Category: holiday

holiday

Giving Thanks

renegadequilter3 Comments
according to Merriam-Webster
Thanksgiving is
defined as the act of giving thanks. a prayer expressing gratitude. a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness.
and
Thanksgiving Day is
defined as a day appointed for giving thanks for divine goodness.  the fourth Thursday in November observed as a legal holiday in the United States.
i found it odd that there is no mention of a big feast in the definition of Thanksgiving Day.  because that is what we do right? 

we cook a large ‘special’ meal just for that day.  usually taking the whole day to prepare the meal.  the meal is then shared with family & friends.  where we over eat, nap & watch football.  some people even believe that the food & day will be better if their house is in perfect order.  my mother being one of them.  ughhhhh


 

digging a little deeper.  Wikipedia (i said a little deeper) says that ‘Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions.”  both of these groups celebrated the end of a good harvest season.  overtime this evolved into Thanksgiving as we now know it.

for myself, i enjoy the meal & the time spent with family & friends.  but, i also think that it is important to celebrate, to give thanks, to be grateful for our own harvest of the past year.  the good things in our lives over the past 365 days.

so, on this day i reflect on my own harvest of this past year.  the birth of my niece.  the bond with my friends & the support they have given me.  my health.  the experiences i have had.  the lessons i have learned. 
for all of these things i am grateful for & today i give thanks for them because without them i would not be me.
so as you enjoy your meal with your family & friends pause to reflect on your own personal harvest of this past year.  be thankful for what this past year has brought you & be grateful for Someone special in your life.
Happy Thanksgiving
Dave · giveaways · holiday · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · renegades

A little bit more of 2010

renegadequilter1 Comment
i can finally show you the last projects that i did for 2010. i got this pattern from Fat Quarterly’s holiday issue. its the lined boxed zipper bag however i made them larger. the finished size of mine are 11″x7 1/2″x3″. i made a total of 4 of these green ones with the ‘crafty’ themed fabric for my Renegades for Christmas.

then, i made this one for Steph because we watched Project Runway together this past season & once i found this fabric i knew i needed to make something out of it for her.

another little hobby of mine is collecting quotes especially inspirational quotes. i have a whole sketch book full of them that i have cut out of magazines & i also have a file on my computer full of the ones i have found online. i wanted to do something with them this year for Christmas gifts for a few people. so…….

this is what i came up with. i made little books using thick foam, fabric, mod podge, card stock & some rings to hold it all together.

i put 40 quotes in each book & each book contains the same quotes just in different order. i made 9 of these books & it was surprisingly easy.
i love the different colors of card stock – bright & cheery.

and, of course the book would not have been complete without a quote from Dave.

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i also wanted to share with you a pattern i won on-line from Holly Hill Quilt Designs. i got to pick which one i wanted & so i picked this holiday themed one. not sure when i will get to it but i think it will be a fun one to make.

i also finished up the last block for my block swap box group. i am thinking that we will be doing it again however i don’t think we will start until March or so.

i have a long week ahead of me at work so who knows how much sewing i will get done. but, i will give it one heck of a try.

also, with all of the great sales going on online i will have some fabric purchases to share with you soon as well.

giveaways · holiday

HO! HO! HO!

