Nap Time News

Thank you Lisa!!

2012-01-20T15:45:00.003-05:00

For the past two weeks, going to the mailbox has been lots of fun... only I'm not allowed to check it! Nora's 100th day of school is tomorrow, Tuesday 1/24/12 and she and I put out a request on facebook for my firends to help her collect 100 postcards b/c she has to take 100 somethings to school for 100th Day.

Well guess what my friend Lisa-TX did... she and her daughters not only sent Nora postcards from Texas but Lisa also mailed me a belated Christmas card of her precious family but also made a one of a kind, just for ME, BINGO fabric zipper bag!! :)

Thanks so much Lisa!! :) I love it! I LOVE it! I la,la,LOVE it! :)

Love from Indiana!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2012-01-19T12:42:00.003-05:00

http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/projects/galleries/Home/guidelines/

Have you heard about the "Home is Where the Quilt Is" contest??

I'm not artsy enough to even consider sucha challenge, but perhaps some of my blog readers might be! :) Click on the link above to take you to their webpage for more details. Lots of GREAT prizes for the winners!!

Love from Indiana!

Birthday Box was Busted!

2012-01-18T13:42:00.000-05:00

Well today is Wednesday... meaning the twins go to preschool today so I can run errands (((ALONE))) :) yeaaa! Places to visit, post office, Target, Best Buy, the UPS Store... but first I had to load a big box into the van.

Here in the rental home not everything fit inside the house, so we are using 1/2 of the 2 car garage to store a dresser, a nightstand, a rocker glider and the top bookshelf part to a custom built oak cabinet for my sewing room... which doesn't leave much room for the kids toys and bikes. See this mess? It has to be stored this way so I can park the van on my half and get the door down. urgh.

That big red & white box in the back was the one I needed... so that meant having to move the wheel barrel holding the bikes.... strain.... tug.... push.... ;) I'm thankful nothing fragile is inside, b/c the box was not in very good shape at all. Bursting at the seams - really!

But never fear - I managed to get it into my van and off to the UPS store.

However they wouldn't ship it in this box. I asked if they could just tape it up really well and the answer was "no." :( So there went another $11 bucks for a new box. That's a shame b/c I wanted the Birthday Girl to think she was getting a "Radio Flyer Racetrack" to help her enjoy her ride "OVER THE HILL" lol :cD

Anyone want to take a wild guess at how many pounds the box stuffed full of shirtings weighed?????

Love from Indiana!

Design Wall Monday

2012-01-16T10:33:00.006-05:00

Guess who found the local Goodwill Store here in Indiana last Friday?? The kids were all at school so I had lots of time to browse the isles! :)

I also discovered that there is a Hancock's Fabric Store in the neighboring town so yesterday after church, we ate out close to there and after we were done, David stayed in the van with the kids while I got to go in and take a look around and get signed up for their mailing list. Thread was 50% off so I picked up two spools of a neutral color. That's what I use the most of.

Also I scored Quiltmaker's latest issue of 100 Blocks!! Good thing since I've not seen it in the grocery stores and I didn't win a copy during their bloghop. They also had brochure flyers by the check out for "Quilter's Day Out" coming up in March. I'll have to plan to go to that for sure!!

So last night just before bath time for the kids, I ran to the basement and turned on the space heater so that after the kids were in bed, I'd have a warm and cozy room to go to and spend some time cutting and sewing. :) While listening to the weekly top 40 Country Countdown I cut up about a dozen shirts and spent some time sewing my Hand-Me-Down blocks into rows.

It's growing and growing and takes up almost the whole floor in my sewing room right now before borders.... but oddly according to Bonnie Hunter's photo she used twice as many blocks in hers! Her rows are 9x9 and then big borders. Not sure yet if I'll make this one big enough for my king sized bed or what?? I do still need a few more blocks either way... so I guess I'll just wait and see. On the design wall are 2.5" strips for the next block in progress.

Head over to JudyL's website to see what other quilters are working on and have shared with her Design Wall Monday Mr. Linky. It's my favorite place to visit each Monday. :)

In other news:

Did you notice all those bobbins in the above photos? They arrived Saturday in the mailbox. I found them on ebay for $0.69 each! SO I bought 40. That should be enough for a while so that I can now start playing with my new bobbin winder that David gave me for Christmas.

I did a lot of reading and researching before buying and I'm pretty sure they will fit my Bernina machine. If you are interested in buying bobbins HERE'S the LINK to where I purchased them on ebay.

And speaking of GREAT deals!! For Christmas, David bought the Side Winder from walmart.com and only paid $18.00!! At first he told me that he'd called JoAnn's and the girl on the phone quoted him a price close to $100 dollars!!?? What? So that sent me to the computer to google and find out who had it for the cheapest price. And the funny thing is, our Walmart doesn't even have a sewing department any longer... but we did the "in store pick up" and received an email telling us when it was available to be picked up and all David had to do was go to Customer Service and it was there waiting for him. So easy!

Now that I have the Sidewinder and a good supply of bobbins, next on the wish list is one of these:

I did a price comparison search here and the cheapest price I found was $10.41 Since Valentine's Day is next on the calendar... I better find out how to email cupid! ;)

Love from Indiana!

Tic-Tac-Toe Anyone!

2012-01-11T18:19:00.002-05:00

This project has been "in progress" for too long, so yesterday I decided it was time to Get 'Er Done! All I had left to do was quilt and bind the game board.

Please try not to laugh when you look at this.... I'm a beginner free motion machine quilter. Here's the finished Game Board.

