Psalm 127 - Unless the LORD Builds the House Quiet Book Page

In Psalm 127, Solomon notes that a lot of effort is wasted when we try to do things without God's help.

Memory Verse: "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain." Psalm 127:1

Materials needed to create Unless the LORD Builds the House quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used bright green.
• Wonderwall in a slightly smaller size than the background
• sewing thread to best match the wonderwall
• stiffened felt in various colours
• Velcro dots - hook side only
• hot glue gun and glue - optional
• the free template
• pen and scissors!

Cut out the blocks from the template and draw around each the correct number of times on the colour of stiffened felt chosen. Cut out the blocks from the stiffened felt. Cut your Velcro dots in half and attach the Velcro dot to the side of the stiffened felt block which has the pen mark on it. You may need to use a little hot glue to hold them in place, especially if your Velcro dots are a little old like some of mine were, and the sticky is not so sticky anymore.

It is difficult to see in the photos, but the white circle is actually attached with a Velcro dot to a dark blue square block. It is meant to be a clock.

Sew your Wonderwall to the background page, leaving enough room for a colourful border and to allow you to sew your pages back to back once you are ready to sew the book together.

Stick your building blocks onto the Wonderwall with the Velcro and re-arrange to make all sorts of buildings.  They should all fit on the page for storage purposes.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

One of the easiest quiet book pages ever!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 6 - This page tells about how much God works behind the scenes - we often forget that it is actually Him keeping our cities and country safe, and helping us to build our lives
• Shapes - Learn the shapes square, circle, semi-circle, arch, rectangle, pillar, and triangle
• Touch and Feel - The Wonderwall adds a rough texture to the page
• Imaginative Play - Build endless combinations of houses, city gates, and walls, etc
• 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

Psalm 127

Devotional

Solomon wrote this Psalm. I'm not sure that this is what he was talking about, but I found it a little fitting because he was the one God selected to build His house - the Temple. David had been busy making plans to build a temple, but God told him "No". I guess David knew better than to argue with God, because it seems he accepted that without complaint. He did all he could so it was ready for Solomon though, gathering supplies and drawing up plans.

Like I mentioned in my last devotional for Luke 12 - Where is Your Treasure Quiet Book Page, no-one can be an expert on everything, and if you want your plans to succeed, it is best to ask for help. God's help is the greatest help, and He can find you the right people to provide you with help too. If God has decreed something is not going to succeed, it ain't gonna, so don't waste your efforts.

Once again, we can't rely on own own efforts to build a good life and to keep ourselves safe. That's God's job, and that's great for us, because otherwise how could we go to sleep at night? But He is always there keeping watch and helping if we ask Him to.

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Are you letting the LORD build your house?

Back to School - Stick Icy Pole Sleeves Tutorial

Welcome to my back to school project for the Sew Much Fun Blog Hop!

I made some cute and handy stick icy pole sleeves. I remember coming home from school and sitting on the couch at home looking out the window on our back yard eating icy poles. Summer enticed me into it. Generally I don't enjoy eating cold things like ice cream, but icy poles were different because you could bite it through the plastic and your teeth had a little bit of protection. Now your hands do too!

Materials needed to create the Stick Icy Pole Sleeves:

• polar fleece scrap, 4.5" x 7" per stick icy pole sleeve - I used white
• minky scrap 4.5" x 6" per stick icy pole sleeve - I used zig-zag and pink
• and just in case you are lazy like me, I made a printable template you can use

First cut out your pieces and pin them right sides together along the shorter top edge, leaving a generous seam allowance. Sew using a straight stitch or a very slight zig-zag stitch (which is recommended for some machines when sewing stretch fabrics).

Next, pin and sew along the sides to form a tube, leaving a normal amount (1/4") seam allowance. Ensure you pin and keep the seam allowance of your previous stitch turned back on itself to reduce bulk when sewing. Please excuse the party blower that Tahlia insisted on putting in the photo. She thought it was hilarious.

After that, turn your tube starting at the polar fleece end (very important) so that wrong sides are together (very important).

Pin across the cut edge (not the folded edge). Make sure that the polar fleece seem and the minky seam are matched together in the middle of the edge and that the seam allowance is once again folded back against itself to reduce bulk. Sew in place.

Clip the corners.

