16 hours & Counting!

Happy New Year Everybody! Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve is on the TV and we're all home baking up some goodies for our opening tomorrow. Please join us tomorrow to see the new shop. We are so proud of how it turned out. Hope to see you at 1:00!

Happy Birthday....

Marilyn!

FYI: 2 More Days!

Come Celebrate...

...the New Year and New Store with Us!

Prairie Flower Quilt Co., LLC

Opening Thursday, January 1

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. (CT)

102 South Indian Road

Leoti, KS 67861

• Buy 8 Fat Quarters & Get the 9th FREE
• Guess how many buttons are in the jar - Closest without going over wins a gift bag full of goodies
• Prize drawings every hour on the half hour
• Refreshments

It's Here!

Our Gammill Statler Stitcher quilting machine arrived today. We purchased it at quilt market and the company delivered it to us from Wisconsin, set it up and gave us a short lesson to get us started. In January, they will send out an instructor for 2-3 days of training. It's more than a little intimidating. Hopefully we'll get proficient at it within a short period of time. We're all anxious to try it out.

Set up of the machine took about 2 1/2 hours.

Then we had a quick walk through on the operation of the machine. In the foreground is the long-arm quilting machine. In the background is the computer which runs the machine.

FYI: 5 More Days!

Merry Christmas

Everyone at Prairie Flower Quilt Co. wishes you a very joyous Christmas. May the warmth and love of this holiday season be with you throughout the coming year.

Tick, Tock

Time keeps ticking by....

Tonight it seemed like we might see the end of the tunnel by our opening date of January 1! We got the cutting tables and check out counter finished this weekend, and the kitchen cabinet tonight (well except for the plumbing). Today we hung the slot board, and the notions and patterns hung on it. Getting those things up and off tables really helped. We also made tablecloths for our coffee area and covered the chairs for the coffee area to match.

Our 'hooky-dos" (as Belinda named them) came in today. We found them at market and they will hang from the black wood trim on the walls to hang quilts for display. And we used them to hang the new sample that Pat made for us - it's beautiful (made from Kansas Troubles' Wildflower II collection) and can't wait for you to see it. Marilyn and Janet also finished samples last week and they are now displayed also. It's really starting to look like a quilt shop!

Of course, just as we think we have all the fat quarters cut, bolts marked and on the shelf, a new shipment of fabric arrives. Today, Jody Barrows fabric line we will be using for our Square in a Square BOM arrived.

We also decided that we will carry Baby Lock sewing machines. We will be attending a sales training the first week of February (required before you can get any machines). Eleanor Burns and Nancy Zieman are spokespersons for Baby Lock. Some of us had the opportunity to sew on Baby Locks at market and just fell in love with them. We think you will too!

FYI: 10 days & counting!

New Look!

I discovered a new site for free blog backgrounds, so of course I had to jazz up this one. I picked this one because it reflected the colors of the shop. Hope you enjoy the new look!

FYI: TWO WEEKS!!!!

Difficult

Difficult is....trying to write on this blog about the shop without revealing any of our surprises for our opening on January 1. Time is ticking by and it doesn't seem like we're making progress very fast. Alan has spent days working on the countertops for our cutting tables and checkout counter. We still have to finish the kitchen area cabinet, finish the bathroom walls and floors once the plumber installs the plumbing and fixtures, finish the cutting tables and checkout counter so we can have electricity installed to the counter for the cash register, finish some of the displays..... Cutting fat quarters of all the fabric has taken - literally - hours and hours and hours. We got our bookkeeping system installed and running and now Marilyn is entering inventory into the system - which also will take hours and hours. When we're not at the shop (or, for some of us, at our day job) we're working on sewing quilt samples for the shop. I can't imagine trying to do this solo!

FYI: 16 days & counting (OMG!)

Gift Certificates

Trying to find that perfect gift

for the quilter in your family?

Give her a gift that shows her she's "sew" special...

A gift certificate from Prairie Flower Quilt Co.!

Call us at 620.375.2044 to order today.

FYI: 19 days & counting...

