Showing posts with label press studs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label press studs. Show all posts

Thursday 11 February 2021

Shabbat Quiet Book - Interview with Valerie Rose


Today I would like to introduce you to Valerie Rose and her Shabbat Quiet Book. I believe learning through play is the best way to learn and this adorable book is a great way to learn about Sabbath.




Carissa D:  Welcome Valerie! Please explain a little about yourself and your quiet book adventures.

Valerie: Hi Carissa,

I am a Wife, mother of 2 adult children and now a grandmother as well as a Midwife 4 days a week!!

I have been sewing and stitching since I was a small child but now I have the delight of sewing and creating for my granddaughter Ella who will be 2 in March. She brings me such joy and my love for her grows each day I see her. She loves playing with a box of felt and ribbon offcuts and various empty cotton spools I have saved for her. She loves the different textures so fingers crossed she has my passion for fabric crafts and sewing.




I am privileged to look after Ella every Monday while my daughter works. I have made her several quiet books already which she loves. They are full of texture and zips and removeable pieces. Most of them have a small animal outline hiding in the pages in a subtle colour for her to find and prolong the enjoyment of the book. For example, her beach book has seahorses and her Farm book has rabbits. Some pages also have crinkle plastic inside and even animal toy squeakers. It has been a great way to use my cherished scraps of fabric.

In this Shabbat Book I have sewn 10 cat faces throughout the book for her to find.

I try to personalise each book for her but hopeful one day there will be other little people to enjoy them as well.




Carissa D: I am a Sabbath keeper, so perhaps that is why I love your book so much. To me, Sabbath is special because God commands me to rest. I have a very valid guilt-free excuse not to study/work/clean the house that day! Where did the idea come from to create your Shabbat Quiet Book?

Valerie:   I come from a Jewish Family and growing up we always had Shabbat every Friday Night. It wasn’t a strictly religious night but I remember my father would bring home a block of chocolate for us to share while we played card games as a family after dinner.


Valerie's daughter on Shabbat - way back when!


My daughter married a lovely guy who is not Jewish and I am very careful not to push my beliefs on him and my Granddaughter Ella. Because Ella’s mother is Jewish Ella is as well by her birth right!

When my son and daughter were little we did not celebrate Christmas, instead we celebrated the 8 nights of Chanukah. I made them a large very simple Felt Menorah wall hanging with removable candle flames. To this day my daughter still tells me how much she loved it and looked forward to Chanukah every year.

In December my daughter asked us to come to her home for Chanukah and Shabbat for the first time! She has decided Ella is old enough now to have some Jewish input in her life. I was delighted of course and excited. I instantly knew I wanted to make her a special Shabbat Book, and so I did!




Carissa D:  My favourite part of your book has to be your Kiddush Cups. You achieved such a good effect with the fabric choice and embroidery. What is your favourite section?

Valerie: I actually love the whole book! I was delighted how it turned out! My favourite page would be the inside cover of special Shabbat Fabric. This fabric has sat in my stash for over 25 years just waiting for the perfect project. And this was it!


Shabbat fabric Valerie had been stashing


Carissa D:  I love it when you find the perfect use for that thing you have been saving. That is what happened with my Psalm 46 - Be Still and Know that I Am God Tea Set Quiet Book Page. The herb fabric made great tea bags!


The herb frabric I had been stashing - made into tea bags


Carissa D:  How did you create this book? Did you make your own templates? 

Valerie:  The book is mostly created using machine embroidery files I have brought. See the list below for crediting:

The words I made on my Embroidery Machine. 

I stitched the designs for the pages on a Black Cotton fabric as I really like the contrast.

The removable appliques were stitched on felt then backed with felt to hide the messy side. For the flowers I added a small ribbon for a leaf.

The Wine Goblet, Challah and Challah Cloth have a cat face hiding underneath.




Carissa D:  I would like to take a moment to thank you for your generosity in sharing the embroidery files you made for the words of this book - here attached in .jef format for Janome machines:





Carissa D:  How long do you estimate that you spent on this whole quiet book from concept to completion? 

Valerie:  The book probably took me 2 days to make. There was quite a bit of hand sewing involved in finishing the removeable pieces.

Carissa D: Wow! That sounds amazingly quick to me! Is that normal for a book made using an embroidery machine?

Valerie:  Some take longer but this one just worked out really easily. Her other books have more details like zips and ribbons and buttons.




Carissa D:  When will your Havdallah quiet book be coming out?!! Do you have plans to make a Biblical Festivals quiet book?!!

Valerie:  Haha! No plans for a Havdallah book yet but I am planning one for Passover and then one for Chanukah later this year. But first I want to make another Shabbat Book to keep at my house!

Carissa D:  I am waiting with baited breath!




