Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Genesis 2 - Adam Names the Animals Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 2, God asks Adam to name the animals.



Memory Verse: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” Genesis 2:18

Materials needed to create the Adam Names the Animals quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet - I used light green.
  • Stiffened felt - I used black.
  • Wonderwall (or Veltex and double sided iron-on interfacing) scrap - I used light grey.
  • Velcro sticky dots
  • hot glue and glue gun
  • sewing thread to best match the page
  • Tangram template from webdelmaestro.com - they also have the image below which demonstrates how to make a heap of animal shapes out of the tangram which goes perfectly with this page

Image Source

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.

Cut out the shapes from the template and use the paper pattern to cut the shapes out from the stiffened felt. It is probably better to make your size smaller than mine so you have room rearrange the shapes on your page.

Cut your Velcro dots in half and attach the Velcro dot to the same sides of the stiffened felt shapes so that they will fit together to form a square when you are done. You will need to use a little hot glue to hold them in place as the sticky will wear out rather quickly.

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

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

  • Genesis 2 - God asked Adam to name the animals, what an awesome job!
  • Imaginative Play - animals are so much fun to imagine with
  • Shapes - tangram, square, triangle, parallelogram
  • Puzzle - place the tangram shapes in a way that will form a picture and then back into the shape of a square
  • 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 2


Devotional

Some people say that you can't appreciate the good without experiencing the bad. I'm not sure if I agree.

I can see that experiencing bad can enhance your appreciation of the good. But does that mean that if Adam and Eve had never fallen and evil had never entered the world that we would not have appreciated the goodness in the world around us? God pronounced everything He had made "good" and when it was finished, it was "very good". If it is not possible to appreciate good without evil then I think it was not possible to make a decision on the matter, and yet they were required to. Therefore it is possible to appreciate good without experiencing evil.


BOB DYLAN - (COVER)
MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS


Nevertheless, it appears that lack of good may increase your appreciation for good. In Genesis 2, God demonstrates to Adam that he is lacking something before He provides that something. Before God creates Eve, He asks Adam to name all the animals - who all have a mate.

The willingness of Jesus to die for our sins on the cross is the most abhorrent thing possible. We deserve such a death and yet the Crown Prince who is and has always remained perfectly innocent endured a torturous death. Evil is so destructive that it reached all the way to the top and resulted in the death of the Creator. Yet goodness demonstrated it's superiority to evil in that even death of the life-giver could not defeat LIFE itself.


A very interesting talk about the Hebrew alphabet and how the letters give pictorial meaning to the words. It talks about Adam naming the animals :)




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Tuesday, 10 July 2018

How To Ring Bind Felt Quiet Books - Free A4 Buttonhole Guide

One of the reasons I chose to use felt pages my quiet books was because they are so simple to sew together.




I sew my Bible Quiet Book Project pages back to back and insert a ribbon tag to use to thread rings through. This allows me to completely disassemble my pages if anything requires fixing.

When I am making a book for someone else however, I usually use buttonholes instead. Threading the rings through buttonholes seems to keep the book more sturdy and keeps the pages lined up better. The rings pictured below are 50mm Album Rings from Daiso. You can get smaller rings, sometimes called split rings or hinged rings from places like Spotlight in the scrapbooking section, and sometimes in office supply stores.




In case you would like to follow the buttonhole binding method, I have uploaded a free A4 Buttonhole Guide to make lining up your buttonhole quick and easy. You will need to print it out and copy the hole spaces onto card stock and cut them out. Use this as a template to mark where you want your buttonholes to go. I did mine in pen, but it is best to use chalk or fade-able pen so there is no chance you will see the marks later.

My sewing machine has a one-step buttonhole setting, and I used a female Kam Snap as the button at the back of the buttonhole foot to get the correct sized buttonhole for this guide.