Droppin the feed dogs for the first time, can be intimidating.... also if you don't drop 'em again for 2+ years... it's just like the first time all over again! I'm hoping that I can make several of these sets as Birthday gifts for Nora's classmates... and in the process, I'll get some much needed practice and improve some!

I had left plenty of the backing so that I could use a new finishing technique. After I was done trimming all the batting I cut the backing to 1.5 larger than my square.

Have you ever heard of this tool?? The Quick Easy Mitered ~ Binding Tool. It is so simple to use! When I saw the youtube demonstration, I just knew it would be so handy to have and so I immediately ordered it!

I've used it to bind several small quilts and I love it!! Wish I'd had this template thingy years ago!

Besides the fact that this Tic-Tac-Toe Game project was made using recycled jeans and cost ZERO money to make.... and was pretty easy to do... and that Nora and I had a lot of fun working on it together........ Wanna know what my favorite part about these are??

That, they are made from a light denim shirt that was my Daddy's and the dark denim comes from a very old pair of coveralls that he wore to the barn to go feed the cows when I was about the same age as Nora..... :)
While working on this project I could actually smell my Daddy ♥

and because this is our forcast, I'm 100% sure that Nora's class will be having an INDOOR recess tomorrow so the game set is in her backpack to go with her tomorrow to school :)

....and moving on to the next project. Set these Star Blocks into ROWS and then into a TOP!

‎Jo's Country Junction, I have not forgotten about your Hand Me Down quilt project and that once upon a time I pledged to mail you a block to go into your quilt... b/c we had started these around the same time. Hope you don't have yours all set together quite yet. I have the perfect block set aside for you. It has ORANGE in it - so you'll know it was "made in Orange, TX" before we moved to IN. :)

Love from Indiana!

Save expired coupons for military members

2012-01-06T23:12:00.000-05:00

Hate it when you discover you have expired coupons??? Well don't throw them away just yet!! Take a look at this article, it tells how military families can use them and gives the address on where to mail them to! :)

Love from Indiana!

Are you a Fabricologist??

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

I saw this posted on a friends' facebook and had to laugh.... sadly I may have spent as much or more on becoming a "Fabricologist" over the years as I did on getting my Bachelor's Degree. EEEk! Shhh! Don't tell hubby I said that though!

I will say that I'm not as bad as I once was... the year we moved to Texas and Nora was only 1 year old, I use to load her up once a week to drive out of town to go to Hancocks. About a year later they bankrupted and closed down... not b/c I didn't do my best to support them though! Since then I don't shop for stash fabrics any longer. Just for projects that I'm working on.

What about you? Are you familiar with JudyL's weekly fabric reports?? I've read them in the past and followed along but never participated. Not that I'm considering it now, b/c while we are in this rental home I really don't feel like a real quilter b/c my sewing room isn't all set up like I want it. But perhaps after we find a home to buy and I do get set up, then I'll jump in.

Hope all of you are enjoying the new year! I think it's gonna be a busy one for our family as we look to buy a home this year.

Love from Indiana!

Did you do EQ's Block of the Month Project??

2012-01-02T17:13:00.000-05:00

EQ's Block of the Month Project is nearly over for the year, and I just barely got started! If you are like me, you have been saving the patterns each month... only I've not been like me and have forgotten to save them each month!

So in hopes to help maybe someone else who's forgotten to download them - I don't think it's too late. I've done some searching and found them and posting links here.

January

Click here to download the EQ7 project for January.

February

Click here to download the EQ7 project for February.

March

Click here to download the EQ7 project for March.

April

Click here to download the EQ7 project for April.

May

Click here to download the EQ7 project for May.

June

Click here to download the EQ7 project for June.

July

Click here to download the EQ7 project for July.

August

Click here to download the EQ7 project for August.

September

Click here to download the EQ7 project for September.

October

Click here to download the EQ7 project for October.

November

Click here to download the EQ7 project for November

December

Click here to download the EQ7 project for December

I had such good intentions when I started this project last year. Really! I am lucky that I did think to keep all of the matching FQs that I wanted to use for these all together and pack them up together. So perhaps there is hope still! At least with this post, I'll have it all in one safe spot for pulling up the paper piecing patterns.

EQ just shared a post on their blog HERE that they are giving block makers until March 1st to play with the 12 BOMs and come up with a final setting either in EQ draft or finished quilt for their Final Quilt Prize!!

Submit a photo of your finished EQ BOM quilt (or quilt top). We will display the quilts here on the blog. Then the EQ team will choose one favorite to take home the grand prize! We must receive your entries by March, 1, 2012, 9 am, EST.

They have already shared 3 layout ideas for the blocks. Click on over and check it out.

Love from Indiana!

Caroling Patch

2011-12-22T20:46:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in my previous post that Nora went to a Caroling Party last weekend. Her classmate, Keegan, invited all of the 2nd grade girls over for door to door singing, cookies, and hot chocolate. Since everyone in her Brownie troop was present for the Caroling Party, I looked on line and ordered these cute Caroling fun patches for Nora and the 3 other Girl Scouts in her troop. I hope they arrive before Christmas so we can mail them to the other girls. :)

Edited to Add: I ended up receiving them the week after Christmas, and to save on mailing costs, I just waited until she returned to school today and had them in envelopes so she could hand deliver them :) I cant' wait to show you her Brownie Vest with her patches sewn on...... there is another badge we ordered just for her, but I can't say for what reason. Yet! :)

Happy Nap Times & Love from Indiana!

Only 3 more sleeps!

