Country Sampler Quilts

Waaay to Busy.....

I've been AWOL from blogging for awhile - just too busy to take the time to sit down at the computer and write. It's not that I don't have anything to say.  Nope, I've got tons to blog about - our March Retreat pictures, Jo's new project she made for the store, new fabric, the big upcoming bus trip, new models in the shops.... But this last week I was on a "working vacation".  Not quilting, tho.... WEDDING PLANNING!

Yup, my son, E.J. (Mr. -  "I'm not ready to commit"), is getting married to a wonderful girl at Sanibel Island, Fl at the end of May, so we took a week to work on a lot of necessary wedding details in Florida. Now, I know this is a mostly quilting blog, but just to show ya how busy I've been.... here's a few pictures from our week.  

The location for the wedding is a resort on the island and while we were there, they were setting up for a wedding.  It was really helpful to see everything and we got a much better idea of how things will look.

That's my husband and Crystal (the bride-to-be) pretending that they're walking down the aisle.  Pretty by the beach, don't cha think?  Sanibel has some of the best beaches, best sand, and best shelling, in the United States.

Below is the tent they were setting up the day we were there.  We'll have a tent too, but since we're going to have a smaller wedding - it's going to be a little smaller tent.

Some of our achievements included a food tasting for the reception, a cake tasting, we decided on a photographer, decided on all the flowers and booked the florist, found a salon to do hair for the big day, found a rental house for some of the bride's family, bought the ties and shoes for the wedding party, and did A LOT of wedding shopping!  I had forgotten how many decisions there are in planning a wedding -- it's been a loooong time since I had to plan a wedding.  

Oh, and being the "crafty" gals that we are, we made a few wedding creations of our own.

We bought two ready made signs (at HomeGoods, my fav!), repainted them, and then stenciled them. We'll attach these to the boardwalk going down to the beach.  The other one we made says, "Eat, Drink, and Get Married" - it's kind of the theme for the wedding.  Of course, I didn't get a picture!

We put together this little basket to set at the end of the board walk for guests on their way back to the tent....

AND... we put together this cute little bird cage for cards (at Marshall's - $29.95 - another big score!).  It started out as brown, so we had to repaint it first.  We're going to line the bottom with sea shells for the big day.  We also found the cute little picture holder (almost out of the picture on the right side) that will hold a picture of the EJ and Crystal -- of course, it was the wrong color and had to be repainted too.

I found some cute bridal shower invitations that we can personalize...

Crystal's colors are kind of a purple/blue and yellow, so we're using hydragenas and lemons as our theme.  We're going to line the sand with lemons.. kind of like this picture....

The table centerpieces will look kind of like the picture below, but with big bouquets of hydragenas in them.  I think we're going to cut up the lemons into slices, rather than using whole lemons.  The ironic thing is that the bride is really allergic to citrus, so I guess she won't be handling the lemons! Oh, and we bought lemon yellow and periwinkle lanterns (like in the picture) that can be hung from the top of the tent - sooo pretty.

And, that's just the tip of the ol' wedding iceburg!  Of course, I did a little shopping for me too.  Waaaay too little, but I did score a few finds.

A new pair of shoes and a wedding purse, both from the Flea Market in Ft. Myers.  OMG, I LOVE that Flea Market, it has everything!

And, I bought myself this coffee table book of the art work of Lowell Herrero.  I first saw his paintings in Napa Valley and really liked his work. Unfortunately (but not surprising!), I couldn't afford any of his paintings, but for 60% off - I could at least afford the book!!  

So... that was my week in a nutshell.  Hopefully, I didn't bore you to death, but we're pretty excited about the wedding.

I have lots of pictures and fun coming in my next blog about our Country Sampler Retreat week end we held this month, so stay tuned... I'll try and write ya all about it yet this week!

Duhhhh....

Catchy title, huh?  Why duh???

Well, this weekend is our spring Country Sampler retreat.  So, of course, I needed a new project to sew on (along with the three "need to finish" projects that are going too) - so that meant a little precutting.  I wrestled with that stupid rotary cutter - slicing, reslicing, pressing harder - until I FINALLY changed the blade... DUH!  What a difference a need blade makes!  

Why do we want sooo long to change the blade???  I'm now deeming this "National Change Your Rotary Cutter Blade Week".  No, I'm serious - you never know - it could catch on.  And while your at it, why not put in a new needle in your sewing machine.  If you're like me, you probably can't remember the last time you did either of these two minute tasks.  And what a difference it makes!

I've been doing a little stitching this month too.  FIrst, I finished this April "Count on It" - in the stores now and kits available!

And I'm ready to start the May "Count on It" at retreat.  

I also stitched up this little anime bag for my daughter...

She's an anime nut, speaks Japanese, has a "serious" Japanese boyfriend, and just got back from a semester in Japan in December (thank you, God).  I got the pattern from this magazine...

