Country Sampler Quilts

Groovy Girls...

Just a little reminder that December's Groovy Girls Club is almost here!  Even if you didn't join us for our first meeting in November, it's not too late to join the fun! Last month's theme - "Zippers Are No Big Deal" - featured this great pattern by Atkinson's Designs...

and Dawn taught the group the really super easy way to put in zippers.  So... not only can you make "Cash and Carry", but other great patterns like this beauty by Atkinson's ...

December's theme is "Company's Coming" and this month Dawn's going to help us get ready for holiday entertaining with easy napkins, table toppers, and recipes. Choose fabrics to match your dishes or set the mood with seasonal prints. The 16" luncheon size is made from fat quarters, and the 20" dinner size uses yardage.  We'll even learn some simple napkin folds to add a little pizzaz to our holiday table setting.  

 

So here's the dates and times... and did I mention the class is just $6.00??!  What'd a store, what'd deal!

West Center

Monday                 6:00 - 7:00            December 6th

 

Papillion Store

Wednesday                 6:00 - 7:00            December 15th (this is a date change)

Stop by one of the stores and sign up soon!  

Remember I talked to you several months ago about a video that the great people at AccuQuilt filmed at the West Center Country Sampler, featuring the new (and soon to be in the shops...) Go! Baby Fabric Cutter??  

Well, the video is on the web here ... just in case you missed it!  Just click the "watch video demo" button.

Decorating....

Well, I bet a lot of you were like me this week end - it's the annual ritual of taking down all the fall stuff and bringing out the Christmas stuff.  (George Carlin was sooo right!)  I like to put on the Christmas music while we do this... it just makes the hard work a little more festive, I think.  I gotta tell you though, it's hard to be festive with a husband would rather have a root canal than bring out the Christmas decorations. Not a big Christmas festive sort of guy - never has been, never will be.  

So... because of that, I get ONE chance to enlist him to help get everything out of the basement closet and the attic - and up to the living room for  unpacking, sorting, tossing, and decorating.  (All my job, of course - but that's probably a good thing.)  He spent the rest of the day hiding working in his office or out in the garage.  Funny, the kids used to play that same disappearing act this time of year, too. 

So this is what my living room looks like now...

Kinda looks like The Land of the RubberMaid Tubs, doesn't it?  It really does keep me sane just knowing that there are thousands of living rooms around the country who look just like mine.  And that sometime, within the next four weeks, it will all come together beautifully .... and then we'll take it down.... again.  Big sigh.

I'm hoping the elves come tonight and decorate everything while I'm sleeping.  Of course they've missed my house 33 years in a row now.  By faith burns eternal... maybe tonight's the night!  Here little elf.... here little elf....

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

I know many of you think of Country Sampler as a quilt shop - hopefully your FAVORITE  quilt shop - but at the West Center store, we're a lot more than just quilting!  So... I thought I'd add some eye candy photos from the gift side of the Sampler.    

We're decked out for the holidays....

And we've got some yummy Cheerful Giver candles to make your home smell sooo great.  (I use TONS of candles during the holidays.)  And they're great for teacher and hostess gifts too!

Aren't these snowmen wonderful?

I took a picture of this festive wine bottle holder - wouldn't that be a fun gift for a friend??

Tons of fun holiday tea towels too...

I hope that helped you get in the mood for the holidays - we certainly are.  Stop by and check out all the needful Christmas goodies soon!

 

 

It's a road trip....

The next Country Sampler newsletter won't be out for awhile, but I wanted to give you a little advance notice of just one of the fun things we've planned for 2011!

Yup, it's a Quilter's Road Trip and take a look at the great shops we're going to be visiting...

If you've never been on a bus trip, Edith, you're really missing the boat! The gals have sooo much fun and they do some great quilt shopping too!

We're taking sign ups NOW, so check your calendar, grab a girl friend or two, fire up the old mini van, and come see us to reserve your seat on the bus!  Just $100.00 down will save your seat and you've got until the first of March to pay the rest! 

Hmmmm..... what a great Christmas gift from the family, don't cha think??  If they're anything like my family, they never know what to get me for Christmas and I never know what to put on my list.  Hey, it's a win-win situation!

So what are you waiting for??!  Start that list for Santa!  (And maybe print off a copy of the poster.  I've always found that Santa responds well to pictures!)

Admittedly, it's not a great picture.  It must have been the lighting --- Okay, it was most likely me and my limited photography abilities.