2011-12-22T17:36:00.000-05:00

Christmas is almost here! It's been stretched out before and after the holiday for us this year. Last weekend David took the twins to KY to have Christmas dinner with his Dad's side of the family. Nora had a Girl Scout Christmas party immediately following Mass and also they had their badging ceremony and she didn't want to miss that. Also that evening a classmate of hers invited all the girls over from the 2nd grade and they all went door to door Christmas Caroling Sunday evening... which if we had skipped the Girl Scout thing and went with David and the twins to KY we would have had to leave very early to make it back in time... so for us it was best for Nora and I to stay here and do her things, and David and the twins go to KY for the day. :)

This weekend, we'll go watch Nora in the Children's program at Christmas Eve Mass, then wake up at home Christmas morning and have to be on the road by 11am to make it to my Dad & Clara's home for Christmas Day dinner. Then early next week David's mother will have her Christmas dinner. Thankfully David is off work until Wednesday!

Last weekend was a busy one for us as I mentioned above with Nora's activities, plus throw in there that Olivia had a Birthday party to go to on Saturday evening..... but the most fun thing of all was on Saturday, I baked cookies all day while the kids helped with decorating brown lunch bags that said "Merry Christmas from the Minor Family." After supper we bundled up in our warmest coats and took our jingle bells with us door to door and started a new for us tradition, Christmas Caroling! It was so fun! The kids had been begging to do it and I was much easier to convince than David.... But in the end he obliged and ended up having fun too. :)

"Jingle Bells" ~ "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" ~ "May the Good Lord Bless You" are the three songs we sang at each home.

So speaking of only 3 more sleeps until Christmas - are you done with everything?? I've been all done with my shopping for at least two weeks now, but something I haven't done yet is wrap A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Nadda. Nuttin! Notta Thing!

The last 2 days I've been feeling terrible. Perfect timing with school letting out :/

It started off with aching all over (back and neck) and fever.... Then yesterday every tooth in my head throbbed while my back also ached and I was so cold and chilling with fever on the sofa. Also as of yesterday it felt like I had a HUGE ROCK stuck in my throat. Ouch!

Thankfully David came home from work and served supper to the kids and oversaw their baths... not that he wanted to b/c he was plenty tired too from all the hours he's been putting in at work. He's up and gone from our home each morning before 7am most days.

Today I'm feeling a little better. I've been keeping the ibroprofin in my system all day and that helps a lot with the throat pain. No chills or aching today, but still feels like a rock in my throat. I might feel up to eating supper which is a big improvement!

Tonight after the kids go to sleep, I'll have to get out to the garage and *FIND* all the presents that I've tucked away here and there... and get them started on wrapping. Only 3 more sleeps until Christmas and would you believe there isn't a single present wrapped under our tree? The kids get up so early (before the sun) each day and are running downstairs to hunt for our Elf on the Shelf, that I just haven't been able to trust that they'd not unwrap anything..... so I just haven't put anything out.

I will hold back the gifts they told me they wanted to buy each other and let them help me with wrapping those. We'll see how good they are with secrets after they've helped me do the wrapping..... they also have gifts to each other to take to Dad & Clara's dinner - they let all the grandkids draw names at Thanksgiving but forgot about adding my kids names into the hat. No problem, Nora can draw Paul Thomas, he draw Olivia and she draw Nora. Problem solved or so I thought... then they said their limit was $10 and the gifts we already bought for each other are more in the $25 range.... So I guess I need to pick up something else to use for that.

I have a few things in mind...for the $10 gifts... and thankfully with David off work tomorrow, he can stay at home with them while I slip in and out of Walgreens or CVS and avoid any last minute shoppers tomorrow.

Until then - I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Weekend!

Happy Naptimes & Love from Indiana!

Schools Out - Teacher Let the Monkeys OUT!

2011-12-20T20:15:00.007-05:00

Going to McDonald's is something we do often.

Going INSIDE to eat is something we rarely do, but since today was their last day of school and they were being so good, I thought why not? They were thrilled!

You just never know what kind of poses you're gonna get when you point the camera at them and tell them to SAY CHEESE! The one below is my favorite. I asked them to get cheek to cheek... but they didn't want to touch faces so they put their hands up to separate their cheeks. :P

It's hard to belive that they are already 4.5 years old!

I'm so thankful that we decided to have our children close together in age. They all three get along so well and are each others best friends. I hope and pray we can continue to help foster those relationships. ;)

Oh and you want to know another thing that got them so excited?? ALVIN and THE CHIPMUNKS were the toys inside the Happy Meals! Oh yeah BABY! I have a feeling we will be taking the kids to see the latest movie that is in theaters soon!

But I didn't tell them that - I'll wait until after Christmas to tell them. :)

tic-tac-toe - magazine update

2011-12-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

This very well could be the slowest project ever! ...and sadly, not for any good reason other than after the kids are in bed, it's just more cozy to sit on the sofa with my NOOK rather than go down to the cold basement alone. Here's a look at my progress so far. All X's and O's are sewn on. Can you notice that the X blocks are 1/2" larger.... :( I guess I'll save those for another set and remake some for this set. Apparently I wasn't paying close enough attention when cutting!

A couple days ago Andee commented on my design wall post of my tic-tac-toe project and asked what magazine I was working from - here's a photo of the cover for ya :)

I played around with different stitches before I found one that I really liked to sew the O's onto the squares. Each game bag will be unique, b/c I'm not going to go back and rip stitches to redo them all the same.

