Ellie's Blog

I like computers and technology so my aunt thought I should try my hand at EQ 7 quilt design software. She is going to take an online class to learn to use it. We worked on a project together but didn’t have time to finish it.

EQ 7 is pretty easy to use. First, you fill a project sketchbook with the blocks and fabrics you want to use in your quilt project. You can always add more or delete some if you change your mind.  Then you use the fabrics to color the blocks the way you want them. Next, you create a quilt layout and arrange the blocks the way you’d like them. If you’re ambitious – or you have an aunt who knows how to quilt – you can turn your design into an actual quilt!

In the first picture, I’m “coloring” an hourglass block. You can see the fabrics I’m using on the window on the right.

In the second picture, I’m arranging my blocks on the quilt. The sketchbook (on the right) shows the blocks I’ve chosen. I haven’t colored all of them yet.

Aunt Becky took me shopping and I chose fabric to make a pillowcase for me and another for my cousin. Aunt Becky taught me to sew a 1/4″ seam. The pillowcase with the diggers and dozers is for my five-year-old cousin. The one with the flowers is for me. Here are some pictures of my work:

Diggers & Dozers pillowcase for my cousin

My actual birthday is at a busy time of the year for my aunt and uncle. So, they invite me to their house for a belated birthday when they have more time to spend with me. This makes me happy because I get an extra birthday every time we do this. I also get to visit my cousin who lives just a few hours away. I love my extra birthday.

My aunt likes to wrap my presents in fancy paper but this year my uncle convinced her I would have just as much fun opening the boxes from Amazon. (I guess my aunt thinks it’s important to explain why there are no beautifully wrapped birthday presents in this picture).

My favorite present was a Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics kit!! I had taken a robotics class over the summer so I knew I how much fun robot building can be.The next day, my aunt and I started building one of the projects in the kit. We’re about half done in this picture.

And, here’s a video after we were done.

My Aunt Becky and I used this YouTube video to learn to make the pillowcases for me and my cousin. Some places on the Internet called this a sausage pillowcase. You’ll see why in the second video.

My Aunt Becky had to all of the cutting because rotary cutters are too dangerous for children to use. Other than that, I did all of the work on the pillowcase while Aunt Becky supervised. (My parents and aunts do a LOT of supervising!)

Here are some videos of my work on the pillowcases.

This is me sewing.

Unstuffing the sausage.

Turning the pillowcase.

Gabrielle’s play “The Jungle Book” went very well last night. She was just as a little bit worried about remembering her lines, but didn’t seem to have any stage fright once she got to school to start preparing for the play. She played two parts a baby elephant, and was also part of “the Jungle.” Yes, the players in the jungle actually walked and talked and even ran around a little bit.

She had two lines: 1. “They’re taking him to the man-village. 2. Run, Mowgli, run.

She had a good time, and told us that she was glad that she did it.

On our trip to the nation’s oldest city we got to see the Lighthouse up close and from afar. My mom and I like to visit lighthouses. Here we’re viewing the lighthouse from the intercoastal waterway, and we got to see porpoises, and there’s one in the forefront.

This lighthouse is the oldest aid to navigation in the country, oldest brick structure in St. Augustine and has a first order Fresnel lens, one of only eight in the country. We learned it is the lens (not light) that makes it shine so bright, the lens are actually prisms. You can go to www.staugustinelighthouse.com to learn more.

Look at my beautiful Butterfly quilt my Aunt Becky made me, of course with a little help from in the design department! You’ll notice I proudly display the label. My cousin is next to me with his fish quilt Aunt Becky made him. My aunts can’t believe we’re not sitting in the same chair, but we’re sleepy heads right now!