I took this photo at the Homestead Hearth booth at Quilt Market this fall.  It's the finished quilt from the upcoming 2011 block of the month program, called Civil War Chronicles - and we're starting it this coming January!!  (I know I've talked to you about this before, Edith.)

Carla has been stitching her little fingers to the bone, trying to get our model done before the new year, and last week she brought the finished center into the store so we could all "oh and ahhh"!

Isn't it a beauty??!  We're already taking sign-ups for this BOM, so ya need to stop in one of the stops and get your name on the list!  

Don't know what I'm talking about???  Page 7 of the fall newsletter has a little more of a description of this program, so check it out.  Here's the link.... (Ignore the photo of me on page 1... I am not a x-ray zombie... it just looks that way!)

 http://www.countrysampleronline.com/newsletter_fall_winter_2010.pdf

 

Rug hooking camp...

I slipped away for a few days this past week to attend the Nebraska Rug Hookers Retreat at the Lied Center in Nebraska City and is was sooo fun!  We had about 36 "hookers", three teachers, and a room full of wool to buy --- ah, heaven!

These pictures were taken during the last days, so there's wool everywhere!

This was my teacher, Maggie Bonanomi...

She's working hard doing a little color planning for one of the gals.

Maggie brought along some of her rugs to inspire us...

Fun, huh?

And I made some new friends... this is Deb and Kathleen.  Look how hard they're working!

Kathleen brought this rug that she had just finished and I immediately fell in love with it and ordered a pattern for myself!

I swore I wasn't going to buy anything new, since I have LOTS of projects that need to be finished, but that promise went out the door when I saw all that wool and so many new rug patterns.

But it was the rugs that everyone was working on that were the stars of the retreat...

And this turkey rug was unbelievable... the color were so well planned...

Did I tell you I went with my mommy?  She worked on a small piece of one of her "babies".  Pris Butler helped her draw, design, and hook this little beauty...

She's the real "hooker' of the family - so, of course, she finished this one and started another... big sigh.

This is the rug I worked on during retreat.  It is an older Maggie design that I've had for several years and FINALLY got around to hooking.  I'm loving it so far...

Here's hoping your week was a creative one, too!

Christmas Countdown...

OMG, there's only 39 days to Christmas!  How can that be??!  What happened, was I in a coma for a couple of months??!  How in the world am I suppose to get everything done in just 39 days??!  

Maybe I need one of these....

 

That's Jo... and she stitched us up this advent panel from the new "Tidings" fabric from Art to Heart.  Isn't it wonderful? 

It's somewhere around 3/4 of a yard and looks like this when you buy it...

You simply cut out the printed characters and fuse them to felt or wool,then cut 'em out.  The panel shows you where to add the buttons and with just a little floss, you can button each character onto the panel as the days go by.  We added a red border from Nancy's line for the outer border - just to give it a little extra pizazz and then machine quilted the background.  It's a nice size too, finishing at around 23" x 33".

Here's a close up of the details....

 

Wonderful, don't cha think?  And really "doable" for Christmas (remember... only 39 days!!). 

Now -  I don't have this on the website, but if you're interested, stop by one of the stores or give us a call and we'll give ya all the information.

P.S...

Thanks Jo, for being our Vana and a good sport  - I know how excited you were to have your picture on the website  --  not!   Ya look good, tho! 

Count On It ....

At Country Sampler, we always look forward to a new Nancy Halverson book (of Art to Heart fame) and Count On It is in the stores now - and it's another winner!   

You can celebrate the year by counting each day of the month or enjoy the anticipation of counting down to your favorite holidays. You can decorate for birthdays with a special Birthday Quilt, displaying either their age or the countdown to their special day.... You can make a Happy Birthday garland and add that special person's name (wouldn't this be fun for kids??!)... Or, just make the little monthly mini wallhangings to display each month!  

So.. just to tempt ya a liddle bit - a few pictures from the book....

,

Isn't it great??!  And it's just $18.00 - that's a lot of fabulous designs for just a little money!  

Hey, and don't forget Tidings, another new book from Art to Heart...

A wonderful book for the holidays!  And, both are in the shops and on the website (www.countrysampleronline.com  ). Stop by either and check 'em out!

P.S... I FINALLY changed the pictures on the opening page of the website slideshow, so check those out too!  :)

We Have a Winner!

Well, time's up and we've got a winner for our fall give-a-way....

Jen B

Jen, email and let me know how I can get your "Who, Me??" kit to you!  Do I need to mail it to ya or can you come into the store and pick it up?  

( My email is .... ctysampler@aol.com  )

Thanks everybody who sent a comment or photo!  It was really fun reading your comments about autumn!