Olivia was playing in the sewing room with me last weekend, and didn't take her but a few seconds to spot my camera beside me.... What is it about kids loving camera so much? "Say Cheese Momma :)"

As for the templates for the O's circles, I winged it. Instead of tracing from the magazine their guides, I spotted two circular items that I thought would work well - and they did! the bigger circle was traced from the monkey tumbler cup, and the inside circle was from the top of this lotion bottle that was just sitting there in the basement window.. I'm sure quilters from the past did this often. :)

I'm not sure why, but I cut my strips to use for making the X's on the bias. Hoping it won't ravel too much, I guess. Again not using the pattern in the magazine - but just guestimating and making them 3/4" wide.

In other news, David and the kids have come up with a NEW GAME of their own. Apparently no one liked the Skittles from the Halloween candy - as there were about 20 individual sized bags left. Well they have made up their own rules and call it "Skittle Skattle" and have lots of fun each night after supper playing for their dessert.

See the blue plastic plate on the table? That's the game board. Before David opens the pack of Skittles, everyone chooses what color they want to be. Some may get more pieces than others - as they are randomly placed in the bags.

Then he opens them up and spreads them out on the game board.... then the rest is played a lot like marbles. Each player gets to blow on their own color hoping to make it hit some of the other players... whichever ones his hits - he gets to eat those! last player left on the board wins. You are disqualified if you spit when you blow! :P

So far Olivia has been disqualified after her first turn in every game that she's played. However she doesn't care much - so no big loss. hahahaha.

On the other hand - Nora and Paul Thomas are pretty competitive!!! But no one has been able to beat Daddy yet!! And he's always the last to choose his color and the last to take a turn. The kids are so puzzled on how he can end up winning if he's last? lol

Love from Indiana!

FW: Friendship Siggy Stars

2011-12-06T08:29:00.001-05:00

I was in a block swap a few years ago with my online quilting friends. Since then I've met some of these people in real life at a quilting retreat in Manchester, NH and hope to one day meet more. I posted last week a few of my Christmas whist list items starting with this Bingo fabric that I had seen on eBay.

Well there were two sellers on ebay with this fabric for sale and the one with the cheaper price only had 3 yards left. Not enough. :( The other seller was asking too much per half yard so I asked her if she'd match the other sellers price and she replied back with no can do. :/

Thanks to the HGTV Quilters on facebook, my friend Karen posted a link to where she had found it online and I looked it up and the price is right! I can buy my 6 yards from there and pay only $35.88 and they have free shipping on orders over $35. Still dear hubby doesn't understand why/how that this would make an excellent Christmas gift from him to me... and keeps asking are you sure?

Yes honey, I want the fabric that is hard to find and the seam guide for my machine. I will be so happy with these gifts. Really! :)

So far, as you see from the top photo, I have 6x6 blocks sewn together -and I was hoping to grow my quilt some more to make it a 7x9 setting before borders. BUT after trying to acurately figure up how many yards needed for backing, I realized that would be way tooo big!

Actually I only need to grow it to be a setting of 6x7 rows. I need it to be a good sofa size -you know, long enough to tuck under my feet and come up to my chiny-chin-chin while watchin TV. :)

So a few people have already said they wouldn't mind making me a block - and thanks to my recaculations, I only need 6 more blocks please! :)

These closeup photos are for them to look at as a guide. As you can see *ANYTHING* goes ugly, bright, old or fungly... as long as the fabrics are dark/light they'll work! Sorry they're not centered, I was focusing on zooming in on the siggy parts.

I've found it to be a lot of fun to participate in a swap where you make # of the same block and mail to a hostess... then she divides them all up and you get back that many different ones. :) Very fun to look at your new blocks.... and get a wide variety of colors and fabrics, plus have reminders of your online friends when you see their names in your quilt! :)

My husband was looking at my quilt top and was impressed to notice that I have blocks from New Zealand and Australia as well as many states here in USA :)

Can you believe that I never signed my own block??? and for everyone else I traced the state of Texas around my name and put an "Orange" dot where I lived.... no telling where or WHEN I'll find that ornament to trace around for my own stinkin block. :P Look and see, I'm not too ashamed to admit that I used some old uglies in my blocks! :P or as Bonnie Hunter would call them, "Funglies" ;)

Showing you the EQ draft again so you can visualize that white thin outter border is reserved for some siggy strips that I collected the year I was in the FQ Bday swap and we all sent along 2.5" X 6.5" siggy strips. I'll have those all around the border - and that's not all.... there are more snowball siggys planned to use on the back separating my "bingo fabric" pieces...

I've also found it to be helpful to have a strip of leftover blocks separating the 2 panels on the backing so that when you pick up a quilt to wrap up with, you can easily tell which way is the long ways... :)

I've been asked, so what do I write in the center? HGTV board name, city state and real name. last name optional. some swappers only listed their state. some put both city and state... it's up to you.

TIP - I found it to be a little hard to sign the center if you use a WOW or COC. I'd recommend a solid white or cream... so that your pen's ink will show up evenly.

I'm already planning to use 2.5x6.5 strips of siggys I got a few years ago in the FQ Bday swap in my light outter border... and also some more 6.5 snowball siggys on the back...

So thankful that I noticed the size dementions at the bottom of the screen in my EQ7 program... this will finish plenty large enough with a setting of 6x7 blocks + borders it will finish at 86"x95" which is slightly larger than a twin size. ;)

I'm so looking forward to finishing this quilt. Now if I can only convince the family members who are asking me "Which store would you most like a gift card from?" to just simply gift me cash to use for paying my longarmer. It really would be helpful and I'd love it all the same if not more than a shopping card to a clothing store. I can only imagine the looks they'd give me... b/c if you are not a quilter, you just don't get it.

Love from Indiana!

