppets were purchased from Restoration Hardware.  I don't think they are currently available.

Again, I was quite pleased with the results.  The books, however, were soon to become much more specialized.