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It's Not the Gifts Under the Tree that Make the Difference - It's The Gift of Your Time That They Remember

 

Start a Tradition of Reading Classic Christmas Stories to the Children in Your Life - They Will Treasure Every Minute for Their Lifetime. And with This Resource, You will Get Quilt Block Patterns, too!

 

 

 

Date:

 

From: Penny Halgren

 

Dear Friend,

 

"Listen my children and you shall hear - - -"

My favorite times growing up were when my mom or dad read stories to me. Especially at Christmas.

Each night during the month of December, we would cuddle up on the couch, wrapped in our blankets (my mom didn't know about quilts!), my sister on one side of dad and me on the other, with the cats piled on top, and he would begin.

My dad's favorite poem was The Night Before Christmas, and we heard it every December night before Christmas. I heard that poem so many times, I had it memorized by the time I was 5!

Dad also loved Charles Dickens, and every year he would read parts of A Christmas Carol. In addition to his two favorites, each year brought a different collection of Christmas stories, and they were all classics. I have no idea what the source of the stories was, but dad loved classic Christmas stories, and he enjoyed sharing them with us.

We were so entertained, it seemed like he read for hours, but really it was only the half hour before he tucked us into bed. And what a dreamy way to go to sleep - having just spent time with someone you love, hearing an inspiring story about the Christmas happiness of a child.

Is there a better way to connect with children and family members than through stories? I can't imagine one, can you?

Whether people are telling stories or reading stories, everyone loves to listen. And the storyteller delights in knowing that they are both entertaining and connecting with the people they cherish.

It doesn't take any special talent to be able to read or tell a story. All it takes is a story, a reader (or teller) and an audience. And the audience can be as small as one little baby! I wouldn't even begin to count the number of stories I read to quilting daughter, Stephanie, when she was a baby - even before she could choose a book. And from the day engineer son, Bubba, came home from the hosiptal, he joined in our reading time. And twenty some years later, they both love to read, all kinds of books.

Children love to hear new stories as well as "old favorites." After all, those old favorites started out as new stories once. And reading to children is great for their education as well as making a connection with family members and friends.

This would be a great year to start (or continue) a tradition of reading Christmas stories to the children in your life, whether they are your children, grand children, neighbor children, neices and nephews, or children at a school.

There are thousands of Christmas stories to choose from. There is The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson; Christmas in Seventeen Seventy-Six by Anne Hollingsworth Wharton; Christmas Under the Snow by Olive Thorne Miller; A Christmas Fairy by John Strange Winter. And the list goes on.

So, how do you know which stories children today will love?

Some Christmas stories are frought with starving children and dying animals. How depressing is that?

Other stories can be understood only within the context of historical times. And who wants to go look up the history in order to explain and then tell the story?

Still others involve children who are abused by their parents or guardians. Now that would be depressing and upsetting, and who wants to put a damper on what should be a happy time of the year?

With the economies around the globe in turmoil, this Christmas can be a delightful experience when you include some heartening Christmas stories. But where do you find those?

These Classic Christmas Stories can become a beautiful family tradition.

For the past two months, I have scoured through hundreds of Christmas stories to find classic stories that will bring smiles to faces. Whether you are reading or listening, these stories will captivate your imagination and warm your heart. I promise - no dying animals or abused children.

And I am happy to say that I found a Baker's Dozen of them - one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas plus one extra! So, whether you celebrate the 12 days of Christmas before or after Christmas, or not at all you'll have 13 Classic stories to read to the children who surround you. You can read them all, or just the ones you like.

Imagine you or someone else in your family cuddled with the children in your life enjoying a generations-old tradition of telling stories. You don't even need a fire in a fireplace or freezing cold weather to enjoy these Christmas stories.

And the stories are all right here at your fingertips. These are stories that children love to hear again and again, year after year, and they are sure to be the foundation for a Christmas tradition of reading stories in your home. The collection includes:

 

A Christmas Matinee - a delightful story about an honest trolley-rider in Boston who saved Christmas for the conductor A Christmas Star - a charming story of a star who found the heart where he belonged Christmas at Fezziwig's Warehouse - a short tale of merriment after work hours Christmas in the Alley - an engaging story about a generous washerwoman who receives a bountiful Christmas gift Christmas in the Barn - an enjoyable story about how a little boy's imagination and love for animals creates a novel Christmas celebration Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas - a fun story about how a crazy quilt became a perfect patchwork quilt and a little girl's doll magically became one year older at Christmas Little Girl's Christmas - an entertaining tale of Little Girl's ride with Santa through the Milky Way and then back to her cozy home - or was it a dream? Little Wolff's Wooden Shoes - an inspiring story about a little boy who gives up his right shoe so a shoeless child has a place for Santa to leave his gifts Old Father Christmas - a classic tale about how a simple, yet beautiful tree creates a memorable Christmas for two young children The Christmas Masquerade - an engaging fantasy chronicling a Mayor's party which begins with Christmas merriment, turns into a town's nightmare, and ultimately results in a bright future for all of the town's children The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner - the Tiny Tim classic from Charles Dickens The Voyage of the Wee Red Cap - an enchanting adventure connecting a shimmer of fairies, a tiny red cap, and a grouchy old man Toinette and the Elves - a fascinating experiment enables a little girl to see herself through the eyes of her family

 

If your house is anything like mine, it wouldn't be Christmas without some stars

These stars are extra special stars for us quilters, because there are a dozen quilt block star patterns! How cool is that?