Moda Fabricmatcher

We all love Moda fabric at Prairie Flower Quilt Co. It is such great quality and there are just soooo many beautiful collections. Now Moda has a website where you can design projects online using their fabric. Just follow this link and get a jump on your next quilt project!

Want help deciding which fabric to use? Pick one of the collections we'll have in the shop.....Aviary, Collections for a Cause - Heritage, Legacy and Traditions, Gypsy Rose, Miss Jump's Scrap Bag, Garden Inspirations, Portobello Market, Simplicity, Wildflower Serenade I & II, Zippity Doo Day and Civil War Crossing.

And better yet, you can win a Moda quilt kit if they pick your design as their favorite! A new winner every month!

FYI: 21 days & counting!

"Sew" Much To Do!

Time is ticking away and we still have lots to do, but we took time out to participate in the downtown holiday activities by decorating a planter. Of course, it had a sewing theme!

Our gigantic spool of thread (complete with an even bigger needle!) served as the base to our trio of Christmas trees decorated with button garlands and wooden spool decorations.

Shop update: We received a big shipment today of fabrics. We may actually get all of our shelves filled yet. I think we are starting to actually visualize what the shop will look like once everything is done. Then again, this shop may always be a work in progress --- sounds like some of my UFOs!

FYI: 28 days & counting.....

Controlled Chaos?

Things keep moving along at the shop but probably looks like utter chaos from the outside. We have lots of odds and ends of building projects to be completed - both bathrooms need replumbed (and we're still waiting on the plumber), check out stand and cutting tables need countertops and sides finished, kitchen counter and sink needs installed...after we get the rest of the cabinet built, etc. In the middle of the construction, we're trying to inventory fabric and get it on the shelves. The rest of the electrical outlets were finished over the long weekend, so now we have electricity to the computer and can start entering inventory on it.

We decided to put paper up last week on the windows so that the final look of the shop will be a surprise on our opening day. Side benefit is that no one can see our chaos!

T-minus 31 days and counting until we open!

Wishing you a....

Wishing this Thanksgiving finds you with plenty of reasons to give thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving from Prairie Flower Quilt Co.

Neat Seats....and more!

Things are starting to look like a quilt shop! We put in a 10 hour day today and things really feel like they're taking shape now. We put 20 tall and 2 short shelving units together today, assembly line fashion. We have 8 more short ones to go, but got sidetracked when we started working on a layout for the shelving and never got the rest assembled. Our big open space is shrinking fast as we start moving things in.

We also put some of the chairs back together yesterday. The chairs came with the building but the seats were all ripped up, so we took them all apart and recovered them with 'orphan' blocks. We really think they look neat.

And, best of all, the carpet was installed this week! It makes the building feel soooo much warmer.

Sneak Peek

OK, here's a sneak peek of our new shop. Just a little slice to show you the color scheme (although it's not completely accurate in these photos). We don't want to reveal too much because we want it to be a surprise when we open on January 1st! (Don't forget to mark your calendars and join us then!)

Just imagine these shelves adorned with antique toy sewing machines, jars of old buttons, and other fun notions from days gone by!

As I've mentioned before, our color scheme is a barn or brick red and sage green trimmed in black. Picture lots (or at least a few in the beginning) of beautiful quilts hanging from the black railing that runs around the top of the room.

I hope you have goosebumps just thinking about it - we sure do! We're working hard to make this a warm and inviting 'home away from home' where you'll want to spend lots of time.

We owe a BIG BIG Thank U....

....to Alan for all of his hard work at the quilt shop. He has spent the majority of the last 6-7 weeks doing the remodeling at the shop. We definitely wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today if he had not committed soooo much time to the project. He's definitely a handy guy to have around!!!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

It's off to work we go. Today we're headed to the shop to finish small details (touch up paint, install remainder of trim) and clean up so that the carpet can be installed next week. It'll probably take three days to repair all the cracks in the cement and lay the carpet. The bathroom tile was laid yesterday, but has to dry for 36 hours before it can be grouted, so we plan to do that tomorrow. It's been a much slower process than we originally thought, but we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Another Giveaway!

