Country Sampler Quilts

Downton Abbey....

Are you watching this British television period drama series set on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in North Yorkshire??  If you're not, you should be! I am soooo hooked!

 

The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, the Yorkshire country house of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V. The first series spans the two years before World War I, beginning with news of the sinking of the Titanic, which sets the story in motion.

The second series covers the years 1916 to 1919 (that's the one that's on PBS now, Sunday nights).   

The cast is amazing and  includes Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern.  I think Maggie Smith could just stand there and recite the dictionary and I'd be completely entertained.  

Now... I found season 1 on (I think) Amazon and (again, I think) season 2 may be available too.  Trust me, Edith, it's great to watch while you're sewing!  (Okay, I watch it sitting on the sofa, with my mouth open - I'm so entralled - but YOU could probably watch it while quilting!) 

Show 'n Share....

I just HAVE to share a great blog that I've found - it's the Olde Green Cupboard blog, and I LOVE it.  Gloria owned the Olde Green Cupboard - a country gift and quilt shop in Jacksonville, Florida.  She closed the shop in 2010 and she's retired now and does lots of primitive type patterns and designs.  I was lucky enough to go to her shop before it closed and it was soooo fun - I kinda wanted to live there.  Not necessarily in Jacksonville, just IN the shop!

Anyhooo, here's the photo that really caught my eye...

I know it's not very big, but look closely.... it's a really cool way to hang primitive curtains with hooks!!  I love it!  She also adds...

You can find old antique spoons - take them out to the concrete driveway - get a STRONG hammer and hammer the spoon part flat... then bend the spoon into a hook.  Screw them to the board... are you with me?  I've seen hooks made from spoons - with all different patterns on the handle - they are so pretty!  Try it!!!

Isn't that a great idea??  She also has fun pictures like this one that make you smile...

Honestly, I don't know where she gets all the funny pictures but they always start my day with a smile!

So... here's the link....

          http://oldegreencupboard.blogspot.com/

Trust me, Edith, you'll love it!

More fabric...

I've got even more new fabric to show you! Oh, happy dance!

The picture below is of Tavern Blues, by Bonnie Blue and Marcus Brothers. To-die-for blues, blacks, and creams!

 

 

We've got two models in the works from this pattern... 

 

Remember I showed you this pattern when we got back from Quilt Market??It was a show stopper in Houston and the quilts are going to be stunning - I can't wait 'til we get 'em finished and quilted.  Of course, we'll have kits - I'll let you know! 

Next up, a new line, from Kansas Troubles, called Cattails and Clover  ... classic Kansas Troubles.  It has all the colors of autumn and would make a yummy fall quilt.

 

And, this photo just shows the "bunches o' batiks" that are flooding in.  It seemed like EVERY fabric company had batiks this year and we bought tons.This spring should be a great year for batik lovers! 

 

Whew!  And there's more a-coming!!  (Be still my little fabricholic heart!!) Don't worry, though... I keep ya updated!

Fabric!!

I thought I'd show ya some of the new fabric that's arrived in the shops - we all need a fabric fix once in awhile, right?  RIGHT!

This beau-ti-ful pew of fabric is Elizabethtown by Jo Morton.

If you go onto the Andover website here, you'll see the free to use pattern from Andover - verrry pretty and it's a basket pattern too!

But that's not all!!  Any day now, our favorite UPS man should be bringing us boxes full of Bridgeport, Jo's latest fabric line, with rich reds....

 

 

Yummy browns.....

 

And some of the best blacks you've ever laid your eyes on. Isn't it great? The gals that are signing up for our Jo's Little Women Club this year are going to have a lot of fabric to choose from!  (No, really -- A LOT of fabric! I'm not sure WHERE we're going to put all this "Jo" fabric!  Oh well, ya know we'll figure out something.  :)

 

And, if you've been in the shops lately, you've probably seen this oh-so pretty line of fabric from Moda and Blackbird Designs, called Blueberry Crumb Cake....