Then turn inside out. You can use a ruler to help push the ends out properly.

Enjoy your hands-freeze-free stick icy poles!

This project is brought to you as part of the #sewmuchfunbloghop - visit the links below to find out what other Back to School Projects everyone has come up with.

Jen our hostess from Faith and Fabric has posted a summary of everyone's projects here. 

You can also find a lovely array of Christian themed quilt patterns throughout her website.

• Emma at Emkie Designs
• Chris at made by ChrissieD
• Alisson at Woodberry Way
• Karen at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats
• Michelle at Pretty Practical
• Kathy Kathy quilts at

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What are your favourite summer sewing items?

Tahlia's Quiet Book - Brush Your Teeth Pages

A Brush Your Teeth quiet book page is a tonne of fun! A toothbrush was one of Tahlia's first Christmas presents, and she absolutely loved it. This page has also been a hit. It used to be her favourite page when she was about two and a half. It stayed her favourite for a long time.

I made the toothbrush, toothpaste and cup using part of Stephanie's Brush Your Teeth quiet book template from Imagine Our Life. At the time I was just getting into quiet book making and sewed a plastic piece from a folder cover in between the two felt layers for the toothbrush and toothpaste in an attempt to strengthen them. It worked OK, but I have since discovered thick stiffened felt from Spotlight. I would definitely use that instead if I ever make it again. I would also use that for the white brush bristles as our toothbrush has unfortunately fulfilled it's purpose in Tahlia's own mouth quite a bit and become a bit sad and soggy. A small price to pay for the amount of fun she was rewarded with!

Mum and I made the mouth together. I did the teeth freehand on the machine, but I gave an example to give you an idea of what I did (or what I would try to do if I did it again and wanted a new improved version) plus my Mum's template for the mouth. As you can see in the picture, my teeth are very uniform unlike the example I gave in the template. Once you have followed the instructions on the template, cut down between the teeth and turn them inside out before pinning them on the page and placing the mouth over the top to get the positioning right. Sew them down and then sew the mouth on top to cover the gummy sections. Thanks heaps once again Mum!!

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Who is glad you don't have teeth like this mouth?!!

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?

Genesis 5 - Lineage Birthday Cake Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 5, we are given the lineage of Adam to Noah, along with their ages at death, and a secret message hidden in what many would consider a rather boring Bible passage.

Memory Verse: Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Genesis 5:29 NASB

Materials needed to create the Lineage Birthday Cake quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used mid blue.
• felt scraps
• sparkly felt for icing (optional)
• sewing thread to match each colour of felt
• magnets - I used 5mm craft neodymium magnets, but you need to be careful with these... they are very strong magnets so they are dangerous if swallowed
• four small buttons
• round black elastic
• sewing machine with font function (or alternate method e.g. hand embroidery, fabric marker or transfer paper)
• things to decorate the cake e.g. strawberries (optional).
• the free template

Use the complete cake guide to work out where to position your cake on the page. There are two options, one with candles and one without. Since the candles sit higher than the cake, I thought I better include them so you can see how high they would sit. But since they are very close to the edge of the pattern paper, I thought it might not print properly, so I did one without as well.

Place pins as markers through each 'X'. This is where your magnets will be sewn down under the small squares of felt. Sew your magnets in position, ensuring that they are sewn down with the same side (north or south pole) facing up so that the candles all face the same way when put on the cake.

Write out your lettering using your chosen method (ensuring it will fit into that amount of space) and cut out one side of your candle set.

The name and age at death/translation side (and corresponding meaning side) should say:

• Adam 930 (Man)
• Seth 912 (Appointed)
• Enosh 905 (Mortal)
• Keenan 910 (Sorrow)
• Mahalalel 895 (The Blessed God)
• Jared 962 (Shall Come Down)
• Enoch 365 (Teaching)
• Methuselah 969 (His Death Shall Bring)
• Lamech 777 (Despairing)
• Noah (Comfort and Rest)

Next, cut out ten flames (not twenty) as it is easier to sew small sections onto a larger sheet of felt than sewing two small sections to each other. It makes it easier to keep things straight and lined up in the sewing machine, especially when you are also going to be inserting flames and magnets between the two parts. I found the idea for this method on the blog Laura Thoughts, so for a better explanation on how to do it, please visit here.