Did you check out yesterday's giveaway? Well, if you liked that, here's another one! Old Red Barn Co. is giving away not one, not two, but three quilts! Click on their name and enter for a chance to win....but do it before the deadline on Monday! I'm never lucky enough to win anything (well, I take that back, once I won a beautiful quilt made by Laverne that she donated to my son's senior class for a money raiser for Project Graduation), but maybe you will be.

Fun Giveaway!

Since I started this blog, I've found tons of other quilting blogs. And guess what, some have online giveaways, contests, etc. What fun! Camille at Thimble Blossoms is having a great giveaway right now. Visit her blog and post a message telling her which of her patterns you like best, where you're from, etc. and she'll enter you in a random drawing for a free quilt made from your favorite pattern! Tell her Prairie Flower Quilts sent ya!

Finally!

After several weeks of work, we finally installed the last of the beadboard walls! We still have to finish painting the last section and then put up the trim - some of which can't be installed until after the carpet is laid. We also finished rebuilding the kitchen base cabinet that will serve as our coffee corner. It's been painted, but still needs a coat of polyurethane to protect it. Tomorrow, we'll start tiling in the bathroom so that we can install the new sink and toilet. Still trying to figure out what to do with the damaged walls in there (more beadboard?) and need to have the plumbing fixed. I think we're making progress......?

Countdown to Carpet

The carpet will be laid in a week. This week we'll spend finishing up any unfinished projects. There's a few more outlets that need to be wired, one wall needs to be finished now that the plumbing lines are installed, the bathroom needs tiled, painting needs touched up, etc. We're on the homestretch now!

Inventory continues to arrive. This week we received wrought iron quilt racks and fabric that we ordered at market from Benartex. We originally set November 10 as the date to ship inventory, so things will really start rolling in this week.

Quilting Bloggers - Part II

The second day on Quilting Bloggers has garnered lots more international visitors to this site. Today we had visitors from Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Uruguay, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as several from countries we listed yesterday. It's fun to see where our visitors live!

Quilting Bloggers

Last night I registered this blog on the Quilting Bloggers website....and today we had 67 visitors to the site! We had our faithful local viewers but we also had several international visitors as well. They came from Canada, France, Norway, Turkey, Spain, Australia, The Netherlands and Czech Republic. Quilting must be popular in The Netherlands as we had numerous visitors from there today.

It's not pink!

Saturday was paint day at the shop. Deb, Marilyn, Janet and Sharla spent the day painting while Belinda cleaned. Sharla's husband, Alan, continued hanging the bead board and Deb's husband, Vic, began working on the exterior walls to seal them to prevent further water leaks. Our hope is that by the end of the week we'll be at a point that the carpet can be installed.

We are painting the walls a sage green with an accent wall of brick red. We primed the red wall yesterday, but it looked more like pink than red. We all agreed that it was a very pretty color of pink, but not what we wanted for the shop. Can't wait to get the final coat of paint on it. We're painting the trim black which really looks sharp against the sage green!

Progress?

Our first shipment of fabric has arrived! It arrived sooner than we had hoped as we do not have the building ready yet. This will be a big work weekend for us as we try to finish the walls, make ceiling repairs and prep the floor so that the carpet can be laid next week. The internet was installed today and the telephone will be installed on Monday. Hopefully the electrical will be finished at the beginning of the week also. Slowly, but surely, we are making progress!

Windshield Time

One benefit of driving all the way to Houston for quilt market was that we had plenty of time to make plans for the quilt shop. We determined our shop hours....

Mondays: 12 - 8 p.m.

Tuesdays - Fridays: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturdays: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

We also set our opening and grand opening dates....

Thursday, January 1, 2009: Opening Day - "Football Widows Event" - 1 - 5 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, Jan. 31 & Feb. 1: Grand Opening

We also began planning some of our classes and programs....

• Block of the Month featuring the Square in
  the Square technique: Second Saturday mornings and following Monday evenings
  beginning in February
• Breakfast Club: Fourth Saturdays beginning
  in January from 8-10 a.m. (each month you'll get instructions for a new
  project)
• PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks): Every 1st
  & 3rd Thursday, bring in your PIGS and work on them with friends
• Kansas Troubles: A quarterly project program beginning in March

We also planned some single classes, such as paper piecing, handbag classes, beginning quilting classes, etc. You'll be able to sign up for these classes beginning in January when we open, so clear your calendars girls!