Carissa D:  Which is your favourite Faith and Felt Obsession post and why?

Valerie: My favourite post has to be the Car Travel Dice!

This has inspired me to make a travel snakes and ladders or similar for holidays and picnics as well as to help Ella with counting.

Carissa D:  That sounds like an awesome idea! I would 💖 to see it when it is finished.


Tahlia with her Car Travel Dice


Carissa D: How old is your Granddaughter and how does she enjoy finding the 10 hidden cats in this busy book? Do you find that they distract her from the message of the book, or do they ensure the book is loved beyond measure? 

Valerie:  Ella was just over 19 months when I gave her this book. On the Candle page she immediately took the two flames and put them on the candles on the next page! She was very quick to detach all the pieces. With the wine and the bread she was also able to feed her “baby”. As most of her Fabric books I have made her have hidden animal outlines she loves to look for them. I believe she loves it even more as it is personalised just for her. She always “reads” the book first then goes back to find the cats. 

Carissa D:  What a sweetie!




Carissa D: Lastly, How did you bind the book and are you happy with the method?

Valerie:  First I decide how many pages I will have, always an even number, plus front and back cover.

Then I cut a small oblong from scrap interfacing to represent 2 pages.




Then I pin them together to make a book.

On each page I would then write what will be on it.




Once done I can unpin the book and see the true page stitch map.




Once stitched etc iron on interfacing is applied and the 2 pages are sewn together right side fabric facing inside then trimmed and turned right way out and the small gap is hand sewed or if I am lazy a top stitch all around the double page. 

Finally the pages are stacked on top of each other in the correct order and several lines are stitched down the centre to form the book. 

This way works best for me at the moment. This book has 3 double pages which gives me 12 single pages to decorate and works very well but there would be room for more! 


Carissa D:  Thank you so much for sharing with us Valerie. Once again, your Shabbat quiet book is lovely and I hope it will be an inspiration to many as it has been to me. Terrific job!




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Do you use an embroidery machine to help make your quiet books? Has this book inspired you to make your own creation? Comment below!

Monday 29 October 2018

Genesis 3 - The Fall of Adam and Eve Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.



Memory Verse: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

Materials needed to create The Fall of Adam and Eve quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet. I used sky blue.
  • felt scraps
  • sewing thread to match
  • fabric paint (optional)
  • sew on press studs
  • a pipe cleaner
  • two black seed beads
  • thin ribbon scrap
  • a tree of the knowledge good and evil template - I used this wall hanging from Wee Folk Art
  • a tree of life template - I used the Autumn Oak Applique pattern also from Wee Folk Art
  • a printer / scanner
  • a laminator and lamination sheets or iron on transfer paper/sublimation printing and white stiffened felt

Image Source

For the Adam and Eve finger puppets, I used the workbook Bible Stories by Twin Sisters Productions, 2005. I printed and cut out around the outside of the puppets, but left the finger holes uncut, then laminated them. After laminating, I cut around each finger puppet again, and cut out the finger holes. I used a single craft hole punch to make a hole in the finger slots so I could get the scissors in. If you want them made from felt, you could use transfer paper and white stiffened felt, or have them sublimation printed onto felt and then back them with stiffened felt.

On your background sheet, arrange some green felt in the foreground to make grass and sew down.

Cut out a double layer of darker green felt in the shape of a bush. Decorate one piece with fabric paint flowers (or use flower buttons etc). Sew one side of two press studs to the back of the bush piece so they will fit between the finger holes of the finger puppets. Sew the two bush pieces together. Then sew the bush down in about the middle of the foreground along the bottom edge. Sew the other half of the two press studs to the background sheet so they line up with their respective studs on the bush. This is how you will store the finger puppets and stop them falling out of the quiet book when not in use.




Print and cut out your tree templates. You may have to reduce the size to make sure it fits to your page (sorry I can't remember whether I did or not as I made this page quite a while ago). I definitely reduced the size of the tree of life template so I could create a peek-a-boo flap. I didn't want the tree of life to seem boring compared to the tree of knowledge of good and evil! I just used one of the sections but straightened out one edge and turned it upside down. Use doubled felt for the flaps to strengthen them. Sew fruit down underneath the flaps.




For the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, sew down your leaf sections first. Double the felt for the trunk and sew it down to the page along the trunk and outer tips of the branches. This way you can weave the snake in and out.

The snake was made by sewing a circle of brown felt folded back and forth between two thin strips of felt. I inserted a ribbon at the end for a tongue. Before sewing together completely at the opposite end, I inserted a pipe cleaner to allow the snake to bend and keep it's shape. It was difficult to get the pipe cleaner past the frill, but I got it eventually. Sew on two black seed beads for the eyes.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Difficult

The snake was quite difficult as I wanted it to be thin - which made inserting the pipe cleaner hard. You could simplify it by leaving off the winged frill on the snake, using a small toy snake, or making this Pipe Cleaner Craft: Beaded Snake by Kids Activities instead. If I had found this idea before making the snake I might have saved myself a fair bit of bother.




Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Genesis 3 - This page tells the story of how sin entered the world
  • Imaginative Play - our Adam and Eve like to play peek-a-boo
  • Press Studs - apples and Adam and Eve get held behind the bush for storage with press studs
  • Finger Puppets - your fingers are Adam and Eve's legs!
  • Peek-a-boo - lift the flap to discover fruit on the Tree of Life
  • Weaving - the snake can be woven through the branches of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Eve giving Adam the apple...


Read the Chapter

Genesis 3

Devotional

The first lie is still believed today. No-one wants to think they are going to die forever. The snake said "you shall not surely die" but God said "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). The gift is only given to the righteous. The dead know not anything (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

It is a misnomer that the righteous go to Heaven when they die. The righteous go to Heaven after the resurrection, when Jesus returns with His reward (Isaiah 40:10, Revelation 22:12). Heaven is not the reward - He is not bringing Heaven with Him. Eternal life is. Until then, Jesus refers to the dead as 'sleeping'. The belief in immediate Heaven and Hell following death entered the church with the conversion of Gentile (often Greek) people who brought their ideas from Greek mythology with them.

It would be unjust for punishment to precede judgement - and God will leave no avenue open for Satan to appeal against His justice system.


Adam and Eve - Song for the Kids




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Sunday 23 April 2017

Vashti's Quiet Book - My Sister's Pages

These are the super cute quiet book pages that my sister made for her daughter Vashti!


A caterpillar...


There is a light green peek-a-boo leaf on the top...


And a pocket for the pieces behind the darker middle leaf...



A weather page... the cloud and hot air balloon basket are both pockets...


A rainbow page...



A sandcastle and bucket page - template from Imagine Our Life Sandcastle Quiet Book Page....


And lastly, some shoe laces to learn to tie... template from Pops and Podge Quiet Book Page 3 -  Tie The Laces...







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Which pages would you like to include in your own quiet book?

Thursday 9 February 2017

Up-cycled Clothes Quiet Book

After seeing this "Close Your Clothes" quiet book by Anna of Forty-Two Roads, I knew I had to feed my quiet book obsession and make one. Ok, two of them! This is my version, sans poem, and with a little Aussie flavour.



I made one book for Tahlia and one for my niece Vashti for this last Christmas. They are very similar but a little different in places, so I tried to put the related pages next to each other in the photos, although they are not in the same order in both books due to the page colours clashing.



I thought that a belt would be great for the cover as we could use it to keep the books shut.



These pages feature a bow tie that clips together at the back of the collar. You can lift the collar to put it on and then fold it back down once the tie has been clipped together.



These page features the all popular netball skirt. Netball is very popular in country areas of Australia. Netball skirts are wrap around skirts and are adjustable to to your particular waist size because they fasten using a rail belt slider and adjuster. I never knew what they were called until I started writing this post and had to find out!



These pages feature overall clips/buckles. They are not as common as they were in the Eighties lol



These pages feature press studs. The other activity for these pages is pulling the arms and legs inside out so they fit inside the book for storage (see below).



There are hidden bras behind the tops. One bra has a front clasp and the other has padding which can be rather easily removed and put back in.

The baby jumpsuit is located here so that the baby would have ready access to breastmilk :)



The center pages feature a button-up dress or skirt and hat clips.



These pages feature hook and eye closures. I guess this is not the book I will be taking along to church hahaha... lingerie might be better suited to the car or home!



These pages feature zips. I made sure to have them unsecured at the bottom so the girls could learn to thread the zip themselves.



These pages feature Chinese knot buttons. I think they turned out quite pretty.



The last pages feature lacing. One of the books received a bonus belt clip too. I did find it a little difficult finding two of everything I wanted to included, so the two books do vary slightly, but I think they are comparably exciting overall.


I bound the books using the Skinny version of How to Make Cloth Books described by Deborah from Cloth Books for Baby. It worked OK, but I think the bulkiness of my pages made it difficult. The method is better suited to pages without so much going on around the borders.





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Which is your favourite page in these books?

Saturday 15 October 2016

Tahlia's Quiet Book - Pony Page

This pony quiet book page is super cute and interactive. It promotes imaginative play through the feed bowl, bridle and lead, and the removable blanket.




The pony quiet book page was made by my friend at her baby shower, and she kindly made extras for her sister and myself too. I knew she was horse-mad so I had made her a horse template by doing a rubbing of my Mum's coffee table, which has embossed horses and chariots running around the edge of it. She took one look at it and said "No" and announced she would draw her own pony. It's something I have watched her do a thousand times, so I'm not sure what I was thinking doing that either! By the look on her face I could see her completely re-designing the page in that instant.