Design Wall Monday - 12/5/11

2011-12-05T08:30:00.002-05:00

I know that it has been a few weeks since I reported that I'd found my design wall while unpacking some boxes. I was hoping to participate in JudyL's Design Wall linky long before now - but wouldn't ya know it, I couldn't find the digital camera! Then when I did the battery was dead.... so I charged it up and then I forgot about my sewing room... and then... just now this weekend I remembered! Here's just a little of what I have to share.

I know it doesn't look like much of anything. But to me it is! It's a reference guide to two of my quilts in progress. I'm pretty sure I told you about "borrowing" a few Priority Mail cardboard boxes from the PO before I left Texas. Yes, in each one I put a different quilt that I was working on - they're all I plan to work on during our year of renting this home. Everything else can remain packed up until time to move again. There were about 7 or 8 priority boxes which will keep me busy until the time comes...

Well since I couldn't find my Scraps & Shirttails book to look up what size parts & how many I need to make a few more "Hand Me Downs" blocks - it just made sense to hang up a part of that quilt in the top right corner to use as a reference guide. You'll also see a few red/green "Star Struck" blocks as I've been using those units as Leader/Enders lately.

Hand Me Down Blocks sitting by the machine pressed and ready to join up.

But the main project I've been focused on is the denium - if that were the only things on my design wall when I took the photo I'd almost guarantee NO ONE would double click on my Mr. Linky photo b/c it would appear so BORING! haha but I guarantee when it's done it won't be boring at all! :)

A few of my facebook friends helped me go on a nation wide search for a magazine with this Tic-Tac-Toe project in it. I'm hoping to make several of them next year to give as Birthday gifts, but for my first one - I'd like it to go to my very own 7 year old "Tic-tac-toe QUEEN, Nora!" :) Yep, she's that good at playing the game and loves to challenge anyone!!

and you wanna know something pretty cool... not only is this project cheap as in I didn't have to buy anything - but the denium I'm using are a pair of my Daddy's denim coveralls and a light denim shirt that was his and doesn't fit him anymore. :)

I'm looking forward to her taking this game set with her during Christmas Break and challenging him to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe made from his shirt and coveralls! He was the one that taught her this game a few years ago and would let her win.... he'll be lucky to score a CAT with her now that she's older and wiser. lol

Until then...

Love from Indiana!

Nora's Habitat Diorama - The Blue Whale

2011-12-04T20:54:00.000-05:00

I am SO glad I thought ahead, and put Nora's Science project in the front seat of the van tonight so we don't forget it tomorrow! I'm so proud of her and her 1st "project" for school.

Just before Thanksgiving she brought home a sheet saying they were to choose any animal that lives in desert, rain forest, ocean, artic, or regular forest and show how they get their food, water and their shelter.

Before I finished reading the assignment paper she was already telling me, " I want to do my natural habitat for the BLUE WHALE because it's the biggest animal or mammal on the earth Mom! I am gonna keep my animal choice a secret and not tell any of my friends at school b/c I don't want them to copy me!"

It took me a whole day of shopping to gather the stuff we had decided we needed for our shoebox. Hobby Lobby, the pet store for the rocks, Target are just a few of the places that I found what I needed.

Adding the facts of her blue whale to the side of the box was her idea....but we typed them b/c there was no way she could write small and neat enough... Did you know that a Blue Whale's heart is the size of a small car?? Or that it's main arteries are large enough that a human could comfortably swim inside them?

She knows so much about animals of the ocean... thanks to her Godparents (Michael & Abbey) for getting her the book "Nora the Nonapus" when she was only 3 or 4 years old. We have read that book at least 500 times and now she reads it to us! :) Who knows, maybe one day she'll get to swim and scuba dive in the ocean and take up-close looks at all the creatures that keep her so fascinated.....

Maybe Marine Biology is in her future? Who knows? and to think I start to sufficate if I am sitting in knee keep water and try to put my face with snorkel tube and mask into the water. true fact.

Here's a view from the top looking down - and the over all view so you can see the box top that it will sit on.

I'm looking forward to seeing what animals her classmates choose tomorrow. Who choose desert, or forest, arctic or ocean...

Oh and you know one of my favorite parts... the back of the box. :) She wrote, "Nora Minor. Together with Mom. Cool! Really. ♥

Love from Indiana!

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-01T13:47:00.002-05:00

This year we have a little visitor who showed up in the mail box about a week ago. Anyone heard of "Elf On The Shelf"??

He even has his own website. CLICK HERE to visit and watch a cute clip on his training and getting ready to be Santa's helper. He even got a haircut and his teeth cleaned before he came to our home!

Not everyone knows about these special Elves. My friend Cathi and her family have been hosting an Elf for the past few years, but I never knew how to get one to come to our home... until this year!And Boy are we ever so excited that Santa finally sent us one!!!

Can you guess what the kids named him? I'll give you a hint -- We were not successful in taking a "VOTE" b/c everyone wanted to vote for their own choice... so he has a first, middle and last name. :)

Meet - Charlie "Fuzz" Zig-Zag

I think that each year there are more and more Elves to be Santa's helpers. Several of my friends on facebook have reported that they now have an Elf on the Shelf this year too! My niece reported that her's made a parachute landing of their front yard while she and her children watched!! Doesn't that sound exciting!?

