Recently I got an email from a (somewhat) local quilt shop, announcing a presentation about Andover Fabrics Little House on the Prairie fabric line… I immediately knew I wanted to go! Normally, I would hem and haw and think about whether I could/should go, and eventually just forget about it or wait too long and find out that it has sold out. But for this… I signed up right away so I couldn’t back out! After I signed up, I realized that it was just a few days after my return home from Florida, but I decided I was going anyway! A lot of my time is spent here on my computer, alone in my studio. Which is fine- I am really quite introverted. But sometimes, I just have to force myself to get out of the house…. I can sit here for days on end with no desire whatsoever to venture out into the world. I was so glad that I “forced” myself to go to this presentation!
I LOVED the Little House on the Prairie TV show (those of you who follow me on Facebook probably already knew that.) So, even though the style of fabrics is not something I usually work with, I was really interested in hearing the back story of how this collection came about and how it reflected the books and television series. And I always loved the artwork on the book covers… so that little illustration on the invite totally drew me in…
Long story short…. I’m so glad I went! It was so fun and interesting! Dennis Bevins, the National Director of Sales for Andover Fabrics, gave a presentation which was incredibly interesting and informative. We learned how the license for the Little House on the Prairie line was obtained, which licensed lines will be coming in the future, about the manufacturing processes for both print cotton and batiks, and saw the original 19th century fabric swatches which were the inspiration for the Little House fabric line. We saw a couple of videos about the creation and filming of the television series. Many quilts and sewing projects created with the Little House fabrics were on display.
Today I will share some photos from my day. I brought my good camera with me… but forgot it in the car!! So all of these photos were taken with my phone. Yes, they could be better! Oh well- I think you will enjoy this peek at the presentation anyway.
Many free quilt patterns can be found on the Andover website. Click here and type “Little House on the Prairie” into the fabric line search box.
The quilt above is the Ma and Pa quilt. It’s a sampler which is available over on the Andover site. Some close ups:
This quilt is called Prairie Life. The iconic Little House image of the girl with braids is appliqued in the center, but Dennis told us that due to the popularity of this, they are working on a pre-printed panel. (You can get the kit for this quilt here.)
I didn’t get the name of this 9 Patch quilt pattern:
This pattern is called Cabin on the Prairie and is available from Quilt Design NW:
We had Molasses Cookies- just like Ma used to make!
And saw this dress and bonnet, just like Laura and Mary used to wear:
Nana’s Garden Path quilt pattern is available from Poorhouse Quilt Designs:
This pattern is called Prairie Pathways and includes pattern for quilt and clothes for 18″ doll (butterfly quilt is included in Cabin on the Prairie pattern which was shown above):
Unfortunately I didn’t get the name of this purse pattern, but some clever person transferred an image of Laura Ingalls Wilder onto fabric and sewed it to the bag:
My “swag” from the day- the quilt shop handed out quilt labels to everyone in attendance. I also received an Andover batik fat quarter for asking a question, and won a tote bag for answering a trivia question (Question- who originally obtained the rights to Little House on the Prairie for the television series? Answer- Ed Friendly. I didn’t know that off the top of my head- it was covered in one of the videos shown!!)
This presentation was held at the lovely Old Country Store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. If you are ever in “Amish country,” I highly suggest that you stop into this wonderful shop.
That sounds like it was a lot of fun! Maybe it will come this way, I am a big fan of Little House on the Prairie so would love to attend the presentation. I just finished rereading the books and just am so amazed at how hard they worked to just have enough food for the winter for themselves and their animals. Everything comes so easy for most of us now.
Thanks for the “travelogue.” It sounds like a fun day, and swag is always extra fun. Believe it or not, I was eating a molasses cookie from Ohio Amish Country when I opened up this post — haha! Perfect snacking for reading about this particular event.
That is so funny, Karen! Hope you enjoyed your cookie- the one I had there was delicious!
Wish I could have been there – looks like a great time and look at you walking away with all that loot!
I remember reading the stories with my daughter and then making her a ‘Laura’ dress with the apron and hat years ago. The fabrics I used were far from authentic but, of course, she didn’t know that. I’m definitely going to look out for this line – it’s beautiful.
I remember when I was young I had a bonnet which my mom bought for me on a trip to Lancaster, PA- I loved wearing and pretending I was Mary Ingalls!
OH my!!!! I am so envious of you. I also am a fan of the TV show but I have a passion about Laura in particular. I have books about her and her later life including her daughter Rose who was the first woman journalist to go overseas. Laura was rather petite, as I am, and achieved so much. A very hard worker as was her hubby. Did you know that Mary made beautiful quilts even when she was blind? I would so love to make the dolls quilts by hand. I hope the fabric line and patterns reach Australia soon. THankyou for sharing this with us.
No I didn’t know that Mary made quilts! When I watched the TV show, I always wanted to be Mary, because she was pretty and kind and smart :)
I so love little house on the prairie its on a rerun again here in England and I have seen it so many times but who cares I never get tired. I have recently joined a quilting class and working on y first quilt so excited. It will be a lap quilt but your magazines inspires me to do more……wonderful ..our tutor is Australian and an amazing quilter so wish I could visit this store xxxx my husband wouldn’t want me too though ( haha)
What a great experience! On of our area quilt shops, Threads of Time in Danville, IL, featured talks on the day they introduced the Little House fabrics by shop owner Missy about women in the West. I had to go since I have read a lot about this subject, and I have devoured the Little House books dozens of times (including using them in my 3rd grade classroom when I was still teaching). I also have nearly every book I can get that contain writings of Laura and/or information about her–my favorite author! I would LOVED to have seen this talk too. I am using Little House fabrics to make my Splendid Sampler blocks–so pretty! Thanks for sharing about your experience.
hey Jacqueline
its nice to hear about this piece of television history. But i dont know anything about it. is there a possiblity for me to watch it now? in our part of the world this sure is a mystery. i would love to watch this as i am so curious of people living in the past. its very kind of you to give the bag pattern to us your subscribers. your work inspires and excites me. how was your journey form NJ to this store. I would like to know if there is a possibility that i could visit that store on my visit to the USA. was it a day trip?
thank you
Hello Wilma! I don’t know where you live, but here in the U.S. the TV show is available on DVD, you may be able to order it somewhere. It is a wonderful family show, perfect for children, entertaining and lots of important life lessons included!
The shop is only about an hour and a half from my house. If you are visiting the US and will be in the area, I highly recommend visiting the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area!
I was fortunate enough to attend the same event. (The afternoon session) It was wonderful! I too won a fat quarter as did my husband, although they are lovely I was slightly disappointed that they were not Liitle House fat quarters. So I had to buy some of the fabric. Thanks for the pics as I did not have a camera. They do have some great events there. Maybe I ‘ll run into you next time.
Oh isn’t that funny! Maybe we did cross paths and we didn’t even know it!
I was there too ! Great presentation ,I won a little dish of plants..
also nice…………
I would have loved to been there, I loved watching Little House on the Prairie, I would make my sons sit and watch it with me when they were little, they did get to like it too, especially Nelly. LOL I love the fabric line as well.
Thanks I’m lucky enough to live about 20 miles from Walnut Grove Minnesota where the Ingalls family lived for a short time. There is a wonderful museum there and they have a great pageant that is performed every summer in July.
Such a neat post…thanks for sharing….great quilt downloads on the Andover website.