Sew the flames down first and cut them out. Insert them under the top ends of the candles when you pin them on to the corresponding candle side. Make sure you line up the lettering properly on the opposite side.

Start sewing the candles from the bottom end, and when you get back around (but before you get right to the end), insert a magnet into the candle and then sew it closed. You can use a wooden skewer to help push the magnet in. Again, make sure you put the magnet in with the correct pole facing down so that the name side of the candle will face outwards when placed into the cake.

Check that the lettering has been lined up and sewn correctly, then cut out your candles.

Cut out your cake sections. I doubled each of my chocolate cake sections, but the felt I was using was rather thin. if you use thicker felt you will not have to.

Cut out and sew the icing sections to the top of each cake section. Use the complete cake guide to position them on your page in line with the magnet squares and sew them onto the page by the sides and bottom, leaving the section that has the icing sewn on it free to make a pocket for the candles. Do not sew down over the icing.

Cut out your bunting from the corresponding colours as indicated on page for of the template. I wrote the English words grammar words 'IS', 'BUT' & 'AND' on the back of the blue bunting, so it can be folded over when you line up the candles and help reveal the message - although I have just discovered I placed the words in the wrong order on the bunting... oh dear! At least we can still use it on the side without the writing and insert the words in our heads.

Fold your length of elastic in half, and starting at the folded end, wrap your bunting around both strings and pin. Leave a small loop of elastic at each end and spaces where indicated so you can button it onto the page. When everything is lined up and you have worked out how much length you will need, tie the ends of the elastic together and hide the knot inside the last piece of bunting.

The bunting colours have been co-ordinated so that there is blue bunting the same colour as the candles in all the spots where an English word needs to be inserted for the grammar to make sense. There is no magnet inside the blue bunting, but sew all the rest with a magnet inside for the candle to attach to so you can reveal the hidden message by lining them up. Again, ensure that the magnet's pole is positioned so that the meaning side of the candle faces outwards when attached to the bunting. Just sew in a V shape, going over the top of the elastic so it stops the bunting moving around and the magnet can't fall out.

"but" and "the" are the wrong way around :(

Lay out the bunting on the page above the cake and mark and sew the buttons in place.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to include the strawberries, and how to attach them. I was considering hot glue or press studs, but I ended up just putting them in a small zip lock bag in the middle pocket. That way they can be played with but are not permanently attached.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Hard

Probably the most difficult aspects of creating this page is getting the magnets into the candles and bunting while sewing. You could make them slightly wider or hand sew those sections. Also, lining up the wording is a little confusing. If you don't have a machine with an alphabet, you could use a fabric marker, iron on transfer paper, or hand embroidery instead. Using a fabric marker or transfer paper might make it less confusing as you could do the writing after the candle and bunting are sewn together.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 5 - This page tells the story of the secret message hidden in the lineage of Adam to Noah
• Imaginative Play - mmm, cake!
• Ordering - place the name candles in the correct order of creation/birth
• Magnets - the candles can be transferred from the cake to the bunting to reveal the hidden message
• Tucking - the candles have to be tucked under the flap of cake to magnet on properly
• Buttoning - the bunting elastic onto the page
• Reading - the names, meanings, and ages
• Decoding - find the hidden message
• 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 5

Devotional

The idea for this page came from a combination of things... and very importantly, from a poem by Emily Hunter from The Bible-Time Nursery Rhyme Book. It was a very treasured book in my childhood - a gift from my parents for my third birthday. Now that Tahlia is three, I am greatly enjoying sharing it with her too. It comes VERY HIGHLY recommended from me!

Image Source

The poem that inspired me is about Methuselah, and how he would need sooooo many candles on his birthday cake. It has a picture of a massive tiered cake with a tonne of candles on it, and I always loved that page as a child.

The other thing that inspired this page was hearing about the hidden message in the meaning of the names in this lineage. I heard it first in a sermon I think. You can find a detailed explanation here.

Basically, when you read the meaning of each name in the lineage as a list, a secret message is revealed.

Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed
Enosh = Mortal
Kenan = Sorrow
Mahalalel = The Blessed God
Jared = Shall come down
Enoch = Teaching
Methuselah = His death shall bring
Lamech = The Despairing
Noah = Comfort (or Rest)

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing comfort/rest."

Hidden messages like this are evidence of God's design and inspiration in the Bible writings.