 

 

Admittedly, not my best picture since all the bolts seem to be leaning, but maybe you can see the colors better in this photo...

 

 

Even as I write, we're stitching up two quilts from a pattern by Planted Seed Designs, called Star Spangled. Once again, the photo doesn't do it justice - it's kinda washed out, but the quilts are going to be gor-ge-ous - I'll get ya a photo when the quilts are finished.

 

 

This next photo is from a line from Bonnie Blue and Marcus Brothers, called Tavern Blues.  I LOVE this reproduction line and it's flying out the door....

 

And, we should have the quilt from this pattern finished and up in the shops soon...

Isn't it awesome???  I was a real show stopper at Quilt Market and it's been back ordered forever (that just shows how popular it is!). We FINALLY got the patterns back in stock at the shops and I've got it on the web site too. Once we get the kits finished, I'll try and get 'em on the web site too!

There's more new fabric to show you, but I'll leave that for another day.  I've got to get to work sometime today!  LOL

Talk to ya soon.... Deb

Just for me...

It's finally beginning to fell like winter here in the heartland.  So yesterday, when I was at the grocery store, I bought myself a little bouquet of tulips.....

It's amazing how five little stems of tulips can brighten your day!  Here's hoping that today is a big, bright day for you!

We've Been Stitching!!

During the holidays I know a lot of you slow down on your quilting (at least once all the sewing gifts are finished), hopefully to have a little time for some egg nog and some holiday cheer...  but not those awesome Country Sampler elves. Nope, these women are amazing and I've got some beautiful quilts to show for their efforts!  So join me for a short - "show 'n share". (That's the southern way of saying show and tell, don't cha know.  It sounds a whole lot better if you say it with a southern accent though.  Go ahead and try it ... I'll wait.)  

 

Okay... but first, before I get to the beautiful quilts, I just HAD to show you the new framed art that we have in the shops....

 

Do you see it??!  All the notions spell out QUILT!!  I love that it's in black and white too.  Now, I didn't put these babies on the website because we only have a few left, but if you're interested you could give us a call and see if we still have one or two.  Cost is $29.98, just in case you were wondering.  I plan to reorder when they're all gone, but it takes a looong time to get them - so I just wanted to give ya a little heads up.  Wouldn't it be a great Valentine's Day or Mother's Day present - heck, just buy it for yourself!!  I know I'm going to.

Okay, ready for some new quilts--- YEAH!

First, a really great book, SImply Charming - Small Scrap Quilts of Yesterday. It came out last spring and if you like small scrap quilts this is a "must have"! There are 20 projects in Tara's book and although we haven't stitched and kitted all of them - we've got quite a few on display (with their kits) at the Papillion store.  

 

Here's just a few to tempt ya....

First up.... "Auntie's Favorite".  Such a sweet little quilt, 24" x 27", and it's sooo great in rich browns, reds, and creams!!

 

And, "Nellie's Nine Patch" - really pretty in blues and creams - just 15" x 18"!! (Wouldn't this look great in red and white, too??  Yup, I'd definitely like to do both colorways!)

And lastly, "Coal Miner's Tunnel" - 23" x 26" - and the picture really doesn't do it justice.  (I think I got waaay to crop-happy or something.)  Trust me, it's really neat in person. 

I've got all of these on the web site under the "Quilt Kits" section and the really great thing about all of them is that they're really affordable kits - $28.98, $14.98, and $24.98, respectively.  Boy, you can't beat that!

BUT, if you're out and about in our Papillion area, stop by and see 'em all - we've got lots more that I didn't get a picture of and they all have kits!! Double yeah!! 

 

A Little Update...

Well, since inventory is finally done (except for compiling all the numbers into some cohesive arrangement that the accountant can understand) and since we've got all (errrr.... most) of the Christmas models put away, I decided it was time for a little updating on the old blog of some of the new stuff we've got in the quilt shops.  So, I got out my handy dandy pocket camera and took a few pictures.  Heh, maybe I can even entice you to stop in and see 'em in person!