Name Dropping

We had a great time at quilt market. One of the most fun things was seeing and meeting all the 'famous' quilters in the industry. Some of the people we met or saw include Eleanor Burns, Jodi Barrows, Nancy Zieman (Nancy's Notions), Ricky Tims, Robin Pandolph, Lynn Hagameier (Kansas Troubles), Rachel Pellman, Marti Michelle, Jinny Byers....just to name a few.

Jodi Barrows demonstrates her 'Square in a Square' technique. We'll feature this technique in our first Block of the Month program beginning the first Saturday in February!

The Prairie Flower Quilt Co. crew poses with Lynn Hagemeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters. We'll kick off our Kansas Troubles quarterly quilt program in March.

P.S. Be sure to go back and visit our previous posts about quilt market - we've added photos!

Proud Owners

Second day of market found us going back to the booths we were interested in.......including the Gammill booth. We are soooo excited, we purchased a Statler Stitcher for the shop! It will arrive mid-December and the sales rep will train us sometime in January. Soon, we'll be able to provide machine quilting services for our customers at the shop.

Home Again, Home Again.....

.....jiggady, jig. We left bright and early this morning at 6:30 & made it home this evening at 10 p.m. We had a great time at market and came home with lots of ideas, but we are tired. We'll tell you more tomorrow and share some of our pictures. For now, though, it's time to hit the hay!

Our luggage loaded with market finds!

OMG.......Day 2

OMG......our feet hurt! Today was the first day of the actual trade show at quilt market. We started off the day taking another class, we each took a different one. Then, the rest of the day was spent at the trade show. We walked and walked and walked - and we're only half way through the vendors! We saw several pattern designers and companies from Kansas - who knew there were so many! We picked up lots of vendor information and tonight we're going to go through what we have and decide if we want to go back and order anything. Tomorrow we'll have to go faster than we did today or we won't make it through the whole show. When the market closed, one of our sales reps and the owner of the company took us out for supper. Food was good, but the restaurant was so noisy we could hardly hear each other.

The highlight of the day (for Sharla) was we met "Moda Home Mom" in the Moda booth. She's the one who talked about our wordle quilt on her blog which resulted in all the visitors to our site (yesterday we had a visitor from Tel Aviv, Israel!) Here's Sharla & Angela....

We have one more day of market, then we'll head for home on Monday.

A Fat Quarter is NOT a Body Part!

Today was the first day of quilt market for us. The day was packed full of classes - we each took 16-17 different 30 minute classes. We saw lots of beautiful quilts and lots of ideas for classes and fun kit ideas. So many ideas, too little time! Then tonight we went to Sampler Spree. People started lining up at 4 p.m. to get into the event at 8 p.m. I guess the hot item that everyone races to is the Moda booth to buy the jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles, etc of the new fabrics so they can go home to make their shop samples. If you buy something, then you get a free Moda bag. Of course we had to do that! So we each have new Moda bags to tote our quilts in. We also bought t-shirts for all of us to wear for the grand opening of the shop. We think the saying is a hoot - "A Fat Quarter is NOT a Body Part". We also bought a little something for our hubbies who are home working on our shop....koozies that say "My Wife Quilts Therefore I'm BROKE".

After Sample Spree, Belinda, Deb, Marilyn and Janet couldn't resist peeking in the windows at the market show area.

Sharla, Marilyn, Belinda, Deb and Janet sporting their t-shirts!

Greetings From Houston!

We made it! Deb, Marilyn, Janet and Sharla left yesterday afternoon for quilt market in Houston. We picked up Belinda near Lyons on her way home from KSU Extension Update in Manhattan. We drove to Denton, Texas last night, arriving around 10 p.m. Today we were up and on the road by 7 a.m. so we could get to the Moda warehouse in Dallas early to shop! We got lots of fun fabric (114 more bolts to add to what we bought a couple of weeks ago) and can't wait to get home to start making shop samples.

