Romans 10 - Call on the Name of the LORD Quiet Book Page

In Romans 10, Paul explains what it means for us to call on the name of the LORD.

Memory Verse: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 NKJV.

Materials needed to create the Call on the LORD quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used turquoise
• my free Romans 10 - Call on the LORD Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• black hard felt
• white hard felt 
• sewing threads to best match the page
• black curly shoelaces - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• wadding
• one large decorative button for the dial centre
• 14 smaller decorative buttons for the dial numbers
• 10cm of buttonhole elastic
• 2 small buttons to fit the elastic
• kam snap and tool and piercing rod (or darning needle etc)
• hot glue and glue gun
• scissors!

Firstly, cut out the pattern pieces. Cut out the back of the cradle (the larger cradle piece) from black hard felt and sew it onto your page (use the full phone pattern piece to position it where required).

Cut out two handset pieces and two layers of the slightly smaller wadding. Lay the wadding in between the two handset pieces and sew them together tucking in one end of a curly shoelace at the top left corner of the handset as you go.

Sew the smaller cradle piece to the top of your full phone piece leaving the bottom edge unsewn. Then sew the full phone piece onto your page along the top edge between the two pointy cradle pieces. Leave the two pointy cradle pieces as flaps to be used to house the handset. Sew from the bottom outside edge of one flap to around to the bottom outside edge of the other flap, tucking in the other end of your curly shoelace at the bottom right corner of your phone.

Use the full phone pattern piece to line up where to insert the piercing rod. Use the piercing rod to prepare a hole for your kam snap. Insert one half (male or female) of your kam snap. 

Cut out one side of your dial from the white hard felt and sew your large decorative button to the middle. Use the piercing rod to prepare a hole for your kam snap in the middle of a piece of white hard felt which is slightly larger than the dial. Insert the opposite half (male or female) of your kam snap. Add a little hot glue to the smooth back of the kam snap and glue it to the center of the white felt at the back of the button. Sew down the dial and trim off the excess. Sew down your smaller decorative buttons around the edge of the dial as buttons. I followed a North, South, East, West, etc pattern to try to keep the spacing even.

Lastly, sew a small button to the phone base behind the dial south-east of the kam snap, and another to the back of the dial north east of the kam snap. Button each end of the buttonhole elastic to opposite buttons and you are finished! The dial should spring back when you turn and release the dial.

Tahlia says Romans 10:13 and explains how to play with the retro phone quiet book page - call on the name of the LORD and be saved!

Difficulty Level = Easy

The most difficult part is lining the large button up on the dial with the kam snap underneath.

Tahlia shows off the retro phone quiet book page

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Romans 10 - we can call on God anytime through prayer
• Imaginative play - making pretend phone calls is always a fun thing to do for a child
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

The retro phone dial returns to the start like a real retro phone!

Read the Chapter

Romans 10

Devotional

God doesn't have favourites, and He will save those who call on Him.

Paul asks a series of questions:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

♫ Jimmy Little ♥ Royal Telephone ♫

We have been given the privilege of telling people the Good News. If people understand the Good News, they will have faith to call on the name of the LORD. 

That name is Jesus. 

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Have you ever called on the name of the LORD? How did it work out for you? 

Alpha (Old Testament) Quiet Book - by Steph

This is the first in a series of two quiet book made by my friend Steph. 

I really loved her idea of using an Alpha symbol over the cross for the Old Testament and an Omega over a cross for the New Testament covers.

Although the books are not quite finished (and I think a lot of quiet books fall into this category), I am going to share the pages that are already done for now. Steph knew she would never get around to making a sewn book, so she opted for glue. This has enabled her to use both the front and the back of a piece of felt for activities, which is not only cheaper, but means she doesn't have to sew the pages back-to-back either. The books are bound using ribbon strung through some holes made with a hole punch. So simple!

