Christmas Tree Archives | Creative Bee Studios

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (also known as Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Little Christmas), we recognize several things (in my understanding): the coming of the Magi (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar), representing the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles (for all peoples); Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist; and the revelation of God in his Son as human in Jesus Christ.

Since today we recognize the gifts brought by the Magi, gold (royal standing), frankincense (divine birth), and myrrh (mortality), I thought it appropriate to pass along a little gift of joy… as in a “little” JOY pdf pattern.

Little-JOY-2 Download

Download this FREE pdf pattern by clicking the link above. It’s just a little JOY, a miniature of the larger JOY quilt patterns. You can use it to decorate gift bags or other items using BOTH sides of a scrap of fabric and fusible…and if you have a scanning/cutting machine, you can have all the cutting done for you!

You can learn for FREE how easy it is to make any of the #usebothsides quilt patterns – the applique designs use the same basic technique.

Full #usebothsides patterns come with complete detailed instructions

AND guides for auditioning both sides of fabric

AND full-size paper templates (for applique or broderie perse designs).

There’s also a new quilt app for your phone you might want to join called Quilt Space – it’s only for quilters and it’s a simple newsfeed that show quilts or quilts in progress posted by quilters. Since I joined during the Twelve Days of Christmas, I decided to post Christmas themed quilts daily through today, Epiphany. Check it out – it’s free, just sign up with the usual info (email, password) for the app. Shout out to Anastasia for the heads up!

Check out O Holy Night Wool Applique for a free wool applique nativity design!

Shop patterns @ Creative Bee Studios Etsy Shop.

Wishing you much joy in 2020!

Twelve Days of Christmas

Learn the real meaning of the twelve days of Christmas, Kiefner style!

At Kiefner Christmas at the farm, any newcomer (boyfriend, girlfriend, lucky friend) is a “goose”. We search for these geese all year, prodding the nieces and nephews to find an unsuspecting goose to bring to the farm for Kiefner Christmas.

While we make out this tradition to be a little scarier than it actually is, so far no one has become a cooked goose!

Pop teaching the geese how to get down!

Each year, Pop (my husband’s father) describes the origin of the Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and the secret meanings behind each of the symbols for the 12 days. (This year, niece Elizabeth helped him with that.) The carol was a way for the Roman Catholics to secretly teach and reinforce their faith at a time when they were not permitted to openly confess. Click here to see the full description of the hidden meaning of this well-known carol.

In short, the meanings are as follows:

Partridge in a Pear Tree – The True Love of Jesus Christ

Two Turtle Doves – Old and New Testaments

Three French Hens – Faith, Hope, and Love

Four Calling Birds – The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Five Gold Rings – First five books of the Old Testament which tell of man’s fall into sin and God’s plan for redemption through His son.

Six Geese a Laying – Six days of creation.

Seven Swans a Swimming – Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Eight Maids a Milking – The Beatitudes

Nine Ladies Dancing – The Fruits of the Spirit

Ten Lords a Leaping – The Ten Commandments

Eleven Pipers Piping – Eleven faithful Apostles

Twelve Drummers Drumming – The twelve points of belief in The Apostles Creed.

So with each verse we add motions to the song, with our special new geese flapping their wings and squatting for”Geese a Laying”. The three sons are always the “Lords a Leaping” and everyone joins in on all the rest. Click here to see the last verse of this banner-year’s Kiefner version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with a whopping FOUR geese-a-laying!

After we parade into the field to cut the tree (we actually watch Kent and Barry do the hard work), we file back to the house for caroling led by Luanne at the piano and AFTER the performance and congrats to our new geese, we open gifts and eat Luanne’s delicious chili or soup.

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See more quilts, wool and punch needle on my website, Creative Bee Studios!

Please share and pin! Thanks so much, Karla