Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Spring Cleaning, the Toy Witch, and Floating Hearts - Building Blocks Tuesday

Aren't these blocks adorable?  They are called "Floating Hearts", and I made them this week for Christine in the We Bee Learning bee.

We Bee Learning April

I got to choose where my hearts would end up in the block.  I didn't really mean for them to be so similar, but I'm sure they will be placed far apart from one another.  The quilt she is making has these grey blocks with floating red/pink hearts, with the exception of one block which is pink/red with a grey/black heart.  It looks really cool.  I hope she shares the finished quilt with us.  I would love to see how she quilts it too.

In other, non-quilty, going's on...

Yes, the dreaded words, "spring cleaning".   I put it off long enough, but it has been happening around here this week.  I probably would have put it off until next spring (or whenever we move) had it not been for the Girl Scouts at Ashley's school having a toy drive.   This is not just any toy drive.  They are willing to take used toys, even broken toys!  Evidently, Los Angeles has a rather large toy bank, so they use parts from other toys, fix them up, make them like new and give them to kids who need toys.  Brilliant!  And with 3 crazy little girls in the house, we had a lot of nearly complete toys that no one plays with and the second hand store isn't interested in.   So yesterday, I dumped out all the toy boxes, cleaned out all the closets and tried to put together as many sets of tea dishes and blocks, etc. as I could, not to mention the dozen completely new (with tags still on) Easter bunnies that various relatives have given us the last couple of years.  They all went in several large trash bags and made it to the bin at the school.  And I'm not even done yet!  There are still a few boxes that the Toy Witch put away in storage to go through.

Who is the Toy Witch, you ask?  She is a mysterious person who comes while the kids are at school - according to legend if she is looked by a child straight in the eye, she might turn to stone - and takes whatever toys are not put away properly.  What does she do with these toys?  Well, she used to throw them away (into storage), but now according to the International Treaty of 2011, she has to donate these toys to needy children who will take better care of them.  Another random detail (because kids believe in her more when there are details), she may or may not be related to the tooth fairy, in an evil stepsister kind of way.  Does her existence help my kids put away their toys?  Probably, yes.  They are smart enough to know which days she is expected to come. So if it is Saturday, those toys are still going to be all over the floor.  But in general, it has helped.

I hope you will come back tomorrow to visit during my day of the April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop.  I have a few creations to share!  There are also some fabulous creations on today's blog hop stops:


TUESDAY, APRIL 16th
Cathi @ Quilt Obsession
Jane @ Jane's Fabrics and Quilts
Heidi @ Nutz4Redwork
Cherry @ Cherry'sPrairiePrimatives
Christine @ Quilt Monster in my Closet
Vickie @ More Stars in Comanche
Pauline @ Stekje
Jan @ Jan's Art Friendzy
Nissa @ Nissa Made Stuff
Robin @ As Sweet As Peaches
Lyndsey @ Sew Many Yarns
And a guest post by Eleni located at Sew at Home Mummy


So what have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open for a whole week.  And spread the word!


Quilter in the Closet

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!


Thanks for reading!  I'm off to pack up some more toys!

Jen


5 comments:

  1. Your Floating Hearts blocks are so sweet! Good luck with the toys.

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  2. Those are great blocks! Like your idea of a Toy Witch. Will have to remember that for when my little one actually understands what cleaning up means... Thanks for hosting this party! I'm happy to finally have a post with blocks come on the right day, so I remembered to link up!

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  3. Wow - I'm not much one for hearts but those are beautiful blocks…!

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  4. Lol! I used to threaten mine that toys would be thrown, I waited until one of the most parentally detested toys was one of the left toys and carried through my threat, watch by both girls. It kind of worked, but I think I prefer your idea!

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