Page one is for creation. Steph really wanted to highlight to her children the creation of spaces in the first three days, and the filling of those spaces in the following three days:

Creation Kingdoms	Creature Kings
Day 1 - Light (Day/Night)	Day 4 - Luminaries (Greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night)
Day 2 - Sky/Water	Day 5 - Birds/Fish
Day 3 - Land/Vegetation	Day 6 - Land animals/Man
The Creator King
Day 7 - Sabbath

This view of Genesis 1 is called the Framework Interpretation, and although many of it's proponents hold to a symbolic meaning to the days of creation, there is no reason that it cannot and does not apply to a literal view just as readily (as Steph and I do).

Page two is one of the creatures God created - a crab. It was bought from AliExpress, so was a very easy make.

Page three is an apple tree (also bought from AliExpress) for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil story in the Garden of Eden.

Page four is a Noah's ark matching game inspired by the Betty Lukens kit I used in my Genesis 8 - In The Ark Quiet Book Page.

Page five is some corn weaving for the story of Joseph (bought from AliExpress). (Sorry Steph but I think the corn is referring to kernels of wheat rather than corn as we call it today)!

Page six is for the 10 Commandments - you can list a Commandment as the frog jumps on each lily pad. Sorry again Steph, but this is my least favourite page in this book because frogs are actually associated with unclean/evil things (think Revelation) so I'm not a fan of using them to illustrate God's Holy Law, despite how cute they might be!

Page seven is a sandal to tie and untie (bought from AliExpress) for the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, and we can remember how God made their sandals last the journey (Deuteronomy 29:5).

Page eight represents how God can wash us so we will be whiter than snow (Psalm 51).

On page nine you can dress up Queen Esther in various outfits, with one basic dress for before she became queen, and three more decorative ones for afterwards. Esther means "hidden" and you can hide her Jewish identity (the Star of David) like her Uncle Mordechai asked her to with her dresses. I love all the little details, so well done on this one Steph!

Page ten is David's harp (drawn free-hand - great job Steph)!

Page eleven is a mini felt Bible hidden in a heart pocket - for Psalm 119. We need to treasure God's word and learn it off by heart so we have it with us always.

This is my absolute favourite page, and it deserves it's own post, so I will be reserving photos of inside the Bible for that - sorry, not sorry hahaha.

Page twelve shows three different aspects of David's life - King, Shepheard, and how he was a man after God's own heart. You can trace the shape of the pipe cleaners from David on the left to the symbols on the right.

Page thirteen is a hand and numbers for counting. It was originally intended to be for the 10 Commandments, but two hands didn't fit on the page. Instead it could link to a few things, such as God knowing everything about us, and counting the blessings God has given us. 

A bit of trivia for you - there is no Bible verse which talks about counting your blessings. I only know because I looked when trying to match another one of my quiet book ideas to a Bible chapter... Oh well!

The hand was free cut and Steph added Velcro dots bought from office works. Most things in the book were free cut and she didn't draw at all (cause she says she is really lazy).

Page fourteen is a wooden puzzle in the shape of a precious stone. After all, wisdom is better than rubies (Proverbs 8:11). It was bought from a dollar store. Steph has written some words of wisdom on it and made a pocket out of felt in the same shape as the puzzle. 

Page fifteen is my second favourite in this book so far. Steph says the idea was "totally stolen" from an idea I had told her about for a future page. Although mine is for a different verse and will look quite different, I might just have to steal this idea right back for the verse Steph is applying it to! This page goes with Ezekiel 11:19, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (NIV). The heart is removable.

Page sixteen is a season tree. Whilst there is no activity, it is a rather tactile page. This page is for Ecclesiastes 3 - there is a season for everything. 

Psalms 1 also talks about a tree planted by the waters which brings forth fruit in due season.

Page seventeen is Jonah and the whale.

There are an odd number of pages because this project is still growing.

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Which page did you enjoy most in the Alpha (Old Testament) Quiet Book? That is a bit of a cheeky question, since I didn't share my favourite page here properly!