First up... "45 and Life to Go", a pattern by Primitive Gatherings.  This first picture is of the quilt at the West Center store, made by Carol Avok.

This is a big quilt ... king size, measuring 110" x 110", made with 10" blocks and it's really stunning in person!  We used Primitive Gatherings line of little reproduction prints in creams, tans, and blacks - sooo perfect!  AND... we've got kits at the West Center store ... AND kits and patterns on the web site.... AND, if I'm lucky... I've figured out how to create a link to the web page!!  (Cross your fingers that it works, I'm REALLY bad a this computer stuff!)  Anyway, here's the "maybe" link...

http://countrysampleronline.com/shopping/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=284&zenid=dgg0n5vt48q2me0q15t3338ic0

 

But... that's not all!!!  Nope, the Papillion shop has stitched up the wall size version of "45 and Life To Go" - can you tell we loved this pattern??!

 

The wall hanging size measures 55" x 55" and uses 5" blocks.  And... surprise, surprise.... we've got kits.  If you can't get into the shop, here's another "maybe" link to the web site...

http://countrysampleronline.com/shopping/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=285

But that's not all!!  I'll be back with some more pictures of the new quilts in the shops and really needful (and new) fabric in the store soon!

Inventory....

Did my little graphic get your attention??  Nahhh, we're not closing - except for inventory!  I just wanted remind ya that the West Center store will be closed tomorrow, Monday, January 9th - but the Papillion store will be open.

Then.... we switch stores and the Papillion store will be closed on Tuesday, January 10th for the day so we can count bolts there.  

We've already started counting all the misc. stuff - notions, books, patterns, and kits - so I'm hoping we can get each store done in one day.  We have somewhere around 5,000 bolts at each store, so that's a lot of lifting, sorting, weighing, lifting again, and rearranging for one day.  Wish us luck... we'll probably need it!  

 

A little chuckle.....

I "borrowed" this from another blog, but it was waaay too cute to past up!!

 

Hee!  Hee!

Happy New Year!!

Well, we're getting ready to kiss the old year behind and bring in the New Year!  Yeah!  Aren't you ready for a new year???  I know I am.  Me and the "hub" are going to have a pretty low key celebration (read as ... we're not going to do anything).  I'm still limping around from my hip surgery and he's got one of the nastiest colds I've ever seen. That's okay with me, I've always thought that New Year's Eve is for the young and the amateurs.  

I do have a New Year's tradition of starting a new quilt on January 1st.  I probably only going to get the cutting done tomorrow, but it's a start, huh? Here's a photo of what it "should" look like when it's done...

Isn't it cute??!  It'll be a model for the West Center store when it's done, since I don't have any grand babies yet.  (I do have a grand dog, but I don't make quilts for her - thank goodies I'm not that far gone!)

Today's our last official day of the annual Fat Quarter Frenzy and it's gone really well - thanks to everybody who's stopped by and purchased fat quarters.  I lot of other shops try to copy what we do, but nobody does it better than your old buddies here at The Sampler!  

We're getting ready for inventory in the next week or so, and it's great to have a little less fabric to count.  I got to tell ya though, as we've all gotten older that whole inventory thing has gotten a lot harder.  Lifting, weighting, and sorting thousands of bolts is more exercise than many of us get all year!

On another note, I was in the West Center shop on Friday (limping around for a couple of hours... arghhhh) and we all got a special "show and share" treat from one of our customers, Connie Sorensen, that I wanted to share with you.  Here's her wonderful quilt, called "Barns for All Seasons"...

Isn't it amazing?? She picked out and used over 200 fat quarters.  Here's a couple of close ups...

 

 

Tons of little people and really specialized fabric too.  All those little flowers aren't fabric - they're all embroidered on the blocks!

I think we have some of the most amazing customers and friends.  Here's hoping you quilt up something "amazing" this new year!!