Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'm Finished With November


Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
 ~Erma Bombeck

It's the day before Thanksgiving.  I'm sure many of you are deep in meal prep for the big event.  Not me!  This year it will just be me, DH, DD#2 and her DH for the holiday.  My DH suggested that we try something different this year.  "How about going out for dinner on Thanksgiving?" he asked.  I couldn't say "YES!" fast enough.  No cooking and especially no cleaning up afterwards.  But, sadly, that also means no left overs.  But not to worry, DH will be smoking a turkey on Friday - YUMMMMMM!!  Are you have a big family get together or are you away from home and don't have to cook this year?

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LITTLE FACT OF THE DAY

Cranberries

Cranberries are unlike any other fruit in the world. From Cape Cod to Washington State, the cranberry has played a role in holiday culture and family health & wellness for years. Its unique health benefits and refreshing, tart taste put it in a league of its own when it comes to healthy refreshment.  Cranberries in one form or another will be on many tables tomorrow.  How about some fun facts:
* The cranberry is one of only a handful of major fruits native to North America. Others include the blueberry and Concord grape.
* The cranberry gets its name from Dutch and German settlers, who called it "crane berry." When the vines bloom in the late spring and the flowers' light pink petals twist back, they have a resemblance to the head and bill of a crane. Over time, the name was shortened to cranberry
* Native Americans used cranberries to make a survival cake known as pemmican. They also used the fruit in poultices and dyes.
* Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. They are grown on sandy bogs or marshes. Because cranberries float, some bogs are flooded when the fruit is ready for harvesting.
* Cranberries are primarily grown in five states -- Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Another 5,500 acres are cultivated in Chile, Quebec, and British Columbia. There are nearly 1,000 cranberry growers in America.
* Americans consume some 400 million pounds of cranberries each year. About 80 million pounds -- or 20 percent -- are gobbled up during Thanksgiving week.

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BLOCKS FINISHED

I finally finished my last swap blocks and Bee block for November.  I can't believe how late I'm running this month.   For the 6 Inch Block Swaps Australia I made......


and this......

Susan requested a butterfly block made from batiks on white fabric.  This was the first time I have made the paper pieced butterfly block.  It was fun to make even if I did have to resew one of the blocks - lol!  I think the color combinations I used worked out fairly well.  I hope that Susan likes them.

The block I made for this month's Bee In Oz hostess, Anorina, has a little bit of story......

Anorina included very detailed instructions with her block but somewhere along the line I misread the size the blocks needed to be.  The instructions read "choose 2 different fabrics and cut these into 4 X 5" squares."  So I cut out pieces measuring 4" X 5" thinking the whole time that these aren't square, but oh well.  When I went to sew these together to make HST it dawned on me that I was supposed to cut four 5" squares.  OMG!  I felt so bad and even offered to buy some matching fabric.  Anorina was so nice and said to go ahead and make a smaller block and she would use it in the backing.  What was supposed to be a 16.5" block ended up measuring 12.5".   I'm such a dope sometimes.

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NON-HOLIDAY FLOWERS

I still was unable to find any more cute Thanksgiving fabric so instead of more Christmas hexie flowers, I decided to go non-holiday for One Flower Wednesday.....

This flower is almost blindingly bright.  This was made from some Laurel Burch fabric I won awhile back.  Aren't all of those cat faces fun?

I really have gotten a lot of use out of the Hoo's In The Forest fabric.  First a Loving Hands quilt and a baby quilt, and now a hexagon flower.  The tops of the trees made up into great flower petals.
Would you like to see more hexies created by others out in blogland?  Well, thanks to Karen, of Journey Of A Quilter, you can.  Just click here or above or on the sidebar to access the linky site Karen has provided.

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TODAY'S GOAL

Today I need to get some embroidery done.

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GIVEAWAYS

Love Affair With My Brother is having a giveaway.  You could win a fat quarter set of Free Spirit solids.  This giveaway ends Saturday, November 26, at 11:59pm PST.

Amy's Creative Side is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of Dyeing To Stitch.  This giveaway ends Friday, November 25.

