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

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

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!

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!

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

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!