Upcoming Events in 2016 & 2017

Here at Holloways, we are always busy working due to the events we have every year... This year we are even busier as we are now a part of Wilderness Wildlife week in Pigeon Forge. We just finished up Pigeon Forge, A Mountain quiltfest last month. It was a ton of fun! We enjoyed helping Ro Gregg and Patti Carey teach about different techniques and trends in the fabric business.

The girls at the shop have been busy getting ready for our next event, Wilderness Wildlife week.  Maria will be teaching some beginner quilting classes and will have a booth during the event. Wilderness Wildlife week is May 18th- May 22nd in the Le Conte Center in pigeon Forge. Admission is FREE! Wilderness Wildlife Week has a variety of programs for all ages and different interests, ranging from programs specifically for the youngsters to guided hikes for the more adventurous folks. The programs will be offered from around 8:00 AM until around 7:30 PM daily. For more information click here: http://www.mypigeonforge.com/events/wilderness-wildlife-week/

We're super excited for shop hop this year! Shop hop is June  2nd-June 11th. This year we used all American made fabrics for our squares. We have even pieced the top of our  quilt for this year, below is a sneak peek.

For more info about Shop Hop vist: https://www.facebook.com/EastTennesseeShopHop Shop hop 2017 will be June 1st- June 10th.

Maria has already completed our row for Row by Row. We cannot sell the patterns/kits until June 21st.  However, we do have the license plates, coordinating fabric and these cute cups that have the same saying as the license plates available for sale now. Row by Row is June 21st- September 26th.

 For more info about Row by Row got to: http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/

Holloway's will also have a booth in Chattanooga in September this year. AQS Chattanooga  is September 14th-17 for more information visit :http://www.quiltweek.com/locations/chattanooga/

Maria is already getting ready for Pigeon Forge A Mountain Quiltfest 2017. The special category this year is two fabrics. Later in the year information will be available here: http://www.mypigeonforge.com/events/quiltfest/

Rainy Days are Quilting Days

This past Friday was a very rainy day! It rained or misted all day. So what did we do? We quilted.

Maria worked on a new butterfly quilt made out of our new die cut butterfly,

 
Pauline (who is back to work this week) worked on a loop n shift quilt

and Angela, (Maria's grandchild) had fun cutting out dies.

 
We also got in a new order of socks from Solemate in Fall colors. They are perfect for the cold rainy weather we've been having!

 What were you doing this past weekend? Did you visit any fun quilt shops, create a new project, or  stay at home warm snuggled up with one your favorite quilts and a book?

Printing on Fabric Anyone?

Over the next few days Holloway's will be posting about some of our featured products for the AQS show starting September 15th in Chattanooga.  Today's featured product is a our set of 12 original flower photo prints on fabric.

Maria's granddaughter Angela is a wonderful photographer and has taken beautiful shots of some of our local flowers.  We are pleased to announce that she has been busy printing a wonderful selection of these on fabric.  The sets of 12 flowers will available for purchase at the AQS show in Chattanooga.

As you know Holloway's is a family business so the printing of the flowers fell to Angela too. From the pictures she gave us for the this blog, it looks like she may not have realized just how many she was going to need to print! Hahaha!

She definitely has been busy!

Maria has been busy too.  She designed a new pattern to go with the floral prints.  Kits for this quilt will also be available in Chattanooga.

Are we whetting your appetite yet?  Wait until you see tomorrow's featured product!

The wheels have been turning at Holloway's Country Home!

Gearing Up For Shop Hop 2015

It's been a whirlwind of activity at the shop this week.  The staff has been busy this week with all the finishing touches for Shop Hop!

We hope you have been following us and the other shops on Facebook and all our websites.  This year's blocks are great!  

The theme this year is Quilt Barns of Tennessee.  Each shop has a fabric picture of a different quilt barn incorporated into their block.  And all the shops are using a Marblehead from Paintbrush Studios as a unifying fabric.  When you purchase your passport and collectible pin from any of the participating shops you are entitled to a free pattern and a gift at each of the shops June 4th -13th.  Make sure you fill out your info on your passport and get it stamped at each shop you visit!

When you are done hopping, just drop off your passport at the last shop to be entered into the drawings for some absolutely fantastic prizes!

Also at each shop you will have the opportunity to buy a block kit.  In the kit is included your barn picture, the free pattern, and all the material it takes to make the block.  

Collect all 12 barns by visiting all 12 shops!

Shop Hop can be soooo much fun!   Just a grab a group of quilty friends and take a road trip through some beautiful countryside and visit some of the best quilt shops in the nation!

Often we get asked about the pattern for the complete Shop Hop quilt.  Each block is designed independently by each shop.  The only way to get the entire quilt pattern is to visit all 12 shops.  The quilt is by nature a sampler quilt.

If you choose to collect all the barns but are not sure if you want to complete the quilt as a sampler, then you can pick and choose your favorite patterns still using the fabrics that come on your kits or you could use an alternate pattern!  The fun of it is that this is YOUR quilt!  Make it beautiful to you!

Holloway's will be offering a few things to help you finish up your quilts!  

We will be cutting the unifying fabric into what we call long yards!  This is a 22"x72" piece of fabric.  This cut enable you to add borders without piecing them.

We also have a wonderful pattern from local designer Sue Jones for those of you who love the barns but would prefer to not do a sampler quilt.  Just collect the kits from each shop so you have the barns and then use them in this pattern.  We also have fabric kits available so you can piece the top just like her sample if you desire.

We at Holloway's are thrilled to be a part of the East Tennessee Shop Hop and are looking forward to seeing you over the next 10 days!  This is such a great opportunity to visit each of these shops, but if you can't make it to Shop Hop we hope you will take time to visit the next time you are in the area!

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.

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?