With these patterns, you could make a collection of quilts. One could be a Star Sampler with 12 different blocks. You could make 12 different quilts, each using one only of the blocks in its design. And then, you could make a quilt with just two different blocks, or three different blocks - - I'm sure you get the idea. The number of quilts you can make with these patterns is, well, a lot.

These patterns have been carefully selected so that each is a 4 patch and whether you choose to include them all in the same quilt, or make separate quilts, because they are 4 patch blocks, they will all fit together. No worrying about different size blocks because one is a 4 patch and should be 8 inches square, and another is a 9 patch that would create a 9 inch square block. And then go and create a quilt using those patterns - akkk!

Each of these quilt block patterns comes with a color picture of the block, using real fabrics - so you can see how the block will look when it is finished. Use our colors, or choose your own. Use Christmas colors, or change the colors and make a Hanukkah quilt. Change the colors again and make a Valentines' Day quilt - or even a graduation quilt for the star student in your life.

And now, you have your quilt block patterns, he has the stories he can read to the kids, and everyone is set. You can sew star blocks while listening to the stories he is telling to the children or grandchildren.

How memorable would that Christmas be?

Evening Star Quilt Block	Star of the Milky Way Quilt Block	Variable Star Quilt Block
Christmas Star Quilt Block	Pinwheel Star Quilt Block	Star and Pinwheels Quilt Block
Martha Washington Star Quilt Block	Star Quilt Block	Star Quilt Block
Ohio Star Quilt Block	Solomon's Star Quilt Block	Star Quilt Block

 

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Special Introductory Membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com

Resources abound in TheQuiltingCoach.com. Hundreds of quilt block patterns, articles about quilting, pictures of quilts and quilt blocks, step-by-step guides of quilt blocks and quilts, discussion forums and tons more.

Every resource you can imagine is right at your fingertips in TheQuiltingCoach.com, and you can play for free for 2 months! What could be better than that? After the second month, you will be charged the low rate of $24.97 per month. You can cancel any time

 

Now you might think that all of this valuable information is going to set you back a fortune.

There are, after all, 12 quilt block patterns which include full size templates, rotary cutting layouts that show you how to lay the templates on strips to cut with a rotary cutter, and the color diagram of the quilt. In addition, several of these quilt blocks will be featured in weekly QuiltBlockLibrary.com videos that demonstrate how to sew the blocks together. And isn't that better than written instructions? You can just watch and sew, rewinding the video whenever you want to watch it again.

If you got each of these patterns individually, you would probably pay $9.00 to $15.00 each. That would total between $108.00 and $180.00 - just for patterns! Even if you got them at QuiltBlockLibrary.com, these would be $2.50 each, or $30.00. And you would need to spend time finding each one, and then downloading them individually.

But, these come all in one convenient package, download them all at once - all picked out and ready to go.

Plus there are 13 classic Christmas stories. These stories represent a variety of authors and types of stories - from the well-known Charles Dickens to the not-so-well-known Mrs. M.A.L. Lane, writing for the Youth's Companion in the early 1900s. I can't even imagine how many books you would need to get to find all of these delightful stories. Plus some of them are included in out of print books that cost a fortune.

But, even if you could find the exact right books on amazon.com, and they were all beat up, and you could get them for 99 cents each, you'd still be paying postage which is $6.95 each. So, for 13 of them, you'd be looking at upwards of $103.22.

In short, for the quilt block patterns and the stories, beginning this Christmas tradition might cost you anywhere between $133.22 and $283.22 plus the $49.94 value of the Free Trial Membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com - for a grand total value of $333.16. And when you see the dreamy smiles on your sleeping children after a night's story time, you would know that it is truly a tiny investment in their future.

But, that is a pretty ridiculous amount. And because I believe that this tradition is a fabulous one to start for every family, quilting or not, your investment in beginning this tradition is a teeny tiny $25 - that's a savings of 92.5%

This is all electronic download material, so you will have instant access to the information. You will be able to start sewing star quilt blocks, and might even have a quilt finished before the grandchildren show up to begin your new Christmas tradition. Imagine you could be reading a classic Christmas story as they are cuddled up in a brand new Christmas quilt. And, really, what could be better than that?

Start your Story-telling Christmas tradition today by downloading these classic Christmas stories and Star Quilt Blocks right now.

Happy Quilting!