I forget the date exactly but our elf arrived in the mailbox sometime during the week before Thanksgiving and the kids have really enjoyed going on the SEEKING adventure looking for him each morning as soon as they wake up. The first morning, they traveled room to room, turned on every light in the house!! Even the laundry room's light in the basement was on when I got up that morning. lol

I didn't actually start taking photos of Charlie until other friends of mine shared photos on facebook of theirs. Here he is hanging onto the floor lamp in the den. It was so funny b/c the girls had looked and looked, but it wasn't until Nora went to put on her shoes for school that she found him when she looked up! ;)

Until this morning, our elf has only been sitting in (high) places in the various rooms downstairs. Paul Thomas was excited to see Fuzz sitting in the bathroom window this morning, only he wouldn't use the potty in there but insisted on going downstairs so that Fuzz wouldn't see him!! lol

Bath time tonight might get intresting... I hope we can satisfy the kids using the shower curtain to block Charlie from seeing any naked hinny.

...and take a look at Paul Thomas who was sitting here beside me at my dining room table while I typed on the laptop... "Momma look at me, I'm an Elf on the Shelf that is *not* on the shelf! SEE!!" :) I'm happy he stayed still so I could grab the camera :)

Having our Elf sure is making this Christmas season fun! The kids talk to him several times a day. The first few nights, Paul Thomas would hurry back downstairs to tell "Fuzz" that he had just made his bed... or brushed his teeth... :) So cute!

A few Christmas Wishes

2011-12-01T12:12:00.001-05:00

I was just over at eBay looking for a few things for Christmas... and before I exited the page I couldn't help but pull up a search for Bingo Fabric. There are several over there but this one is my favorite. Just the bingo cards, and the ball holder and number balls.

I don't want poker chips or the cartoon Betty Booby girl on my quilt.

I'd love to show you the quilt I'm talking about - but after searching and searching from the tagged links of past posts it seems I'm not very organized :( I know I've blogged about the quilt before and even the bingo fabric...

Anyway - you can see it if you scroll to the top - the siggy quilt I'd like to pair up this bingo fabric with is the quilt shown in my blog header - hanging over the fence with Nora standing behind it... oh say.... some 3 or 4 years ago! aaak!

And the quilt is only 6X6 blocks big and I want it to be bigger ---thinking 7X9 setting of 9" finished blocks plus borders... so I need to figure out 27 more friends from the HGTV message board to share some siggys with me. And that is why I want the bingo fabric for my backing b/c on the boards, I'm known as "bingo~bonnie" ;)

I so wish my EQ7 was working correctly so I could play with the border sizes to go with a 7x9 block setting - so that I could then figure out just how many yards I need to tell the ebay lady that I'd like to purchase....

However, now that I have found the fabric on ebay and the seller is willing to sell it larger than a half yard cut ---- I'm not too sure I can *CONVINCE* Santa that I need it. But Christmas presents are also about what we *want* too right??? and I do one day *want* this to be my backing... and it's getting so hard to find this fabric.... sure there are many checkbook covers made up with it, and tote bags and tissue holders.... but those are not what I want - or need...

Oh I guess I'll try to figure out when the time is right and bring it up and see what kind of reaction I get from my guy who has a direct line to Santa...

other items on my wish list are:

Bernina Patchwork Seam Guide

This seam guide that I've called about - is either discontinued or they've changed the parts numbers.. no idea how much it will cost from Bernina.... but I'm on the search.

Also Bonnie Hunter recently shared this little gadget with us following her cruise trip. It's called an E-Z Trimmer and may very well be the ONLY thing that Santa is able to find and purchase.

And as you may have heard - Quiltmaker's 3rd 100 Blocks Issue will soon be out!!! I've been lucky to win a copy the past 2 years. That is one thing that I love about the magazine - is they also have a huge blog hop and each of the 100 people are given extra issues to giveaway. Only this year I didn't win a copy... so I will have to help Santa search for this on the store magazine racks..... so he'll have it to put in my stocking.

Something else that I've been wishing for is an acrylic insert for my Arrow Sewing Cabinet that I won earlier this year from being a facebook fan of theirs. I had no idea that it was even offered until I saw it in a magazine ad photo. I asked about them on their fb page and they replied that it takes up to 3 weeks after you order b/c they are custom made. I forwarded the information on to the hubby in an email so he could let Santa know. I'm betting dh is still yet to even open/read that email from me. :/

awlll... I miss my old sewing room that I had in our Texas home... I remember when I painted that wall green, David hadn't found out any news yet of his interview in KY and I thought, I'm gonna go ahead with painting and putting the cabinet together... b/c if I do then he'll get the job and we'll be moving and if I wait for in case we move... he won't get the job. I was right. :P

and while I'm at it - I guess I'll shoot for the moon and ask Santa to bring me a new cell phone. Sprint now has the iphone!!! and although I know nothing about them, everyone I know has one and loves theirs so somehow that makes me think I need one too. My current cell phone makes calls but is one of the oldest Blackberry models out there and is slow. What makes me really want an iphone over the new 4G phones is that I want to be able to copy all of my music CDs onto itunes and be able to listen to all of it anytime I want... so that then I can get rid of my 300+ CD collection! Donate to the Goodwill I suppose. Does anyone even buy CD's anymore?? Secondhand?

Oh well - enough dreaming and wishing for now. Gotta get back to my loads of laundry and do a switch over and make up the kids beds with new sheets :) and good smelling quilts!

Edited to add - oh one more thing! I'm helping out with Nora's Brownie troop this year and did you know that this is the 100th Birthday for Girl Scouts?? :) This is one of the special patches that I've had my eye on. The hardest part is ordering it b/c each time I check the website, it's out of stock.

100th Anniversary Commemorative Oval Patch

Of course if Santa found one and bought it - I'd also like to have a green jacket from LL Bean to sew the patch onto the back of and wear to all of our outings... Cookie Sale time will be here before we know it and I'm sure that this year we will be participating in a booth - you know infront of walmart or Home Depot... "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?" :) I even have some plans for a cookie boot at the end of our own driveway! I'll save that for another post.