Thanks to my friend who allowed me to use her Betty Lukens felt activity book kit as an experiment! Have a good look at the next lot of page spreads to see if you notice what my experiment was:















You may have to click on the photos to make them big enough to notice. Post your guesses in the comments below! 
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The quiet book owner having a Michelangelo moment with St Peter





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How do you prefer to bind your quiet books?

Tuesday, 19 June 2018

Isaiah 25 - God Will Wipe Away Our Tears Quiet Book Page

Isaiah 25 looks forward to the time when the troubles of this world are over and God will take the time to comfort us and wipe away all our tears.




Memory Verse: “He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 25:8.

Materials needed to create the God Will Wipe Away Our Tears quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet. I used maroon.
  • white handkerchief
  • patterned felt and plain felt in a similar colour
  • wide translucent ribbon
  • matching thread colours
  • God Will Wipe Away Our Tears template
Start by using your template to cut out a piece of the patterned felt including the hole at the top. Pin this to the similar coloured felt and stitch it down around the outside and the hole. Cut it out including the hole.

Cut two lengeths of ribbon to reach across and past both edges the longest section of the tissue box. Melt the ends of the ribbon with a match to prevent fraying.

Pin the ribbon in position on top of the tissue box and sew them down. Fold the longer ends of the ribbon underneath the tissue box before pinning it to the background page and sewing it down around the outside edge only. Leave the hole open to allow you to fold and place the handkerchief inside.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy.

This is a very basic page.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Isaiah 25 - God cares about the tears we cry
  • Imaginative Play - pulling tissues out of a box is a pretty exciting thing to do for a toddler -then you can wipe everyone's tears with it too
  • Pulling - pull the tissue out of the box
  • Folding - older children can learn to fold the handkerchief so it fits nicely back into the tissue box
  • Tucking - tuck the folded handkerchief back into the tissue box
  • Touch and Feel - if you use a handkerchief edged with lace, it will provide sensory stimulation through varied textures
  • 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

Isaiah 25

Devotional

Wiping someone else's tears is rather personal. Our God loves to have a personal relationship with each of us. He often makes me laugh. He gets my sense of humour and He knows which verse to show me when I am feeling down in the dumps.

Sometimes you can't tell a soul in the world what you are going through or what is gnawing away at your peace of mind. But you can trust these secrets to the One who gave you life. 

There is a saying "If you love something, set it free; if it comes back to you it is yours". He cared enough to create you, He cared enough to give you freedom, He cared enough to come rescue you. It's up to you if you want to return to Him and allow Him to wipe your tears and restore your status.


God Shall Wipe All Tears Away





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Is there anyone who wipes your tears? Let them know they are appreciated.

Saturday, 2 June 2018

Simple Bible Quiet Book Covers

A quiet book cover can be a really simple design.  Don't be intimidated with the amount of work required to make a quiet book. It is your book, so you decide the amount of work. There are many many page ideas which are simple to execute but will keep your children engaged in play.




These cover pages were made with very little effort. The shape of the cross easily identifies the subject matter of the book, and they can quickly be embellished with a little ribbon or some such. 

I just used the normal stitch on the machine to sew this on top of the outer edge of the cross. I did consider putting it underneath, but it seemed like it might be difficult to keep in the right spot, so I opted for on top so I didn't end up with the background page showing through. I started at the short vertical line at the top left hand of the cross and ended in the same place, folding the last section of lace back on the underside to give a nice finish without any raw edges visible. It might have been better to start and end at the bottom edge to avoid being lop-sided. I think it turned out well anyway.




You can see a list of my easy pages by clicking on the Difficulty Level = Easy label in the right column.




Before I added the ribbons these red crosses on white backgrounds looked too much like first aid kits for my liking!

If you wanted the cover to be interactive you could always attach velcro to the back of the cross and attach it to the page. Another idea is to attach the ribbons on top with kam snaps. You could even make a weave-able cross out of several ribbons sewn at the left and top sides only.




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Comment below or email me some photos with your ideas on how to create a simple cover. 
I would really love to hear from you!