Methuselah has a double hidden meaning, because when he died, the flood came. It is thought that his name was intended to be a prophecy of the flood via his father Enoch. You can read more about this topic here.

Patriarchs from Adam to Israel (Jacob)
Image Source 

The ages of the people in this chapter also holds significance, something I noticed when making this quiet book page. They all lived very long lives, but since Noah wasn't yet dead, his age at death is not mentioned until later in Genesis. I think it is rather significant that his death is not recorded in this section because through the story of the flood (the first destruction of the earth) Noah represents the faithful generation that will be living at Jesus' second coming, those who will not see death in the final destruction. They will receive comfort and rest.

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Are you excited to study the "boring" Bible passages now?

Tahlia's Quiet Book - Teddy Page

Here is another page my Mum and I made for Tahlia's original quiet book. I am including the free template so you can make one for someone special too!

This teddy was originally a full teddy that my Mum designed and had her primary school craft class make.  We cut him off at the shoulders and put a ribbon to learn to tie around his neck. This is proving to be a challenging task, but one that has been of interest to Tahlia for quite a while now. She undoes the bow very quickly, and then pretends to do it back up. She watches carefully as someone does it up for her.

We also made his ears able to flap, which I am so happy about because Tahlia has found that she can play peek-a-boo by covering his eyes with his ears!!

Since I got the idea of making quiet books around the time of my friend's baby shower, I decided we should make her one at the party.................... Right.................... Probably not a good idea. Mum and I had to finish off a lot of pages. Actually we were making two of each page at that party since my friend's sister was also planning a baby. So, along with a few others, Mum and I made this page three times, phew!

The other teddies we made had blue and green eyes. Tahlia ended up with the pink ones because she was the only baby with a known sex at the time. They all ended up being girls though! Anyway, I'd like to teach her about having 'pink eye' and how to treat it with pretend eye drops. We could get some real imaginary play going on at the vet or doctor's clinic.

Materials needed to create the Teddy Quiet Book Page:

• A4 felt background sheet in cream
• felt scraps in tan
• ribbon
• black wool
• black thread
• two large buttons
• my Mum's teddy template... Thanks Mum!

How to create the Teddy Quiet Book Page:

• Cut out each ear twice and sew together to strengthen.
• Cut a length of ribbon and burn the ends to stop it fraying.
• Cut out the head and body section and pin in place with the ribbon and ears positioned underneath. Sew down.
• Mum embroidered his mouth and nose for me with some black wool.
• Attach the eyes with black thread.

All Done!

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Do you like Teddy pages?

Genesis 4 - Cain and Abel Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 4, God accepts Abel's offering but does not accept Cain's.

Memory Verse: Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6,7.

Materials needed to create the Cain and Abel quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used dark green.
• felt scraps in thick white, thin white, stone, and wheat colours
• sewing thread to match each colour of felt
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• various blind samples in stone and stick colours and patterns
• red and wheat coloured wool scraps
• an altar template - I used this activity page from Calvary Kids
• a sheep template - I used this image from Free Bible Stories For Children
• my wheat sheaf and altar sticks template
• instructions on how to do the wheat embroidery stitches by Mary Corbet on YouTube

Cut out the altar template as a complete altar, leaving space around the edge. Cut four of this from stone coloured felt and sew them doubled up to strengthen them. Sew them down leaving the edges that face the middle of the page open so that the altars become a pocket to store the other items in.

Cut the stones out of the template. Cut two lots of stones from blind samples, one from a light stone colour, and one from a darker stone colour. Hot glue them onto the altars using a mixture of light and dark stones on each altar.

Cut out the sticks background template and cut out doubles from dark brown felt. Sew them back to back. Cut out the sticks from a mottled brown blind sample and hot glue them onto the backgrounds.

Cut one the complete sheep template and cut one from some fairly thick white felt. Then cut off the legs and face of the sheep from the template. and cut out two lots from some thinner white felt. Sew them onto the sheep as it's wool coat, one on each side. Cut out the ears from the thinner felt and attach by hand or using a zero stitch length zig zag setting on your machine.

Tie some red wool around the legs of the sheep.