To make the mane, she wound wool around a ruler, carefully slid it off, and pinned it under the pony. My Mum sewed down the pony for her because I asked her to man the sewing machine during the party. Once it was sewed down, my friend cut the mane where it had been folded over the ruler.




We didn't finish the quiet book pages at the party. She finished her pages at home for me later, and I'm so glad she did. Not just because it took a lot of work off Mum and I, but because there is no way it would have turned out so good if I was in charge. The bridle, lead and blanket edging are made from a thin ribbon, and you will have to copy as best you can from the picture. The ribbon was left over from her wedding, so that's pretty special. She did a great job, don't you think!

She designed the page herself, and has allowed me to share the template with you - Thanks heaps!!





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Do you know a little friend who LOVES ponies?

Saturday 9 April 2016

Genesis 29 - Jacob's Wives Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 29, Jacob has run away from his brother Esau and gone to his mother's family to find a wife. After agreeing to work seven years in exchange for the younger, more beautiful daughter Rachel, he is tricked into marrying the elder daughter Leah, and must work a further seven years to pay for Rachel. Leah bears Jacob four sons.


Memory Verse: When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” Genesis 29:25.


Materials needed to create Jacob's Wives quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet. I used mid blue.
  • felt scraps
  • sewing thread to match each colour of felt
  • sew on press studs
  • material or lace for the veils
  • two small blue beads and four small brown or black beads
  • embroidered flowers, I got a fairly big bag full for $1 from Theo's Discount Craft in Melbourne
  • hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • the template
Use the template to cut out the pieces from felt in appropriate colours. I used purple for Leah because she was the mother of Judah, through whom the royal line of King David, and thus Jesus, descended. I gave her blonde hair and blue eyes, and gave Rachel brown hair and eyes for reasons outlined in the devotional section. I used the darker shades for Leah and Rachel and used lighter shades of the same colours for Bilhah and Zilpah in the next chapter, so you might want to keep that in mind if you are doing a double page spread like me. Jacob was allocated red clothes because that's what I had already given him in the previous chapter, Genesis 28 - Jacob's Ladder Quiet Book Page.

Next, lay out your pieces and position everything on the page so you know where you want everything and to make sure it fits on your page. Pin so you can peel back as many layers as possible to sew underneath. Make sure you leave enough room for the son's names labels if you are using them.

For details on how I made the son's names labels with press studs, please refer to my Genesis 30 - Jacob Increases Quiet Book Page. Only do this part if you are making a double page spread with these two chapters.

Sew each piece down in the order listed below, matching your threads to your chosen colours.
  1. large hair sections for Leah and Rachel
  2. torso/arm sections - remember to insert the girl's dresses underneath the arms and on top of the torsos before sewing
  3. heads and feet
  4. dresses and tunic
  5. rest of the hair pieces
Cut two sections of material or lace for the veils and sew them on. Then add the beads for eyes. Finally, hot glue down your embroidered flowers over the spot where the girls hands meet.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

Sewing Leah and Rachel's arms is the most difficult part of this page because they need to be sewn over the top of the dress before it has been sewn down yet, and you may get issues with lining them up properly. It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be though!

Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Genesis 29 - this page tells the story of Jacob marrying Leah and Rachel
  • Visual Discrimination - spot the difference between Leah and Rachel
  • Peek-a-boo - lift the veils to see their faces
  • Press Studs - learn to line them up, push them on and pull them off
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

 Read the Chapter

Genesis 29

Devotional

In this chapter, Jacob the deceiver - his name actually means that, gets deceived himself. He gets tricked into marrying the wrong woman... not a nice surprise I imagine. I had thought that he actually had to wait another seven years to marry his beloved Rachel, but it turns out he married her the next week, and had to pay her off for the next seven years.


For some reason, Jacob actually looks quite puzzled and cross standing next to Leah, but when you compare the shot of him standing with Rachel, he looks quite happy. I think it might be due to some body language caused by the one-shouldered tunic... What do you think?


Anyway, I drew their tunic and dresses with one shoulder because that is how they are depicted in ancient records. See the example below:

Image Source
Verse seventeen talks about Leah having weak eyes, but Rachel being both beautiful and having a hot body! There are two theories I have come across regarding Leah's weak eyes. The first says that she had blue eyes, which were considered weak and unattractive in that culture, where brown eyes were dominant. The other theory says that Leah's blue eyes were her only redeeming feature. She was perhaps blessed with a fertile, child rearing body... not a hot bod, and was not beautiful, and the only nice thing they could say about her was that she at least had nice eyes.

Interesting!





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Are the veils in this page captivating enough for your child?