The Quiet Book ….. of FIERCE MAJESTY!

I am starting to think that the “crafting bug” one hears talk of, where you get an idea and have the urge to create something, is more like a particularly virulent virus for me. I don’t know what it is but when an idea floats through the air of my psyche and happens to fall on the fruitful soil of my mind, it can do naught but take root and maddingly push me until I make whatever the darn thing is (i.e. my intense desire to learn to hand embroider)…. this can be a very time-consuming and expensive habit… but I digress….

Several years ago, I made a quiet book for my niece and when I realized I was pregnant I, of course, started to brainstorm how to create the most fabulous quiet book in the history of creation… and the theme? Harry Potter of course!!

And thus, the Quiet Book of Fierce Majesty was Born!

The QBoFM (as it shall be known henceforth in perpetuity) was, of course, going to be a massive undertaking and my available crafting time (and energy) has significantly decreased now that the wee one is fully mobile.

I loved the idea of making the cover a “Monster Book of Monsters” (as I had already made my niece a similar book cover for her Illustrated edition of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and I certainly wasn’t the first crafter to have this idea. Example of awesome Quiet Book with Monster cover.

So I grabbed my trusty crafting notebook and starting making sketches and figuring out how to give the cover structure (repurposed cardboard inserts from my sheets I bought in between the cover and stiffened felt), what supplies were needed, what order pieces would have to be sewn in, and how I would secure everything together to *hopefully* withstand a 2+ year old’s energy and destructiveness.

I was able to cut out the pieces for the cover and embroider the title early on but everything else pretty much went on hold until 2020 in order to give myself time to finish off several knitting projects and other things that were hanging around as loose ends. I gave myself the goal to give it to him for his second birthday or that following Christmas 🙂

May I also interject here that I really hate cutting faux fur…….. ugh…

Detail of the embroidered title plates

Eyes and Title sewn down

I ended up taking a personal day after the New Year, took my son to daycare, and then came home and worked around 7-8 hours getting the cover and the first page done. Now, with a large chunk of work done, I feel like I can proceed with the rest of the project a little at a time, perhaps 1-2 pages every 3-4 weeks. And it should be ready in plenty of time for Christmas 🙂

The inside panels pinned in

Soooo many stitches around!

The inside of the cover completed, with metal grommets and ribbon to hold pages

Outside cover almost complete

Almost done with strap in place!

As the first page included in the QBoFM I chose to do a simple counting page in a Gringott’s theme. I placed gold colored plastic beads on a cord and knotted the cord at different lengths to make sure the beads stayed in their appointed sections. Then I sewed the cord down and added some felt columns and steps, as well as some pricely treasures at the bottom. My hand embroidery definitely needs some help to be more uniform but, oh well!