~ Gold Rush & Country Sampler Tour ~

Is it Monday ALREADY....I had SO much fun this 
weekend!!!

On Friday I had gone to the 'Gold Rush' antique show in 
Rochester, Minnesota, and on Saturday I went
to 'Country Sampler' quilt & cross stitch 
shop in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

I took over 100 photos this weekend, and I've been really
busy sorting through them all.....trying to decide
which ones to post?

So, I've decided to spread them out over the next few
posts.  Today I will share Gold Rush & a tour
of Country Sampler. 

 On FRIDAY I will share
outstanding miscellaneous  road side pictures and 
 share my purchases,
 for today I will show only ONE of my favorite purchases.....

Oh my goodness, my eyes really lit up when I spied this
extraordinary sewing box!

At first glance I had no idea just how special it was, and
upon closer examination I discovered this....

Not only does it have a roomy size drawer for sewing goodies, and
a lovely pincushion....the top lifts off to reveal an extra 
compartment for spools of thread and more storage!

I have many neat sewing boxes in my collection, but not one like
this!

Over the years I've learned how to dicker with dealers and finally
settled on a reasonable price :)  

I couldn't wait to get home and add it to my collection!

**********

Next, I will share a glimpse of what Gold Rush antiquing 
looks like......

If you're from out of town, you'll know you've arrived at the 
Rochester, Minnesota Fair Grounds by this HUGE 
ear of corn!

The air is filled the the aroma of fresh popped
Kettle Corn....

Kettle corn is a sweet & salty pop corn that is very tasty!

This vendor is just starting a fresh batch, as it starts to 
pop it lifts the lid and falls into this large copper
kettle.

I'm finally entering my favorite building, which is called 
Graham North.  While walking to my favorite dealer
that I've gone to for many years, this sweet little
face was in front of me.....

I asked this young girl if I could take a picture of her beloved
poodle, and she said 'sure...just say the word treat'!
What a sweet face....I felt SO bad that I didn't really have a treat.

I'm finally at the absolute best sewing booth anywhere....

Every year I have the most difficult time trying to decided what to buy?

With her huge inventory of outstanding goodies, it makes
deciding next to impossible!

This large strawberry is very tempting!

I always have to consider my weekend spending limit....so it needs
to be something I don't already have!

These are sewing birds and clamps.  Check out the solid
brass fish...extremely RARE, and way out of my 
budget!

Talk about RARE, this is really an early piece..... but again it's out
of my price range.

 I can't wait to share with you on 
Friday....what I finally picked out????

Next, I'll stroll over to some of my other long time favorite 
dealers....

This dealer always has wonderful old treadle sewing machines, 
spool boxes, spool cases, sewing baskets etc.

I already have plenty of old spool boxes that I use in the Studio 
for storing different lines of threads, but I still enjoy looking
at his beautiful selection.

The exceptional craftsmanship of these old sewing boxes 
just amazes me!

Two beautiful worktable pincushion clamps. Nice, but I'm still
going to keep looking.

This booth was also filled with all the things I love!

Decisions ~ Decisions ~ Decisions

Isn't this a sweet little 'Singer'!

Next, are some pretty miscellaneous pieces I thought you might 
enjoy seeing....

Wonderful old boots and hat.  Plus you need to have a closer
look at this old cow....

Extremely old cow with German glass eyes, leather
collar with a flat German brass bell...too bad the 
one foot is broken.

I'm really drawn to cast iron objects.  I love this rabbit's pose, but 
it's way too expensive....pictures are a great inexpensive way 
to remember a special piece like this!

Here's another great cast iron piece...

There was actually a pair of these and they had SOLD
tags on them.....huge urns with a huge price!

This next item was just so unique.....

An old book press!

This booth specialized in very old rare books, the dealer showed
me the special edging on this book....

When this book is laying flat the edge of the pages appears
gold, but when you twist the pages it creates this
beautiful color image....WOW!!

************

Are you finally ready for the next feature?????

~ Country Sampler ~ Spring Green, Wisconsin ~

Quilt & Cross Stitch Shoppe

Spring Green, is a VERY small town, but this weekend is an annual car show and the entire downtown is lined with vintage cars.

When you first walk into Country Sampler, the first thing
you'll see is the unique window displays....

An antique brass child's bed with a pretty quilt, and some items
for sale.

This next picture is in front of the second window....

Jeanne sells lots of unique primitive decor.

You'll see lots of great displays for quilt fabric and 
sampler models....this sampler is by Stacy Nash.

There are bolts of fabric just about everywhere....plus great
models to drool over!   Love that pillow!

Taking pictures is a great way to see all the little things I missed!

Great displays...wouldn't you agree?

I was so disappointed that the owner Jeanne Horton wasn't 
in the shop today....I enjoy visiting with her.

