Making Memories Class

I promised you info in a few days on our Making Memories class, but I just couldn't wait.  I am so excited about starting classes and using our new classroom.

Using family photos

Using scanned child's artwork

The dates for the class are January 9-10.  Call the shop to check availability.

Using our Cades Cove pictures and original oil paintings by JM Stewart

Our goal for the class is to enable you, the quilter, to put some of your favorite pictures on fabric in order to make a memory quilt.  When you get to class we will have your pictures printed and ready to go. You will have the choice of a one day or two day class during which we will help you complete a project using your pictures.

And if you are unable to attend one of our classes we can still print the pictures on fabric for you.  Below is a price list.

(1) 8 x 10    $8.00

(5) 8 x 10  $35.00

(2) 5 x 7  $9.95

(6) 5 x 7  $25.00

A completed pillow  $45.00

Sneak Peek

Well, it has been a crazy past couple of months.  Thank you so much to all of our customers who have helped to make this one of our best fall seasons ever.  That's what quilt shops are all about.....quilters who love to quilt.

So we are very excited to announce a new addition to Holloway's Country Home.  We have just completed remodeling our back building into a classroom just for you quilters, complete with sewing tables, design walls, ironing table, a kitchenette for your snacking needs, and even a sitting area if you need a break.

Classes will be starting in January.  Stay posted for a listing of classes.  Almost before the paint dried our first Making Memories class scheduled in January was tentatively filled up.  Look for a post in the next few days with the info on this class.  There may still be room for you !

Are you getting excited about coming to quilt with us?

I hope so.

Quilt Collaboration

So often customers, especially new quilters, will ask us if we belong to a guild or a quilting circle of some type.  The answer will vary depending on which of the girls are in the shop that day.  Pauline has a group of friends she meets with once a month. Jessica is teaching many of her friends on campus how to sew.  Maria, of course, is part of the quilt world at large.  The rest of us are pretty much on our own.

The next question these customers will ask is if we find it beneficial to quilt with a group.  Now for those of us who don't have a group to meet with, this has been a tricky question.  Until just a couple weeks ago, my answer would have been I don't know.

But then I realized something.  The Holloway's group of friends and family is our quilt group.  We are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other.  And often each quilt is a collaboration of ideas.

For instance, take this quilt.....

We have this beautiful monochromatic fabric featuring owls.  But it has been overlooked for a few weeks on the shelf. Amanda wanted to do something to feature it, but what?

Then during a discussion about the quilt Pauline made for her grandson, an idea was born.

We used these fabrics in keeping with the monochromatic theme....

Then made these blocks that Maria had shown us how to do earlier this spring....

And used Pauline's layout concept...

Voila!!!! A quilt of collaboration was born.

Now our beautiful theme fabric is featured in a quilt kit in the shop.

So the answer to all our customer's questions is yes!!!!

We belong to a group of quilters....it's the friends and family of Holloway's Country Home.

And yes, it is beneficial to our quilting. We inspire each other.

And you are part of that group too.  We welcome show and tell customers at the shop and online at both our Facebook page and our blog.

And the winner is.....

Maria has really been on the go lately.  She just returned from a trip to meet with Ro Gregg, designer for Paintbrush Studios.

They look like they are just having too much fun.

The week before she was at AQS Chattanooga.

What a wonderful time she had meeting with all the quilters who stopped by the booth.  Many of those quilters also registered for a drawing for our fantastic gift basket for a Quilter's Weekend in Pigeon Forge.

So without further ado........drumroll please.....

The winner is.......

Lyn from Dayton, TN

Lyn has already been notified and her prize has been shipped out.  We are all looking forward to hearing how much she enjoys her trip to A Mountain Quilfest in March.

Hope to see you all there too.

Original Art and the Designing of a Quilt

We completed a new quilt design this week. 

Introducing "Springtime Blooming in the Cove"

Our shop is nestled in the sleepy town of Cosby, TN right in the midst of the Great Smoky Mountains.  Over the years Holloway's has become known for our quilts that reflect the beauty of nature that surrounds us.  We are 2 miles away from one of the many entrances to the National Park and many of our customers stop on their way to or from one of the campgrounds or hiking trails.

These campers and hikers have usually ventured throughout the many areas of the park.  One of the most beautiful and historic areas is Cades Cove. Holloway's has been pleased to provide our customers with printed fabric blocks of the buildings of Cades Cove for many years.  These blocks have always been screen printed so we have advised you to use them for primarily art quilts that are not washed frequently. We have now begun commercially printing the cabins ourselves.  They are beautiful and able to be washed more frequently.

Recently with our acquisition of a Fabricmaker we have ventured even deeper into the fabric printing options.  Maria's friend Jean Stewart from Stewart Gallery in the Arts and Crafts Community has painted gorgeous depictions of our favorite wildflowers of the Smokies.  We used our Fabricmaker to print these wonderful blocks for our quilts. 

If you would like to see the original artwork, it's just a short drive from the shop to visit Stewart Gallery where they are displayed.

Sometimes as quilters we see things around us that we would love to memorialize in fabric.  That's the way we feel about the beauty of nature in Great Smoky Mountains.  We are loving the flexibility of creating our own fabric elements for our quilts.

The Unglamorous Life of a Quilt Shop

So often our customers will tell one of the girls at the shop how wonderful it must be to work there. And it is! We are truly like family at Holloway's. And our customers are part of that family too. But like all quilters we have deadlines and projects that could easily overwhelm us. For the past few weeks we have been moving stock and fixtures all around the store to make your shopping experience better and to make room for all the new fabric coming in.  Check out the new Christmas look of the fireplace room.

And our new line of civil war fabrics - "Memories of the Civil War" by Studio E

Unfortunately all this rearranging put us just a little behind on a special order and on a lot of the basic things we do every week.