Love from Indiana!

Trick or Treat...

2011-10-31T19:05:00.002-04:00

Love from Indiana!

I la,la,love the colors of Fall!

2011-10-25T18:17:00.003-04:00

I've taken more photos of the trees these last 2 or 3 weeks than I have of my own children!!! lol What can I say, I've missed seeing a REAL AUTUMN and now that we are living in our new area, I'm loving all the beautiful colors of Fall! Here's the beautiful red tree on the corner where I turn to go into my neighborhood each day. :)

Here's another I took early this morning on my way home from taking Nora to school. Love the beautiful colors of fall!!!

What about you, do you take photos of the trees around your area??

Love from Indiana!

What four words describe you?

2011-10-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

I forget who it was that posted this, but I saw this on facebook tonight and thought you might get a kick out of it too. Take a look and tell me what first FOUR WORDS you see... and do you think they describe you?

At the bottom you'll see what words that I saw first.

I spent about 2 hours today looking for the BOBBIN CASE to my sewing machine before I finally found it! *whew*I hope you're having a great weekend.

The first four words I saw were - patient, honest, loyal, and thoughtful. I have never thought of myself as a patient person, although I do pray for God to help me be more patient with my kids.... I hope to one day be patient. I guess today I was patient while searching 2 hours for my bobbin case. lol

Love from Indiana!

Evening Edition, Free Nook Book and Quilting Cave Alert!

2011-10-21T16:13:00.003-04:00

Here's a Nook Freebie that is entertaining me this weekend. I just started it and am already 100 pages in. The time that it's written in in 1988 from the voice of a girl called Charlie who is a High School Freshman. I started 9th grade in the fall of 1988 so I think that is what attracted me to the book.

Charlie Woodchuck is a Minor Niner by Dalya Moon

Overview - It's 1988, and Charlie Woodchuck is the most minor of niners. At thirteen, she’s the youngest girl at Snowy Cove High School, and so clueless, she wore leg warmers and acid-wash jeans on her first day. Big mistake! Almost as big a mistake as signing up for a boys-only shop class. Doy.

Just when she thinks the first week of high school can’t get any more weird, Charlie discovers she may be adopted. According to her Science textbook, her eyes should be blue, not brown.

Now the girl with the boy’s name will have to use her detective skills to uncover the mystery of her identity. She'll need the help of best friend Stacy, expert blackmailer, and new friend Ross, expert class clown.

Before the year ends, Charlie will face down the biggest bullies of all: the all-powerful members of Snowy Cove’s School Board. The Board doesn't like what Charlie's been up to, and they're all out of doughnuts.

ALSO for Amazon Kindle users CLICK HERE (make sure it's still free)

In other news - It seems that there's a "Quilt Cave" in the making... today I've been in the basement opening up box after box in the sewing room. I almost teared up when I found my iron!!!!! Now I can drop off that $4 clearance one I bought at Target a few weeks ago at the Goodwill!! So much stuff to sort through and figure out what goes where!

I even found my design wall!! Who knows, maybe by the time Monday rolls around I'll have it hung up and can take a photo to share in JudyL's weekly show-n-tell design wall Monday posts. lol But don't hold your breath...

Love from Indiana!

Simple Quilts and Sewing Fall 2011

2011-10-18T16:07:00.003-04:00

While grocery shopping about 2 weeks ago, I picked up this issue of Simple Quilts and Sewing Fall 2011 and flipped through it and took a look. Doesn't the cover quilt catch your eye?? I'm one of those crazy types about trying to match up the directions of stripes, and these are obviously not matched up!! But surprising as it is, I really like the quilt just as it is. I think if I made it I would do the same as they did and not worry with the match maker process but just get them done! It would be great for using up all the shirts I've been collecting and cutting up these past couple years. Those solid square centers are perfect and I like the variety of sizes. Love the fallish colors!

I really couldn't justify spending $8 for this magazine at least not on this $200+ grocery trip... so I did put it back in hopes to buy a copy next time... only last weekend, I could. not. find. a copy in the whole store. :( Waaah! Woulda, Coulda, SHOULDA!!!

Above is the project that sold me on going back to buy my own copy! Nora is known as the "Queen of Tic-Tac-Toe" at our home. This past Earth Day, she even sat and challenged anyone to play her and played undefeated for over an hour. Boys and girls along with men and women all tried to beat her at her game. Either she tied them or WON! She never lost for over an hour!! :)

When I saw the denium game set, I thought - This is THE perfect gift that she and I can make together not only for herself... but for her to make and give to her school friends (both boy/girl) for when she gets invited to Birthday Parties!!! Probably a little more time involved than making our usual pillow case, but the price is right Bob!!! FREE is Cheap - oh yeah! and it would be a gift that she helped make.

So after not being able to find it at Kroger, I put out an APB with my friends on facebook and already have a friend in Mississippi who is gonna help me track down a copy. :) We are on fall break this week, however I have NO desire to take along 3 kids all over town to find one for sale at another store... but as of next Monday when they are all back in school, I'll try looking at Joann's and Barns & Noble to see if I can purchase my own copy and then if no luck, I'll give Abbey in Mississippi the go ahead to find one and mail her a check.

Too bad I have no idea which box in the attic has all my old too small for this body jeans... I guess I will also go to the Goodwill and see if I can find a couple contrasting pairs on sale for $0.50/ea too. ;)

After looking online to purchase - I did find this FREE carrying tote bag that sort looks like a "booty" bag pattern. CLICK HERE to take a look.