Jeanne Horton and I have matching license plates for our vehicles.
Her's is ~ SAMPLER ~
Mine is ~ SAMPLAR ~

Did you know Jeanne is also a fabric designer?
It was her fabric 'Orchard House' from 2012 that I used on my 
recent pattern release Bittersweet Gatherings Pinkeep Drum.

Country Sampler is a wonderful shop to just relax and enjoy
the lovely ambiance!

As you look closely that these pictures see how many model 
samplers you can identify?

What a great shop for the passionate needleworker!

There is also a basement with clearance items....

These are the stairs that lead to the clearance area.

So there you have it....Country Sampler!

This shop definitely gets a 5 Star Rating *****

************

Finally, time for some....

Weekly ~ SOUL FOOD ~

Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither
poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or 
lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God
in vain.  Proverbs 30:8-9....KJV

I have one last special picture from Gold Rush to share....

This is a VERY RARE old Bible....with beautiful images on the
edges of the pages. (The Lord's Last Supper)

The first image is of an angel chasing Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, and the second one is David playing the harp for 
King Saul to soothe his troubled mind and heart.

I was just in awe of this beautiful Bible....I've never seen anything
like it before!

************

Sorry for such a long post, but please visit again on 
Friday to see the rest of my weekend photos.

Blessings from the Studio of Scattered Seed Samplers,
~ Kindly, Tammy ~

~ Relaxing Weekend Ahead ~

   Good Friday MORNING dear friends and stitchers!!

Yes, I've really got my act together this Friday, I'm actually 

posting this in the morning instead of the late

 afternoon.....this may be a first for me!

**********

I always thought it would be fun SOMEDAY to open a 

needlework museum, but for now I'm just 

enjoying sharing my years of collecting right here....

This is a beautiful early 'Thread Well' holder.

The color of wood is just marvelous!

The base is accented with little inlaid ivory studs.

I'm not sure what type of wood this is, but the quality of 

workmanship is really outstanding!

To use a thread well, you would lift the lid and place your 

ball of crochet thread inside,

 and then thread it through one of the eyelets....

The two thread eyelets are also ivory.

It looks like maybe the very top of the finale broke off 

over the years, but I still love the overall beauty.

**********

Every year the Christmas season is always so busy, I'm

hoping this year I'll have more time to do some

special decorating.  I'm having fun just

paging through all my different Christmas books 

gathering ideas.....

~ The Pleasures of Christmas ~

by Early American Homes

Hardcover

152 Full Color pages

©1996

Published by Random House

Here's a glimpse of the contents....

This book is packed with traditional ideas for decorating your

home, holiday entertaining (recipes), gifts to make, and 

Christmas collectibles.

I love looking closely at the small details of each page, looking

for unique ideas.

I keep a small notebook by my stitching chair so while I'm

paging through a fun book in the evening I can make

myself little notes of the things I want to try this year.

 I've got a great idea for a 'Needlework' tree that I'll share

with everyone when it gets closer to Christmas :)

I like the idea of putting a small tree into a pretty 

old basket!

Lots of collectible Santas; painted chalkware and composition,

just perfect for the Santa lovers.

This book even has patterns with complete directions to make

wonderful old time looking ornaments.

Hope you enjoyed the preview for this book...it gets

another 5 star rating.

**********

For now I'm getting exciting about starting to decorate for 

fall.  In fact I pulled out my pair of large solid concrete

Owls from the barn....

I still haven't decided where I'm going to put them this year...I'm

going to start my Autumn mode on September 1st.

These Owls stand 25" tall and are so heavy I can't even lift

one....that's were my Husband & Son come in very handy!

**********

Awhile back I posted my Tiger Lilies when they were just

starting to bloom, now look at them.....

What a great shade of orange!

These plants are so tall and top heavy they are leaning 

away from the porch....or maybe they are 

reaching for more sunlight?

**********

Okay, now I have a confession to make.....the real reason I was able 

to release this post so early this morning is because I 

actually did it Thursday night, I'll be out

antiquing today.....

This is my absolute FAVORITE antique show that I have

been going to for many, many years!  

If you live anywhere near Rochester, Minnesota and are

looking for something fun to do this weekend....please

check it out!

It's about an hour drive for me, but I always look so forward

to it....yeah!!

**********

Plus, I also have a very special day planned on Saturday, I'll

be going to my favorite cross stitch shop in the 

Madison, Wisconsin area.

I'll take lots of pictures this weekend.....so please 

come back on Monday for a special 

field trip to a very special shop!!

Hope you have a fun and busy weekend in YOUR

special corner of the world!

Blessings from the Studio of Scattered Seed Samplers,

~ Kindly, Tammy ~

♥♥