Cut out the wheat sheaf template and cut one from some fairly thick felt. Cut out two from wheat coloured felt. Hand embroider the wheat on first, then sew on either side of the thick felt with the wheat coloured wool layered in between. Tie the wool into a bow.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The sheep and bundle of wheat are the slightly harder elements of this page. You could simplify it by finding images online to print onto transfer paper and then ironing them onto the felt instead. This was the first hand embroidery I have ever done (aside from a few cross stitches and things as a child).

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 4 - This page tells the story of Adam and Eve's sons Cain and Abel, and the devastating result of sin
• Ordering - place the sticks and sheep/wheat in the correct order on top of the altar
• 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 4

Devotional

There is debate regarding why God was displeased with Cain's offering due to the fact that there are no recorded instructions given by God prior to this incident.

Some think that the reason was more that Cain's offering was proud and or selfish, not the fact that he had not brought an animal. Cain needed to trade with Abel in order to get an animal, since he was a herdsman and Cain grew crops. The other differing point was that Cain brought some of his crop rather than the best like Abel did, bringing fat portions of some of the the firstborn.

An offering can be, but does not necessarily refer to a sacrifice.

God did demonstrate what constituted a sacrifice for Adam and Eve before they left the Garden in the previous chapter, Genesis 3. God made them clothes out of animal skins. Most people think of them dressed as a cave man and woman, but it was most likely sheep skins they were dressed in, and therefore they were wearing white. The animals were used to cover them, and represented the covering of their sins. They were made righteous again by the shedding of the innocent animals blood which represented the shedding of Jesus' blood, which if they believed, would make them truly righteous. I am sure they tried their hardest to be good parents, to raise their children well, teaching them how to serve God and passing on this story and belief. In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." Hebrews 9:22 CJB. This verse refers back to Leviticus 17:11 in the old testament.

Also, Cain and Abel were grown men - Cain reminds God that wherever he goes, people will want to kill him, surely evidence that by this time, his brothers and sisters had also grown up and reached adulthood. So I assume this was not the first sacrifice they had done, and that Cain had previously pleased God with his sacrifices.

So, why do you think God was displeased?

Image Source

The mark given to Cain by God is very interesting. Jewish sources (Rashi and the Zohar) claim that the mark was a Hebrew letter. I imagine that it was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 'tav'  or "t" in English, which was in the shape of a cross and means "mark, sign, signal, or monument". Follow the transition of the shape of the letter 'tav' from early to modern Hebrew on the Ancient Hebrew Research Center website.

The purpose of this mark was to dissuade people from wanting to kill Cain, i.e. to save him. God continually offers us His grace, forgiveness and salvation, no matter how bad we think we are. I think there is a chance that Cain accepted God's grace and will be in Heaven.

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Did you learn anything through this quiet book page?

Tahlia's Quiet Book - Ice-cream Page

What little girl (or boy) doesn't like Ice-cream? This page encourages imaginative play, and imaginative ice-cream flavour naming!!! I can't wait to hear what Tahlia comes up with.

The pocket flap is designed to extend the page so it is tall enough to stack up lots of flavours. The bubble gum flavour on the top of the right cone is one of my favourites, and it was made by collecting a heap of coloured cotton scraps and sewing them down by machine.

I wanted this page to be it's own pocket. It was a challenge for myself as I already had the idea of one page per chapter of the Bible, which doesn't allow for extra pocket pages. Plus why not make each page as exciting as possible, rather than just being a filler in a book?

To reinforce the bottom pocket section, I just folded it in on itself and sewed the edge down. To do the top part of the pocket where the ice-cream hangs down past the pocket flap, I sewed two green spotted felt pieces together where I wanted the flap to end, but left both edges with a large length of hem below where the ice-cream edge now is. Then I sewed down the ice-cream tops on the top of the flap and over the seam extending into the length of hem. Then I trimmed the hem around the ice-cream tops and along the flap edge.

It took forever to create this page - around three weeks of evenings, and I did double of nearly everything so I could include this page in my niece Vashti's book as well. The bead work really slowed it down.

My mum made the pattern for this, which is a great personal touch for Tahlia, and something I really appreciate. However, I did have a problem on my machine with the wavy edge being a little tight to allow me to turn easily. Since then, I found a free pattern available from Wee Folk Art which will probably work better, so I will refer you to it instead of uploading my mum's template.

🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦🍦

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What is your favourite flavour of ice-cream and how could you make it in felt? Comment below!

