Stephanie Segall is a wizard with felt.
About a year ago, the Virginia-based graphic designer, crafter, and mother to two-year-0ld Jackson, aka Jax, started making "quiet books" -- fabric books with interactive elements to keep preschoolers quietly entertained. Although she uses only inexpensive kids' craft felt, the pages Segall creates are works of art -- lively, creative and colorful. And Segall has been posting patterns and tutorials for her amazing designs on her website Imagine Our Life.
Segall has created quiet book pages with themes like camping, rainbows, and cooking breakfast. But as a fan of robots, my favorite is her LED Robot Quiet Book. Using inexpensive Lilypad e-sewing components from SparkFun, Segall gave her robot a push button that blinks on lights on the robot's head and body!
Even more amazing, the robot's head, arms and legs are interchangeable with other snap-on parts, so kids can design their own cyberfriend. Each head has different LEDs. On one the nose lights up; on another, it's the ears; and on the third it's the mouth.
What a wonderful, fun idea -- and what a great execution! This is a friendly little robot any toddler would love. You can see Segall's latest creations on Facebook, or check out what other quiet books she's enjoying on Pinterest.