Psalm 11 - Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope Quiet Book Page

Psalm 11 asks why we should flee as birds to a mountain when we are trusting God for protection.

Memory Verse: “I trust in the Lord for protection.

So why do you say to me,

“Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!" Psalm 11:1.

Materials needed to create the Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used dapple grey
• My free Psalm 11 - Flee as a Bird Thaumatrope Quiet Book Page Template Pattern
• cotton fabric for the green mountain
• fabric glue or double sided iron-on interfacing
• felt scraps in green, sky blue, orange and dapple grey
• decorative beads in orange and silver
• short dowel rod (about 20cm in length, 7mm in diameter)
• hot glue and glue gun
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Mark and cut out the mountain shape from your mountain fabric and use fabric glue to glue it to a piece of green felt (or use thedouble-sided iron-on interfacing according to the directions). Once it is dry, cut it out and sew a fine zigzag stitch along all edges to stop it fraying and peeling. Then sew it onto your background felt to about just below half way up the sides of the mountain leaving the top open to form a pocket.

Cut out the circles from the sky blue felt and sew down your orange birds followed by their dapple grey wings, making sure to position one in the upper position and the other in the lower position. Hand sew on your decorative beads.

Testing different decorative bead positions

Position your circles back to back (ensure the birds are level with each other) and sew around the circles, leaving about a 2cm hole at the bottom. Use hot glue on about 4cm of the end of your dowel rod and insert it into the hole and press the birds together to attach it. 

Spin the thaumatrope rod between your hands to watch the bird fly away to the mountain.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Psalm 11 - Putting your trust in God is the best way to stay safe and remain calm when you are in danger.
• Imaginative Play - Fly your birdie to safety in the mountains.
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skills through turning pages, and on this page, through using the thaumatrope.

Read the Chapter

Psalm 11

Devotional

This Christian Hymn seems to be to be using the phrase "flee like a bird to your mountain" in the opposite way to what David's adviser was. But the point in the end is the same. God is your refuge, put your faith in Him.

I have heard stories of many people who chose to stay in dangerous places because they felt that is where God wanted them. They trusted Him and escaped all kinds of danger because He looked after them. The most dangerous place in all appearances may actually be the safest because God is with you. The safe places might actually be the most dangerous because you are no longer relying on God.

I looked up some of the birds that inhabit Israel and tried to model mine on the Oriental Turtle-dove and the Laughing Dove.

Oriental Turtle Dove : (Streptopelia orientalis) in Satara
I, Ravivaidya - CC BY 2.5

Laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis cambayensis)
at Zighy Bay in the Musandam Peninsula, Oman
Charles J. Sharp - CC BY-SA 3.0

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Have you made a thaumatrope before? Comment below!

Easy Peasy Tea Party Printed Quiet Book Page

This easy peasy quiet book page comes with a little disclaimer. I used a regular printer and fed some Korean hard felt through it rather than paper. I printed around ten pages worth, and they all printed fine. Not long after doing this however, my printer would no longer print correctly, and I had to get another one. 

It is certainly better if you can use the sublimation printing method to print on felt instead! See my post Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. The colours would turn out much better too, no doubt. Although I think it is okay anyway, especially for a page like this. My Mum says it makes it look antique.

What little girl doesn't enjoy a tea party? I certainly enjoyed many on a cot blanket (think pretend picnic blanket) with my sister and all our dolls and teddies. This little girl has a puppy and kitty to spoil, and they are all totally adorable.

I found this ‘Little Miss Alice & Her Dolly – a commercial Paper doll book’ vintage paper doll set on Pinterest - and there you can find many others as well. I have saved quite a few that might work well for quiet books to my board Felt Sublimation and Printables, which needs a bit of re-organising. The link to the Marges8's Blog posts where you can find the image is here.