Lily Pad Quilting is having a giveaway.  You could win a GO! Baby cutter, you choice of three cutting dies and layer cake of Chemistry by Cosmo Cricket.  This giveaway ends Monday, November 28, at midnight.

A Quilting Life is having a giveaway.  You could win a charm pack and a jelly roll of the fun Chemistry line by Cosmo Cricket for Moda .  This giveaway ends Friday, November 25.

Kool Benz is having a giveaway.  You could win a jelly roll of Cape Ann from Fat Quarter Shop.  This giveaway ends Friday, November 25, at midnight EST.

Home Sweet (Quilting) Home is having her first giveaway.  You could win MyMemories software.  This giveaway ends Wednesday, November 30.

Annie's Ruby Slipperz is having her Monday Mystery giveaway.  You could win 5 fat quarters.  This giveaway ends Saturday, November 26, at midnight MT.

Tilda's Twisted Life is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of The Princess Bride.  This giveaway ends Sunday, November 27.

My Go-Go Life is having a sponsored giveaway.  You could win a fat quarter set of the entire Daisy Mae line from Denyse Schmidt Quilts.  This giveaway ends Saturday, November 26.

Quilty Habit is having a giveaway.  Jess is ready to send the Traveling Stash on its way again.  This giveaway ends Friday, November 25.

Jolly Jabber is having a giveaway.  You could win  Pam’s Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundle.  This giveaway ends Monday, November 28.

Primitives By The Light Of The Moon is having a giveaway.  You could win a darling rug that Ginger hooked.  This giveaway ends Thursday, November 24.

Notions is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of Easy Batik Landscape Quilts or a fat eighths sampler of Connecting Threads entire Batik Paradise collection.  This giveaway ends Sunday, November 27, at midnight.

Don't forget to enter my Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway II.  Just go HERE to enter.

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FINAL THOUGHT

I will be taking the next few days to spend with family so I will not be posting on Friday.  Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.
~Ray Stannard

34 comments:

Sunnybec said...

Happy Thanksgiving Linda, to you and yours. x

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

You are not a dope and the block looks great anyway!!! I make mistakes like that every single day I sew!!!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

Don't feel too bad about cutting the fabric wrong, I read it the same way you did.

I hope you and all your friends and family have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. Enjoy!

Cheryl said...

Happy Thanksgiving...I will be cooking.

Kasey said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy not cooking! I'll be helping my mom like I have every year (except one) since I was tall enough to stir a pan on the stove while standing on a chair! I'm looking forward to it, and our family is doing a 5K/10K Turkey Stampede, so I'll be earning my gravy twofold. Enjoy the holiday!

Vesuviusmama said...

Sounds like a treat this Thanksgiving for you. I am hosting a gathering of 10, and as you can tell by my being on the internet right now, I'm feeling a wee bit overwhelmed by everything I have to do. So I'm avoiding. Your bee blocks are beautiful, and that hexie with the tree tops made me catch my breath! Perhaps my favorite of all time! Enjoy your day, your time with your family, your many blessings!

Needled Mom said...

Great hexies! I love how the trees made such interesting petals.

We've seen some cranberry bogs in our travels..very interesting.

We have our Thanksgiving on Saturday so the kids can all do their own thing tomorrow. Going out for dinner sounds like the perfect way to enjoy your family with no stress.

I think I would have cut my blocks 4x5 too. They all look beautiful.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Joanna said...

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving, Linda. I love the butterfly blocks and of course, your hexies. So pretty. Enjoy your weekend.

krisgray said...

Love that butterfly block! "One of these days" I'm gonna make a butter fly quilt.

WoolenSails said...

I wish I could go out or at least, have someone else cook it, lol. I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Debbie

Melissa said...

Happy Thanksgiving Linda :) I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday with your family. Your butterfly blocks are beautiful!

rubyslipperz1052 said...

Holiday meals - I try to keep it simple. We are doing 11 this Thanksgiving. It's the Peeps that are important...not the calories? Well, it's a good-feel-ossfee. But, it just seems that good food DOES have a "few" more calories...sigh =(

I LOVE seeing your hexies! EVERYone is just so cool!

Great info on Cranberries...I do LUV that red color in the pic, too!

