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