Tahlia demonstrates how to mess up a quiet book for a gift

I simply cut slits where indicated for the puppy and kitten to sit at the table and sewed around the outside edge of the felt section depicting the table, leaving the top open to form a pocket to store the dolly, puppy and kitten.

Finished!

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Have you made something similar yourself? Let me know how it went. And which background do you like best for the vintage dolly tea-party?

John 13 - Jesus Washes the Disciple's Feet Quiet Book Page

In John chapter 13, Jesus washes His disciples feet.

Memory Verse: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14 NKJV.

 

Materials needed to create the Jesus Washes His Disciple's Feet quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used mid blue
• my free John 13 - Jesus Washes His Disciple's Feet Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• the free template (first one) available at Nederig zijn - voetwassing by Alie Holman on the geloven is leuk blog - for the feet and bowl
• felt in light blue and white
• 1mm elastic in white
• rooster button - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• button which looks like communion bread, or painted with nail polish and varnish to resemble some
• nail polish in bread colours (optional)
• varnish (optional - be careful, some varnishes can dissolve nail polish)
• white face washer
• sewing threads to best match the page

Firstly, cut out your pattern pieces from the templates. You may need to print the wash bowl a few times to be able to cut all the pieces.

Cut out a right and left foot from skin coloured felt and sew them down onto more skin coloured felt. Cut them out.

To create the back section of the bowl, sew the light blue water section to the white bowl back. Then sew the white bowl back onto more white felt and cut it out.

To create the front bowl section, sew the white front bowl section to white felt and cut it out. Do not attach the front section to the back section yet.

Repeat this process for the water jug, sewing the front section to the back section along the sides and base leaving the top open as a jug would be.

I chose a square button for the communion bread because that is the shape used by my church, and also the shape used for matzah in a Passover Seder. Matzah must be both striped and pierced (just like Jesus was), so I figured a button is already pierced, and the button I chose also had ridges - I just accentuated them when I painted it. You can of course use a round button if that is what your church uses. I imagine that matzah was round back in Jesus's day because that is an easier shape for people to make it at home.

Paint your button with the nail polish to look like communion bread. You may need to do more than one coat. Seal it with the varnish. Try to keep the holes in the button from being blocked so you can thread them onto elastic. Create a circle with the elastic and tie a knot to secure. Fold the circle onto itself to create a double loop and pin it in place underneath where the bowl will be sewn. Roll up the face washer and check that you have the right length to pull the elastic loops over the buttons on the other elastic loops to hold it in place for storage. Use zig-zag stitch to secure the elastic to the page. Repeat this with the rooster button.

Sew down the bottom section of the bowl along the sides and bottom to form a pocket for the jug behind. Sew down the top section of the bowl along the sides and bottom to create another pocket (inside the bowl) for the feet.

Finished! 

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

There are quite a few layers on this page, especially if you like things double sided like I do. To reduce the layers and make it easier to sew, you could just use the bowl to store the feet and jug and only make a single layer of white felt for the bowl back, sewing it down around the whole perimeter.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• John 13 - Jesus demonstrates the servant attitude He wants us to have at the Last Supper
• Imaginative play - wash and dry the Disciple's and one another's feet
• 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

John 13

Devotional

I had planned to have communion bread and wine as the buttons holding the face washer to the bottom of this page, but as I discovered when I read the chapter... there is no wine mentioned in this chapter! That was a surprise. I ended up switching the wine for a rooster, as the prediction that Peter would deny Christ before the rooster crowed three times is mentioned. 

I made another page for a church quiet book
using the bread button and wine charm

Rather than focusing on the communion aspect of the supper, John focuses on the foot washing, and the last instructions of Jesus (in this chapter, the New Commandment to love one another).

I guess when Jesus says that if the whole body is washed, we just need to wash the feet, He is giving advice and comfort for when we find ourselves sinning even after we have been baptised. 

