The Celebration of Easter + Free Chicken and Nests Patterns Updated 2024

Happy Easter: Ostern, Pesach, Eosturmonath, Great Day and Great Night and I hope you have a blessed and holy Passover!

The Jewish celebration of Passover, The Feast of the Unleavened Bread was practiced by ancient Israelites at the beginning of their New Year, the Spring Equinox. 

The Christian Easter, depends on Passover for not only much of its symbolic meaning, but for its dating on the calendar.

The Christian celebration is linked with the observance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his entombment. Falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon and the multicultural belief in the meaning of rebirth and the promise in the seasonal cycle therefore of life everlasting.

The name of our holy day 'Easter', is derived from that of the Teutonic goddess Eostre, or Eoster, or Ostern and was celebrated during the pascal month of Eosturnmonath, meaning Great Day or Great Night.

Connected of course to the earliest nature based celebration to welcome in Spring. It is common to see wild hares or rabbits which ushered in our conception of the association with bunnies or the bunny rabbit bringing in a new cycle of birth and rebirth year after year symbolized by the laying hens and their ongoing cycles of laying eggs.

What may appear as diverse rites of Spring reveal themselves as sharing common cultural beliefs in life, death, resurrection and rebirth.

As the night begins her retreat, and the dawn of the new light and life, begin their ascent and resurrection, the balance shifts within each of us.

It becomes a time of renewal, and rebirth and a time to lay down the old, and begin life anew. 

We set out our baskets of eggs and we celebrate this happy occasion, just as nature celebrates her own time of new growth.

In the wild forest, the hens sense the spring time change and begin to lay their colorful eggs. 

Perhaps our own ancestors went out to hunt them, perhaps bringing them back in their nests, or in baskets imitating them. 

Our nest-like baskets of decorated eggs and the Eoster Egg Hunt, remind us of this lovely revitalization of nature and our common sharing in the joys, goodness and abundance of life.

The symbol of the egg banishes the past and starts afresh. It is a symbol of purification and it is a symbol of rebirth. As we crack our eggs, we peel back the white of the melting snow, and we release and free the golden sun within.

Easter blessings to all of you, in all countries, with all customs and cultures. And happiest days of rebirth and re-awakenings for a new and blessed season.

Free Easter Quilt Patterns

Free Chicken Patterns Courtesy of All the Girls in the Coop!!!

CHICKENS, CHICKENS, CHICKENS! FREE PATTERNS AND TUTORIALS!

Steel Scraps: Chicken Pincushions with Thread Caddy Nests

http://steelscraps.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-pincushions-with-thread-caddy.html

Nests!

Monkeyroom: Tutorial

http://monkeyroom.blogspot.com/2007/01/tutorial.html

 

Weathervane wall quilt, free pattern by Debbie Busby at All People Quilt

(Sign in to see and to use for free)

Rise and Shine wall hanging, free pattern by Wendy Sheppard at Ivory Spring

 

Mr. Rooster, free pattern by Caroll at West Michigan Quilter

Cat's Rooster, free pattern by Jennifer Ofenstein at Sew Hooked

Jaunty Rooster, free pattern by Julie Lynch for Benartex

Birds of a Feather wall quilt by Cynthia Scott at Janome

Redwork Chicken Embroidery Pattern by Cheryl C. Fall for About.com

Rise and Shine Placemat Tutorial by Vicki Welsh

 Rooster Quilt Block, free pattern at How Stuff Works

Chickens in the Coop, inspired by “Birds of a Feather” from Kevin Kosbab, made by Laura Boehnke for All People Quilt 

Hen and Flowers wall hanging, free pattern at All People Quilt

Cocks Crow in the Morn, free pattern by Kaaren Johnston at The Painted Quilt with blessings and gratitude.

Michele Bilyeu Creates With Heart and Hands sharing an imaginative, magical, and healing journey from Alaska to Oregon and back again. Creating, designing, sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting from my heart and with my hands.

My Puppy Blessings Quilt and Blankets

Every new baby needs a quilt whether than baby is of the human or the fur and feathers one! I've made quilts and fleece blankets for my dogs, cats and grandcats!

 And I've made quilts for my chickens..oh, yes, I have!

And if you saw this precious little pup, and then heard that little beloved fellow not even 10 weeks old had a serious accident with a can lid from a tipped over recycling bin and almost cut off his tongue and required not one but two surgeries to reconnect it..well, you'd want to do more for him than I did!

But yes, I had to make him a puppy blessings quilt to welcome him into our family..just as I do my grandbabies! And I had to make fleece blankets for cuddling up with and laying on and just playing enjoying the way puppies do!

So, the fabrics were collected, floors filled up with projects and sewing machines and thread tying needles were busy for a simple but soft little quilt of squares of absolutely perfect fabric, I had saved for 'some unknown reason' for 10 years or more!

And I used my fleece scraps from other projects to make small fleece blankets..sewn around the edges two inches in and then just cut fringed all around..for cuddling blankies.

A nice little stack of new gifts for the wee fellow, and a huge pile of old hand me down blankets and even an old quilt for soft flooring for the fellow and well, you know..just in cases ;-) 

(Not showing those old ratty things but boy, did they come in handy and were so appreciated last month when he first arrived!)

Ocho..see the figure 8 on his precious little face, below...is a Miniature Australian Shepherd..and my fabric I'd saved for so long without even knowing hardly anything about this breed, or anyone who even had one...so here, I'd saved....Mini Aussies fat quarters in three colors..the red, light blue and warm golden beige. Mixed in with some lasso fabric to match the lassos on the Aussie fabric and some cowboy hats and boots....leftover from bigger quilts given away years ago...perfect fabulous fun for a little pup quilt!

Surprise, sweet little one..this is for you with lots of love from Grandma Michele!

And yes!!!! As hot as summer is in my sewing loft and little sewing nook, I still made some quilts for donation to my favorite quilt and blanket charitable causes!

I haven't completely gone to the dogs ;-)And the chickens, and the cats...and the grandbabies...oh, wait! Just maybe I have !!


Michele Bilyeu Creates With Heart and Hands as she shares her imaginative, magical, and healing journey from Alaska to Oregon. Creating, designing, sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting... from my heart and with my hands.