My first quiet book

This week I've made a mini quiet book for granddaughter, Alba.  The pictures are loosely based on the weather: rainbow, cloud, flowers growing in the sunshine, bunting and balloons blowing in the wind.

the front and back pages, showing the carrying handles

It was very much a prototype, made in order to learn the best way to plan a bigger such book in the future.

First I found some stiff cardboard and cut out two rectangles.  This dictated the size of the finished book.  

In a pound shop I found some felt-like cleaning cloths and cut out two pieces of fabric, each roughly double the size of one of the pieces of cardboard + about an inch for seams. 

Then came the fun bit of decorating each half of the fabric, being careful not to impinge on the seam allowance all around the edge.

Each letter or picture was cut out of either felt, fleece or cleaning cloth, depending on what I already had.  Then they were stitched on using the same colour strands.  I worked with six strands, so that the stitches would stand out.

(The rainbow has a cloud at the bottom, in order to obscure the uneven edges of the rainbow)

 I used pale blue for the page with the sun on it so the sun would stand out, whereas the back and front pages are a lovely bright yellow.

Once the pages were decorated I put the two halves together with wrong sides facing each other. 

Sewed down the middle to make a book spine.  Then I sewed the top and bottom seams. 

The cardboard was inserted and I added two loops to make carrying handles tucked them inside the seam.  Then sewed up the side seams, cut off all the threads, and it's now finished.

It didn't take much time - and cost about 20p!