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday. We will miss you and keep you in our hearts...till we "meet" with you again next week.

hugZ,
annie

Lots of Fabric 2 said...

Love you flowers,that has happen to me several times. Enjoy your day. I will be starting some of the cooking today need to get of here and start. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Maria said...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Linda with your family. going out sounds great.
We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Aussie.
All your blocks are gorgeous but the small piecced butterfly blocks are special.

Birdie said...

More cute hexies, love the way the cat's whiskers form a circle. Happy Thanksgiving, here in Canada we had our Thanksgiving October 10th.

Jessica said...

Dinner out sounds wonderful! We've done that for Christmas before. I'm looking forward to everyone coming over to our house tomorrow and everything smelling delicious! Thanks for posting about my giveaway and have a fantastic Thanksgiving! :)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I made sure all my swaps/mailings were done and out by the 19th - knowing it becomes a mailing frenzy after that date. Love all your wonderful blocks - even the whoops (I would have read it the same), but the cats are just precious. Happy Thanksgiving.

Impera Magna said...

There will just be five of us (which includes two little ones) for Thanksgiving so I'm keeping it simple. I've gotten over the "huge feast" thing and try to keep the menu more to the "healthy" and "fresh" side... but still love leftovers! Looking forward to turkey and cranberry sandwiches on pumpernickel!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Linda in Calif. said...

You always have such interesting things on your blog, fun facts, pretty blocks! It is so nice every once in a while NOT to cook. Love all the blocks. They are wonderful.

Barbara said...

Ii love all of your blocks, especially the cat hexi. Very cute. My two sons and my daughter-in-law will be here for Thanksgiving. My daughter-in-law is bringing dessert and a vegetable, so that lightens my load considerably.

Staci said...

Happy Thanksgiving!
Love those butterflies, and your hexies are really special. Enjoyed the cranberry facts very much, I'm a big fan of those tart, tart little berries! Enjoy your holiday with your loved ones!

Go-Go Kim said...

Super small Thanksgiving here and I am VERY thankful!!!! Love the blocks and thank you for the giveaway add!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and enjoy your dinner out :o)

Karen said...

Funny flowers, excellent fabric!!!! Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. :)

Hilachas said...

Wow! Beautiful hexies again. You do such a wonderful job. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Snoodles said...

I always love seeing your hexie flowers! Hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Quilting Chemist (Danette) said...

Great hexies, always so colorful.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Anne said...

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I will enjoy Thanksgiving at my newlywed daughter's home. My contribution to the meal is a sweet potato casserole. My hubby smoked two turkey breasts and a pork tenderloin. Every time we open the refrigerator in our motorhome, aromas escape and make us feel like we're in a deli! LOL!

Kris said...

Linda - Thanks for the fun facts about cranberries - one of my favs!! Your block are great but your hexie flowers take the cake!! The Laurel Birch one is just over the top wonderful!! I wish you lived down the street from me so you could teach me how you center your fussy cuts so perfectly!!! Hope your family Thanksgiving is the BEST!! Kris

Miss Hillbilly said...

I am glad that you are getting to eat out. Enjoy your day!!

When I bought some Hoo's awhile back, it was with fussy cutting in mind...it was when you first 'hooked' me!

Sheila said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Your hexies are just too cute , love them and the block is great even if it is too small , I think I would have read that the same way too.

Debbie said...

we are on a road trip (not visiting friends or family) and there isnt much open. We stopped at a food lion and got fried chicken for lunch and now we are lucky that our hotel has a buffet for thanksgiving. although there are a few restaurants here that are open because its a tourist area.

the hotels buffet was really good. Im so glad they had something. We didnt have to leave to go to another restaurant (with a 2 year old) or find one open or wait in line- soo happy!

quilary said...

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving - going out sounds like a fantastic idea - much more free sewing time!
Love the cat faces - very quirky!

Unknown said...

have a lovely thanksgiving Linda, we dont celebrate this in Australia, but I do look forward to my turkey on Christmas day. Love the hexie flowers, the cats remind me of wooden ones you can buy in Bali.

Kim D. said...

Your blocks are lovely. I especially like the tree hex block, so clever and just beautiful!

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