renegadequilter1 Comment
so Rachel over as p.s. i quilt wanted to know what happened on Christmas Eve. our Christmas Eve turned out sort of like something out of the movie Christmas Vacation. my brother & his family were in town from Boise so we were all hanging out at my parents house that morning when my brother realized that the refrigerator was spraying water out of the back of it all over the wall. my dad jumped up & they got the refrigerator moved & the water shut off only to discover that it had been leaking for sometime & the whole bottom was rusted out. needless to say an unplanned trip to the appliance store took place that morning.
once my parents were back we learned that the cabinets were going to have to be modified in order to get the new refrigerator in. not something you want to be doing on Christmas Eve when we had so much work to get done in the kitchen. so we went about unloading & moving the old fridge which we found lots of treasures behind like a ball that my brother had written on “Mike Is Rad” about 16 years ago. i guess my parents never moved their fridge in 16 yrs. then my brother & dad began the demo process of the cabinets above the fridge which entailed moving things from the cabinets next to them. nothing is ever simple with things like this for my family. the delivery men showed up & had the new one running in no time.
we re-focused on our kitchen tasks that needed to be done for that evenings meal & got busy. there was only a handful of us at my parents house for dinner since my brother, sil & niece were having dinner at her dad’s house. now this is where the story gets good.
my sil’s dad doesn’t cook nor does his wife, however he thought it would be nice to have Christmas Eve dinner at his place so he got a prepared meal from a local grocery store. all he had to do was re-heat & eat. the 1st issue was that he didn’t have a pan big enough for the turkey so he ended up going & buying one. the 2nd issue was that he had no idea how to use his oven. seriously, they have been in their house for 3 yrs or so & have never used it at all. the 3rd issue was that they had to skip church because he had no idea how he was going to get all the food re-heated & get to church. the funniest comment from that dinner had to be my sil’s step mom saying ‘if we stay in this house after i retire then we are getting a new stove’. my sil’s comment back to her was ‘why? you don’t use the one you got.” needless to say that went over like a lead balloon.
when my brother & his family got back to my parents house my brother asked for the Zantac & went to his ‘office’. all that my sil would say was ‘it was fine.’
my mother puts on the spread at her house for Christmas & Christmas Eve & still gets to church so we all got a chuckle from this.
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my guess is that Santa was laughing so hard from our calamity of a day that he dropped a few packages & if i would have to guess that the packages contained Parisville fabric because that is what i wanted for Christmas & didn’t get any.
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on a side note: i did get a voicemail today from a gal in Iowa saying she has a package of mine that was delivered to her by mistake. maybe that is my package of Parisville fabric. i will be calling her tomorrow to find out the details. i live in Washington state so that is probably where Santa dropped my package at………
family · holiday

In the blink of an eye…..

renegadequilterLeave a comment
and in the blink of an eye………
Christmas has come & gone & with it my family from Boise headed back home yesterday.
sad face…….
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we had a great time hanging out, catching up & playing with this little monster.
my 2 1/2 year old niece. here she is modeling her Christmas coat that grandma got her. at 1st she didn’t want to put it on because ‘its too pretty’. but then once her little friend got there she had to put it on & then wouldn’t take it off.
she went & saw the Christmas lights in the local park which she loved & didn’t want to leave.
she is at that stage where she will tell you ‘no picture’ so getting a good shot can be a challenge with her.
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this years Christmas was great for me. i got some quilting books i had been wanting, some gift cards to my favorite quilt shops and a Nook which i was totally surprised about. its Barnes & Noble’s e-reader however its like a mini ipad because there is a ton of other stuff you can do with it. my SIL got one as well & we were like 2 little girls figuring them out.
we had Christmas dinner at my parents house with over 20 people there spanning 4 generations. it was a very fun & enjoyable time.
i hope you all had a great Holiday this year!!!
Dave · family · holiday · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

Christmas Song

renegadequilter2 Comments
i have been crazy busy with getting all of my holiday projects/gifts finished up & wrapped up. i think that by tonight i should be finished but since i am running on about 3 hrs of sleep i have no idea what tonight will bring. especially since i have family coming into town tonight & i will be there to see my niece. oh well, i can see the finish line & i will get there come heck or high water.
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today i have a video to share with you all. since i am a Dave Matthews freak i got an email yesterday from the freak, oh i mean fan club & it was a Merry Christmas message from Dave & this video of him & Tim Reynolds performing the Christmas Song in Vegas last year. i read that, hit play & about 20 seconds in i realized i was as that show. yep, my ace of a friend Stephanie & i flew into Vegas that morning, caught the show & flew out the next morning. awesome memories from that trip.
needless to say, this song ranks in my top 10 Dave songs so i thought i would share it with you all. i hope you enjoy it.
i have figured out my giveaway item so look for that post sometime after Christmas. i will also try & get some pics of my projects so you all can see what i have been working on.
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i wish each & everyone of you a Happy & Healthy Holiday.
fabric purchases · giveaways · holiday · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

