Here in Northwest Ohio it’s been a little  cold lately…and it’s just going to get so much colder. Every year at  about this time, I start thinking about ways to keep kids busy inside all winter. Do you think EQ can help with this? Oh, of course it can! :)

One idea for cold weather, or whenever, is quiet books. They are usually designed to keep little ones quiet and busy in church, the car, waiting at a restaurant, wherever.
This book is very cute with it’s cut out felt shapes.
You could do something similar using patterns in EQ7. For example if you check out Library > Block Library > 08 Overlaid > Embellished Alphabet, those blocks would be great for an alphabet quiet book. You could print the templates out from EQ7 and cut them out out felt…or of course, regular quilting fabric would be cute too.
Jenny made this adorable quiet book or her daughter Kiera a few years ago. She used EQ printables, of course.
Here is another example of a cute quiet book using printable fabric to include family pictures.
Quiet books for kids that are a little bit older usually have activities like puzzles made of basic shapes (EQ7 has basic shapes), or laces to learn to tie shoes (EQ7 has shoe patterns), flowers (EQ7 has flower patterns), a purse (EQ7 has purse patterns). Also, obviously a benefit of making it yourself in making it completely personalized. So if the child you are making the book for wouldn’t be thrilled with purses and flowers, EQ7 still has lots of options for you to choose from.
In the example I made, I clicked Library > Block Library > Search > by Notecard > I typed in “barn” > clicked the first block, Red Barn > Add to Sketchbook. Then I clicked Library > Block Library > 05 Contemporary Applique > Day in the Country > then chose an assortment of blocks.
I put the barn block on Layer 1, then the hen block on Layer 2, but it doesn’t look right. (However, EQ7 will print all the correct templates at this point. You would just not want the hen’s background square.) You want the hen to show up as a motif block.  To do that, click Sketchbook > Blocks > choose Hen > Edit > Applique tab at the bottom > Ctrl + A (to select all) > Ctrl + C (to copy) > Block > New Block > PatchDraw Motif > Center  button > Add to Sketchbook.
Repeat that process with all the blocks you’d like to use on Layer 2. Click the Set Block tool > your blocks will be under the Motifs tab on the top. I then added the name with the Set Applique Text tool (be sure you are on Layer 2). You could print the different animals separately on printable fabric…or you could paper-piece the barn and use the templates to make felt animals. Lots of combinations of techniques that would make very cute books!

Another idea is EQ coloring pages. At the Electric Quilt offices, we’ve been doing this for years. Here are a few samples of blocks children may like.

For best results go to File > Print > Block > Under Finish Block Size choose Custom block size -  make sure your block size is smaller than your paper size (I used 8 x 8) > Under Printing Style choose As applique pattern > Hit preview to make sure it looks right, then print.

Enjoy! If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.