 

So Monday we got busy. Making potholders is not one of our favorite projects simply because we do so many (we keep small finished items in several of the National Park Welcome Centers). But we got busy and finished part of a new order.

And Jessica spent a large part of the day fusing fabric for all those die-cuts you find in the shop.

All in all I would say we have had a very productive week so far.
What about you? What projects will you tackle this week?

Missing James

As most of you know Maria is not only Grammy, she is also a Great Grammy to the adorable little boy who poses in many of our pics.

James and his mommy come by to see us at the shop almost every day, but they are a vacation to visit  family and friends out of state.  For two long weeks!!

This results in Maria looking like this:

And this:

But she's not alone.  Audrey plays with James almost every day and she is missing him too.

So Audrey came to give Grammy hugs!

Angela, Mikel, and especially James, have fun on your trip.

But these two say HURRY HOME!!!!

Happy Retreaters and a Rocks Your Socks Off Drawing

We have another happy group finishing up their retreat at our House Next Door.  Look at these wonderful jelly roll quilts they completed during their weekend stay with us.  Way to go girls!!!!

We also have a winner from our Rocks Your Socks Off Drawing! 

Again, we went old school with our drawing procedure.

Jessica is fresh back from her summer long mission trip to Mexico and thrilled to do the drawing for us today!

And the winner is......

Diane, you have won a pair of our exclusive Quilter socks designed by Maria!   I know I will see in the shop soon to pick them up!


Have a great weekend of quilting!

Rocking My Socks Off!!!!

Meet Mamie.  She came in to just look at some of what we do.  Mamie is a self described textiles fanatic.  When we reached the Blooming Nine Patch on our bed pieced in gorgeous batiks, she exclaimed, "That Rocks My Socks Off!"

So my question for you today is what rocks your socks off?  Is it a certain line of fabric, a new tool, or your favorite go to pattern?  Answer in the comments below and be entered in a drawing for our exclusive quilter socks designed by Maria.





Contest entries will be open until 11:59 PM EST on August 8, 2014.  Winner will be announced on Saturday, August 9, 2014.

Frantically Trying to Complete a Sample

Maria is always designing new quilts.  Actually her newest release can be seen on p. 55 of the September issue of American Quilter.  It's a beauty that features the AQS 30th Anniversary Dogwood Fabrics and original artwork from one of Maria's friends in the Gatlinburg Arts & Crafts Community. This quilt has been a venture into a new realm of quilting for us.  In order to put the beautiful paintings from Stewart Gallery (Art of the Smokies) onto fabric we have acquired and begun using the Fabricmaker by Sawgrass.  As a matter of fact, we were even surprised by Suzy our rep from Sawgrass this morning.  Look for more exciting things to come your way through this foray into printing our own fabric.



But now I'm going to share a little known secret with you.  Maria has a problem.  She consistently will sell her sample before we even release the pattern and kits.  And guess what?  She's done it again.









Now if you come by the shop today you might see Maria working frantically to complete a new sample.  AQS Chattanooga is just a mere 4 weeks away.  But as customers come in you will see her at the machine with a smile on her face.

But when others aren't looking this is the face of frantic sewing and creating.  Just a reminder that even when you are a designer and a shop owner those last minute deadlines will get you every time.

Visit from the Moda Fabric Rep

We often have customers who say, "Oh....it must be so much fun to meet with the fabric reps and pick out all this fabric!"

Well, it is fun!  We love when all of our fabric reps stop by and show us the new lines.  

Today, Kathy, our Moda rep, stopped in and showed us some fantastic new fabric.

There is one problem with Kathy coming by.....

We just can't seem to choose!

New Quilts!!!

One of the things that makes Holloway's unique is that we still sell American made hand quilted quilts.  Maria has 40 quilters that work on these masterpieces.  One quilter per quilt hand meticulously hand stitches thousands of stitches.

On any given day the staff will give a show of the 40+ quilts on the bed in the center of the shop.

Quilters and quilt lovers alike enjoy the treat of this show.

Today was an extra special treat for these ladies who came to the shop for Row By Row.  Maria just returned from a short vacation with her daughter and two grandsons.  While she was traveling, she made stops at some of our quilters to pick up some finished quilts.  These new quilts were put on the bed this morning just as the ladies entered the shop.

It's always a thrill to see people loving and appreciating the quilts as much as we do.

Next time you are in East TN stop by and ask for a bed turning.  We will be glad to share our treasures with you.

Winner of the Gabby Kit

First we must apologize for the lateness of this post.  It was promised that the winner would be announced by 10:00 AM EST today, but we have had a rather busy morning here at the shop.

 But James is ready to announce the winner of Gabby Quilts for Friends book and kit.

Thanks again for all the wonderful stories about the special quilts in your lives.

Now we were going to use the a computerized random generator to do this drawing but have decided that sometimes it is good to do things a little old school.  

Here are the names we are drawing from:

Folded into equal, anonymous squares:

Placed into our pretty little basket:

And a random customer's hand drawing the name:

And the winner is.....

Julie, I have sent you an email to notify you and get shipping information.

Thanks for playing!

Photo Shoot with James & Gabby

When you look at the pictures we post and use for our advertisements quite often you will see a member of the Holloway clan in the picture.  So when we began to do a photo shoot to feature the Gabby book and our new companion kit there was no question as to who the model should be.

Meet James, Maria's great-grandson

James loves books and being part of this quilting family the Gabby book is a perfect addition to his library.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of this book and our companion kit to make the quilt shown make sure you visit this post.

The contest ends tonight (Thursday, July 24, 2014 at midnight).

Look for more pictures and stories of James and his family in the coming weeks.