Foot washing was offered to guests when entering a home as a common courtesy. To not offer it would have been very impolite. Rich people wore sandals, but I think commoners had bare feet, and no mention is made of soldiers gambling for Jesus' sandals... so I think He probably didn't own a pair of shoes. You can imagine how dirty sandal-ed feet would get, let alone bare feet walking along a dusty or muddy road. It was probably littered with donkey and camel excrement as well. So I imagine having your feet washed was something both the host and the guest would appreciate, as well as all the diners next to them. I'm sure the meal tasted much better without that stench around.

Sacrifice of Song ~ HE WASHED 

THEIR FEET ~ Michael Crawford, Vocalist

If Jesus didn't own a pair of shoes, and borrowed a room for the Passover meal, asking his disciples to prepare it, I imagine that the room was not furnished with servants to wash anyone's feet. Not that I can imagine Jesus using servants anyway. Nevertheless, Jesus took the servant's role and washed His disciple's feet - something they were shocked to see. As usual, Jesus took an everyday object and used it to teach a profound lesson - one we are still pondering today.

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Does your church participate in the practice of foot-washing?

Matthew 24 - Gospel to the Nations Quiet Book Page

  Matthew 24 is a well-known but I believe largely misunderstood chapter.

Memory Verse: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14, NKJV.

Materials needed to create the Gospel to the Nations quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used black
• this Globe Colouring Page from Colouring Home
• felt in dark/mid blue and light green
• about 40cm of 9mm wide ribbon, preferably with edging that resembles train tracks
• train button
• hot glue and glue gun (optional)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Use the colouring page as a template and create pattern pieces by cutting out each piece. Print it as many times as you need to.

Cut out the large world circle of blue felt - sew it down to more blue felt and cut it out again.

Choose a green felt that goes well with your blue felt, and a ribbon for the train. I would have chosen the black ribbon with white stitching above, but it wasn't quite long enough. I think it looks a bit like train tracks.

Cut out the land pieces from the green felt (remember to place them upside down if you are planning to draw around them so the drawing is on the wrong side). Position them on your blue world and sew down.

Measure the amount of ribbon required to circle the world easily and cut and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying.

Lay the ends of the ribbon on top of each other beneath the train button and sew it on in place. You can hand sew or set your machine to zig zag setting and adjust the width to fit the button holes and set the length to zero and sew. I added a little hot glue to the back of the stitching just to be sure.

Position your world on your background page with the ribbon around it. Sew down the world along the top and bottom edges, leaving the sides open to allow the train and ribbon to slide through.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Matthew 24 - it is our job to take the Gospel to the nations
• Imaginative Play - pull the train around the world and take the Gospel to the nations
• String Pull - pull the train around the world and watch it disappear behind the far edge and re-appear at the other
• 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

Matthew 24

Devotional

Much of this chapter is about the destruction of Jerusalem and The Second Temple in 70AD. The Parable of the Fig Tree is about this too, and is often misunderstood. Perhaps the most important sentence in this chapter relating to the very end of time in which we find ourselves is that the gospel will go to the nations, and then the end will come.

It is our duty to take the gospel to the nations, not to worry about what terrible things may befall us. Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age - so what do we need to fear? I feel it is selfishness which drives us to prepare for the end by buying property in the country or hills so we can run to it in the future trials. Selfishness is never something that should be motivating us, therefore the theology behind it must be wrong. 

Ultimately, what we need to worry about is if we took the gospel to the nations. If we spent all our time worrying about our future instead, it will be something to be ashamed of - but if we spend our time preparing others to enter Heaven, God will take care of us and we won't need to worry about anything that may or may not happen to us down here. In reality it doesn't matter - God can resurrect, restore, and re-build.

If you are feeling worried about the future and the end times - read this sermon titled Jesus’ Prophecy of Consummation of the Kingdom, Part 4: The Fig Tree: That Day and Hour No Man Knows by Dr Ligon Duncan.

Human Nature - People Get Ready

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Do you like my Gospel train in Matthew 24, or do you think it doesn't really fit? Comment below!