Psalm 100 - Sheep of His Pasture Quiet Book Page

In Psalm 100, we are likened to being sheep in God's pasture.

Memory Verse: "Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Psalm 100:3 (NIV).

Materials needed to create the Sheep of His Pasture quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used white.
• sheep button/s
• farm, sheep or pasture scene material
• tulle (soft is better)
• sewing thread
• texta
• paper, ruler, pen... or this free template (this is my first attempt at embedding - if you can't access the template please let me know; I also apologise that Tahlia got to it and drew all over it before it got scanned... you should still be able to use it though!)

Before starting on this page, you may want to check out a very similar page I made for a Puzzle Quiet Book Page Swap. You might prefer the method I used there. It is more of a traditional button maze, whereas this page uses more of a marble maze design (although I am using a button not a marble).

1. If you want to make your own template, cut out a sheet of paper slightly larger than the size you want your maze to be and use it to mark out where you want your lines to go. Make sure there is enough room for your button to move between the lines, including extra space which will be taken up by the zig zag stitch.

I got my inspiration from Joan Ellis, a fellow member of the Quiet Book Club group on Facebook. She posted pictures of marble maze designs she had made, and she has kindly allowed me to share them with you!

EDIT - 2 photos have been removed

Her instructions for making actual marble mazes from material are as follows: Simply cut two same size rectangles. Stitch right sides together and leave a two inch opening. Turn right side out, press. Draw in your maze, stitch the lines securing the end and beginning of each seam, slip in the marble and sew closed. 

To make a template, use a clear ruler. Make the spaces 3/4 inch for a peewee and 1 inch for a player sized marble. To leave room for top stitching all around, she starts with a 1 inch margin around the edges and works her way in.

If you live in the Albuquerque area of New Mexico, USA, you should definitely check out Hip Stitch, a quilting store and sewing lounge where Joan teaches sewing and does free monthly demonstrations. They sell ready made marble mazes and kits so you can make your own. They even offer private sewing classes at a VERY affordable rate. Unfortunately Joan has already done a marble maze demo this year, but I'm sure if you asked nicely she could organise another at some point!

EDIT - 2 photos have been removed

I chose this last example of a continuous loop as I don't imagine that God's pasture has any dead ends!

2. Use your or my free template to cut out your scene material and tulle. Lay your material over the top of your maze template and use a texta to copy the maze lines onto your material if you are able to see through to do it. Otherwise copy them onto your tulle. I did it both ways and found it easier if the lines were marked on the material rather than the tulle because the tulle moves around a lot and it is more difficult to get the lines in the right spot when you are sewing.

3. Sew the material and tulle together along the outer edge of the maze, remembering to slip a button in between before you get to the end. You could use a few buttons, but mine have a flock already painted on them. Also, I didn't want to run into another button on the way around which might slow momentum on a continuous loop.

4. Clip the corners and fold the edges under. Pin it onto your background felt and sew it down around the edges using a zig zag stitch with a very small stitch length. Sew over the maze lines you marked on your material with the same zig zag stitch.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy

You need very little skills to make this page :)

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Psalm 100 - This page tells about how we are like sheep in God's pasture
• Imaginative Play - Pretend you are a sheep in the pasture, or a dog rounding up the sheep in the pasture, feed your sheep on a lush pasture of chamomile or burdock, etc
• Button/Marble Maze - push and pull your button along a path
• 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

Psalm 100

Devotional

Coincidentally or not, the number of this Psalm is also the number of sheep in the flock before one goes missing in Jesus' parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15).

As a farmer's daughter, I love the fact that God compares us to sheep rather than goats...

"Dumb sheep ahead" was tweeted by Adam Marshall on the 16th of March 2014.

Sheep are well known as being rather stupid. I don't think God is calling us stupid, so please hear me out.

We had both sheep and goats on our farm. If the sheep got out of the paddock and were wandering on the road, they had no idea how they got there, and you would have to take them around and open the gate for them to get back in. If the goats got out onto the road, they knew exactly how they got there and would often dart back through the same hole they had found/made. Goats are mischievous. I guess my point is that God is not laying blame on us, He is giving us the benefit of the doubt so to speak, saying we are a bit silly for getting lost or into trouble rather than saying we are aiming for it. What do you think?

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Are you a sheep of His pasture?