Monday, 7 May 2018

An Interview With Brenda Dent - Devotions Through Play Quiet Book

Today I would like to introduce you to Brenda Dent and her Devotions Through Play quiet books. I saw how she was able to include a printed Bible verse in her books and just HAD to invite her to share her method with you though an Interview on Faith and Felt Obsession. Brenda operates the Creative Seamstress Shop in Tacoma, WA.


Devotions Through Play Quiet Book Video





Carissa D: How did you get interested in making quiet books?

Brenda: Got interested in Quiet Book sewing because they are colorful and entertaining even for me. Is a great distraction from nursing and I am in midst of retiring in 2-3 years. Thinking about starting a sewing business. Just something to do when retire from, as of now, 48 years of nursing. Love being imaginative and sewing since age 11. Altering my own clothes was essential due to then, my large size. And then had a little sister who laid on floor (sucking her fingers) asking me to make her a dress. I instead made her pajamas. Her pajamas were made by laying fabric on the floor, spreading arms out, like an angel, cutting around her. Then sewing the seams, elastic around neck and wrists, and hem. Well, she loved them, and made these requests every time I opened the sewing machine. My mom noted the talent and began buying patterns, sewing by their instructions and making dresses for rest of sisters and me. I did take a class in Home Economics, but did not ace the class because I had already developed techniques that were not favorable to my teacher.


Carissa D: I love your story about how you learned to sew by making things for your little sister :) does she sew too?

Brenda: Haha. No my sister does not sew.


Carissa D: What inspired this particular quiet book?

Brenda: I became inspired to sew a "Lutheran Quiet Book" because noted little resources for "Lutheran " version of a quiet book. I began making them for new babies in my church after baptism. I also sold them at a local store who sold local home made items. I then changed the name to "Devotions Through Play". They sold like 'hot cakes'.




Carissa D: Where did you get your ideas and did you use any templates?

Brenda: Ideas originally came from templates but refashioned them to the Lutheran teachings. Being a Sunday School teacher, in my high school and college years, promoted the idea of attaching God's word while a child plays.

I think that is why this quiet book stands out because it is learning His Word through play; Reading bible references/stories, hymns, and excerpts from the Lutheran Catechism. Promotes parent and child to spend time together, inspire child to learn, and remind parent of The Word of God.


Carissa D: I am totally loving the method you came up with for adding the written Bible verses to your pages. Could you please explain to everyone how to do this?

Brenda: I transfer bible verses to 'Light' Fabric transfers by AVERY. Just follow directions. Then I Iron the transfer on to a light cloth,I use muslin, then sew on to the page.


Carissa D: What encouragement can you give to anyone wanting to make a quiet book for someone special in their lives?

Brenda: This activity book is great for any ladies church group, where each person can sew a pattern or activity and one other can design a cover. Less work and time. Then all bring pages and place in the cover and present to a new parents of a child who has been baptized. This book is geared for 18 months to 3 years, so you have plenty of time for production. These pages do not necessarily require sewing, activity page can be done with painting and pasting. There are plenty of templates out there for free for references.




Carissa D: Feel free to give your business a plug!

Brenda: Please visit astitchintimecreations.biz. My business is thriving called Creative Seamstress Shop. I mend, sew, tailor, and create custom requests; jean bags out of a father's old jeans for a couple of sisters after his death, activity blankets/aprons for people with Alzheimer's, and make angel gowns for infant deaths to support families during grieving. These gowns/cocoons are donated to hospitals or given to those who request them.





Thank you so much for sharing with us Brenda! I love that you were able to find an easy way to include writing in your quiet books. It is often quite a difficult thing to do without an embroidery machine, which many of us do not own. But you have solved the problem. Well done!



Here is one of Brenda's activity aprons for Alzheimer patients. They are much like a quiet book or a fidget quilt to help exercise the minds of our dear oldies, but aprons are a little more practical as they cannot get lost. Terrific idea.




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If you have any more ideas on how to write neatly in quiet books please share in the comments!