Time Flys

renegadequilter1 Comment
WOW…….
time really does fly doesn’t it????
i have got about 15 days worth of work to do & only 9 or so days to get it all done in. i am about to the point of what gets done gets done & what doesn’t doesn’t. i am sure you are all familiar with what i am talking about. some how life has a sneaky way of interrupting my plans…..
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awhile back Hip Fabric had a giveaway on their blog & i won. i got to pick 5 Parisville fat quarters. this is my 1st Parisville & i am completely in LOVE with this line of fabric. i am planning on adding to this stash with some Christmas gifts – we will see how well Santa listened to me. Thank You Hip Fabric!!!!
in my last post i told you that we did some shopping when we were in Seattle. below is some pics of what i got.

i love this color combination. i am thinking a bag with it. i found this in a quilt shop in Woodenville.

we then ventured to Bothell & it was an adventure even with printed directions we had to turn around about 3 times & finally call the shop for directions. it was totally worth it because I found 2 charm packs of Plume & some yardage. as well as the Pure print that i have been looking for – its going to be binding on a quilt. the other was a fun print in their sale section & again i am thinking bag.
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now onto some holiday related stuff.
another hobby i have is stamping which i mostly just make cards with. each year i make my own Christmas cards so i thought i would share it with you. two of my favorite things. moose & the color green.

i thought that they would be quick & easy to make. well, card making is sort of like quilt making. you start out with a plan & it evolves from there. it wouldn’t have been too bad if i only had 10 to make but by the time i was done with 50 i was beginning to think i was stupid for changing my original idea. needless to say they are done & going in the mail today.
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last night after i finished up these cards i cut out a quilt that i will sew together tonight. its super simple so i am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well. i will then need to quilt & bind it. i have another quilt awaiting its binding as well. i won’t bother telling you the status of the other 3 quilts……
like i said lots to do. who needs sleep anyways???
check back to see my progress……….

holiday · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · me · Modern Relief · NaBloPoMo

this afternoon

renegadequilter1 Comment
this afternoon i decided to take a break from sewing to put up my Christmas tree. so i hauled everything upstairs & started un-boxing all of the Hallmark ornaments that i have. i have been collecting these since i was a baby so that means some of them are over 30 years old. most of them were given to me by my Grandmother who is no longer with us but Christmas was her favorite holiday so as i was putting them on the tree i was thinking of her – great memories.
so, in the middle of decorating my tree the power decides to go out & stay out. i call the power company who says it should be back on by 1am & its only 3:00 in the afternoon. so i pull out the flashlights & lite the candles & continue to decorate the tree. i found out that a book light clipped to the collar of my jacket worked real well. me being antsy called the power company again & they said 10pm now for getting power back. so i ate a pb&j sandwich & when i finished my dinner the power was back on so i could finish the tree with lights & do this blog post.
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another thing came to mind to share with you all while i was decorating the tree & that is my love of moose. yep, a little odd but i love moose. they are large animals that command respect & always beat to their own drum. pretty much nothing stands in their way except the occasional hunter but we won’t go there. i have seen many in the wild & what amazing creatures they are. i have been collecting these from Lenox for 10 yrs now. not a good shot but i think i took it when the power was out.
another favorite of mine – i think my brother & sil gave me this one.
this one came from a friend in Spokane.
this was a package decoration one year.

this nativity set i keep out year round because i love it. my Dad found it in a gift shop one year in West Yellowstone, put it away for a Christmas gift & forgot about it. i got it for my birthday a couple of years later which is in July.

this one came from my Mom, she found it in an airport somewhere & hauled it home.

last but not least, remember i told you i had already gotten 1 Christmas gift. this calendar came from my good friend Barbara who every year gives me a moose calendar. it came in the mail earlier this week. Thanks Barbara!!!
i have a lot of other moose stuff that can be an entire post itself, however i do not collect just run of the mill moose stuff – it has to be unique & different.
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so, my tree is up & you now know that i love moose. sort of an odd post combo but hey that’s me odd……….
p.s. – to those of you who helped support Modern Relief – THANK YOU!!!! they surpassed their goal.