Love from Indiana!

Another Free Nook Book!

2011-10-06T11:30:00.000-04:00

I just love Max Lucado and downloaded this one as quickly as I could while it was free - it's called

God's Story, Your Story: When His Becomes Yours

Carpools and car crashes, job switches and joint custody, moves and motionlessness. Is there a cohesive storyline to the chaos, confusion, and clutter of your daily life?
According to well-loved author Max Lucado, the answer is a resounding yes!
So what is the text of your life?

With his unequaled warmth and honesty, Lucado plumbs the depths of your storyline and comes up smiling.'Your story indwells God's,' writes Lucado. 'This is the great promise of the Bible and the hope of this book ... Above and around us God directs a grander saga, written by his hand, orchestrated by his will, unveiled according to his calendar. And you are a part of it ...'

Join Max for an unforgettable journey woven with New Testament stories and contemporary examples of God's beautiful story-making skills. The beginning of the narrative is legendary, the middle unfolds with surprises still in store, and the ending of your final earthly chapter ushers in a reunion that almost defies description.
It's time to see what your life looks like when God's story becomes your story.

Love from Indiana!

Evening Edition, Free NOOK Books!

2011-10-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

I recently finished reading the popular book called The Help by Katheryn Stockett - best $9.99 I ever spent!!! The book is so good and I loved how each chapter was in the voice of different characters. David and I saw the movie recently and although it was good... the book was better! :)

Thanks to a new webpage called the-cheap.net I've found many books for very little. I just finished up Replaced by a Stranger by KC Stone that I bought for only $0.99 and it's based on a true story. I'm not good at writing reviews - too afraid I might give away too much, but I enjoyed the book. Not very often you hear the story written from the cheater's persepective...

**Based on a true story**
Growing up in a small town in South Carolina, Emily Weston enjoyed a good life. Small towns offer great relationships where everyone knows everyone and a peaceful back drop to set the scene of her what seemed to be perfect life. However, this small town was no stranger to affairs, lies and abuse and now, Emily Weston has added to it.

Emily Weston was a woman who had everything she wanted, a loving husband and a great job. However, the pressure of all the flirtatious behavior Emily faced each day at work became too much. Her inner desires and lack of attention from her loving husband, coupled with the onslaught of temptation at work, would prove to be stronger than the marriage she had worked so hard to build. It will soon be apparent all of the things she had worked hard to achieve would come crashing down in a twisted pile of rubble full of lies and deceit.

Emily strived for some kind of balance in her life and she found it in another man. All of the things she had long desired, she found in Troy.....compassion, excitement and fulfillment. She would also discover, along with her fulfilled desires, a game that no one wins....... Lies lived on the tip of Troy's tongue and his manipulating personality seemed innate. This and more arising danger would be looming for Emily along with many heartbreaking choices.

Now that I'm done with that I've been searching for more titles, preferably FREE to add to my Nook Color. Here's one that I recently found and thought might be good and thought I'd share with you. Be sure and double check to make sure it's still free before you download.

My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter

Publishers Weekly writes -

Carter’s talent continues to evolve, as evidenced in this solid offering about deaf artist Lacey Gears, whose happy life—good boyfriend, rising career, faithful dog—is upended when she receives a mysterious note informing her that she has a twin sister she didn’t know existed. Lacey soon discovers the message is true and that she’s not an orphan as she had thought: her parents put her up for adoption and kept her hearing twin, Monica. As she comes to terms with this, she reconnects with her sister, but the secrets kept by her birth family could have dire consequences. Though the plot is limp in spots, Carter’s command of deaf culture is superb, and Lacey is a charismatic heroine—a nice contrast to her unstable, clingy twin.

So now that fall is here - what are you reading?

Love from Indiana!

Nap Time News

Thank you Lisa!!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Birthday Box was Busted!

Design Wall Monday

Tic-Tac-Toe Anyone!

Save expired coupons for military members

Are you a Fabricologist??

Did you do EQ's Block of the Month Project??

Caroling Patch

Only 3 more sleeps!

Schools Out - Teacher Let the Monkeys OUT!

tic-tac-toe - magazine update

FW: Friendship Siggy Stars

Design Wall Monday - 12/5/11

Nora's Habitat Diorama - The Blue Whale

I am ***SO*** glad I thought ahead, and put Nora's Science project in the front seat of the van tonight so we don't forget it tomorrow! I'm so proud of her and her 1st "project" for school.

Just before Thanksgiving she brought home a sheet saying they were to choose any animal that lives in desert, rain forest, ocean, artic, or regular forest and show how they get their food, water and their shelter.

It took me a whole day of shopping to gather the stuff we had decided we needed for our shoebox. Hobby Lobby, the pet store for the rocks, Target are just a few of the places that I found what I needed.

Maybe Marine Biology is in her future? Who knows? and to think I start to sufficate if I am sitting in knee keep water and try to put my face with snorkel tube and mask into the water. true fact.

Elf on the Shelf

A few Christmas Wishes

Trick or Treat...

I la,la,love the colors of Fall!

What four words describe you?

Evening Edition, Free Nook Book and Quilting Cave Alert!

Simple Quilts and Sewing Fall 2011

Another Free Nook Book!

God's Story, Your Story: When His Becomes Yours

Evening Edition, Free NOOK Books!

Publishers Weekly writes -

I am SO glad I thought ahead, and put Nora's Science project in the front seat of the van tonight so we don't forget it tomorrow! I'm so proud of her and her 1st "project" for school.