I liked the pattern, but unfortunately I didn't realize the seam went right down the middle of the bag's front and back.  Solution??  The big fussy cut pocket on the front!  

I was afraid that the regular cotton fabric wouldn't be sturdy enough for the hard use she puts her totes through, so I double stitched all the seams and backed the front and back fabric with some 200 count muslin.  I just used my old buddy, 505...

and spray glued the muslin to the bag front and back.  It worked like a charm.  I really didn't want to use a iron-on interfacing and this method seemed to give the bag and the handles a little needed "umph" and stability without getting stiff.

Now, I know on other blogs they're showing these huge quilts they've finished in three days; but for me, I'm just pretty excited to get two small projects out of the old sewing room.  Baby steps, Edith, baby steps.



 

Wa-Hoooo! A Bus Trip....

I think it's time for a little retail therapy this spring, don't you? Hopefully, you've been in to see your old buddies at Country Sampler lately and checked out our Spring Fling Bus Trip; but if not, let me give you the skinny....

Here's the flyer for this really fun trip.

Yup, eight GREAT shops - all for just $199.00 for a luxury bus, two nights lodging, and continental breakfast. (And, with the cost of gas going through the roof, it's a real bargain.)  And these ARE great shops, Edith!  Google a couple of these and see for yourself!   Lori Lang's going to be your bus mom again this time and she's always such fun - we're really lucky to have her as our tour guide.  Hey, maybe this could be an early Mother's Day gift from the kids!!?  After all, those 28 hours of labor should be worth sumpin', don't cha think??

And... for those of you who have already signed up, I just got the traveling schedule for our bus.  So as soon as I look it over, okay it, call the bus company with the final schedule, and find us two hotels in the correct cities; I'll get you out a little note.  Stay tuned and sign up!

Moda for the Holidays...

Ann and I met with our Moda rep. last week - alway a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.  They didn't have a ton of new stuff, but then they never do this time of year.  I suppose they're waiting for Quilt Market to debut the rest, BUT we did have a chance to review what we previously bought for Christmas, fall, winter, and Halloween. In almost every line of fabric, we added more bolts to our previous order and added a couple of new lines of seasonal fabric that we were on the fence about before.  (Again.... a dirty job but somebody's got to do it.)  I have to admit, I tend to get an almost adrenalin rush when they start bringing out the new fabric!!  The old heart beats a little bit faster and you WANT IT ALL... NOW!!  So, here's a sneak peak at four of the holiday beauties we bought....

Below is "Countdown to Christmas" by Sweetwater - and it's just my absolute favorite for Christmas!  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but I know I will be taking some hefty cuts of these guys home with me when it comes in the shop in May.

 

This was a "keeper" too.  It's Nature's Gift, by Deb Strain.  A little more traditional Christmas, but sometimes you need that, don't ya??

The reds, greens, and blacks were gor-ge-ous!  Not to mention a couple of great creams....

 

We added Sandy Gervais', Grand Finale fall line, to our order....

 

And added more bolts of "Trick or Treat" by Deb Strain, to our previous order.... LOVED IT!

including this really fun panel....

that will make this nifty wall hanging ...

Tell the truth.... your heart's beating just a little faster now, isn't it?? Maybe it is REALLY an addiction, huh?

Is it Spring yet??

Today we're getting about an inch of sloppy wet snow that will probably turn into rain.  I gotta tell ya... I am sooooo done with winter!  Do I hear an "amen"???  Now if we could just convince Mother Nature to be done with it too, I'd be a happy camper.

So... since we all want to be D O N E with winter, I thought I'd include a few pictures from the store that whisper that Spring is on it's way ...

There's too much light from the window in this picture, but you get the idea.  Don't 'cha just love the new wall clock in the bottom right??  I took one of these home to try!

Below is the front table as you walk in the door.  It may be snowing outside, but we're ignoring it!

So, let's all raise our coffee cups to the end of winter.  Okay, I'll say it... AMEN!

Saturday with the Goos Nest...

This is my friend, Jan Goos....

Jan has a pattern company called, The Goos Nest, that specializes in punch needle and wool applique designs and on Saturday she came for a little punch needle demo and a trunk show at the West Center Store.  Thank you to everybody who came to see Jan - we had a great turn out!

I took a few pictures of the afternoon that I wanted to share with those of you who couldn't make it.  (Doesn't everybody look really serious??  I don't know what that's all about.)  You can see some of her wool applique designs on the table.

Below are some of Jan's plethora of patterns and designs in punch needle. We carry most of these are the West Center store and have several on the web site too!

Here's a couple of closer photos of her work....

Look at the edges of her punch needle - she has this really cool method of finishing off her projects using cording that makes them look like mini wool rugs.  (I made sure I was around for that part of the demo, 'cause I want to try that on my next project!) 

As you can see by the pictures, Jan has an awesome sense of color and uses muted country colors in her designs....

Here's some of her fabulous wool applique designs.  Pretty darn cool, huh?

Yummy!!