Shopping @ Moda

We are most excited about the 'cheater' fabric (fabric already pieced in a crazy quilt pattern) that is in the same color scheme as we are painting the shop. We're going to make table squares for our coffee tables with it. We also bought a couple of coordinating bolts of fabric to make valances for the windows and tablecloths for under the table squares.

Our shopping carts loaded!

Tomorrow our day is packed. We start classes at 8 a.m. and have classes scheduled solid until 8 p.m. We have both fun classes (Schoolhouse Series which is 6 hours of mini classes of new techniques and gadgets) and business classes (anything from how to package fabrics to developing shop procedures). Then from 8-10 p.m. is Sample Spree. We're not really sure what all is available at the spree, but we've found pictures on the internet of women loaded down with goodies for their shops.

It's been a fun, but long, day and now we're in our hotel rooms winding down. If we're not totally exhausted, we'll tell you all about our first day at market tomorrow night!

To market, To market

It's finally here! Today we load up the van and head out for quilt market in Houston. We're stopping in Dallas on Thursday to shop the Moda warehouse on our way to market. Friday, we'll take in all the classes they have to offer and attend Sample Spree on Friday evening. We've heard different (conflicting) stories about what exactly happens at Sample Spree so we're excited to see what it really is. We're hoping we to get shop samples and items for door prizes for our grand opening. Saturday and Sunday mornings we are each scheduled to take one class, but the bulk of the day will be spent visiting sales reps and wholesaler booths at market. Then we load up the car and drive all the way home - 16 hours - on Monday. We should have lots of car bonding time to iron out the details of classes, hours, etc for the shop. When we get back, we'll fill you in on all the details!

Cute Jewelry

Recently, we found the cutest jewelry made from old buttons and old quilts. We purchased one of each - wouldn't it be fun to find someone to make them for the shop! The ring is made from two buttons stacked and then wired together with jewelry wire, which also forms the ring. The pendant is a piece of an old crazy quilt sandwiched between two pieces of glass, then the edges are finished with silver metal.

Give Us Your Ideas!!!

In one week, Prairie Flower Quilt Co. goes to market & we still haven't heard from you! Let us know what you'd like for us to carry in the store....what are your favorite fabrics, colors, designers, patterns, notions? Either comment on this blog or email us at prairieflowerquilts@yahoo.com. We want to be your quilt shop!

Wordle Quilt/Blog Travels The World!

Our blog is a world traveler! On Sunday, Angela of ModaHomeMom blogged about our Wordle quilt featured in a previous post on this site. Since Angela works for Moda, she has a huge following for her blog which has brought many visitors to this blog. In the past two days, we have had people from 31 states and 4 countries visit our blog! What fun!!!

Since our blog's stat counter wouldn't let me post the map showing the locations of all of our visitors, I'll list them....Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Idaho, North Carolina, Montana, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Washington, Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Alabama, Nevada, Wisconsin, Missouri and, of course, Kansas. We've also had visitors from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Canada.

So our visitors don't have to search for our Wordle blog, here again is the picture of our Wordle mini-quilt.

Sold!

Economic Development held their sealed bid sale yesterday to sell the restaurant equipment and arcade games that were in the building. The biggest fear was that no one would bid on the items and then we'd have to figure out what to do with them. Luckily, all but two small items received bids! And most of the stuff has been moved out already. The last batch of things will be removed on Monday evening. The space sure does look bigger now.

Mmmmmm! Sweet Rolls, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes & Turnovers

This week we met with the Moda rep and ordered lots of goodies. Not only did we order several collections of fabrics, but also charm packs, jelly rolls and two new items: sweet rolls and turnovers. Sweet rolls are like jelly rolls only in 1 1/2" strips. Turnovers are like charm packs only the squares are cut again into triangles. Of course we got several fun patterns that use all of these items.

Progress

We've made some progress on several fronts in the last few days. Belinda and Sharla had meetings in Wichita on Monday and Tuesday, so had to travel there on Sunday. They left in the morning so they had time on Sunday afternoon to look for and price items for the store. They found black shelving units to display bolts of fabric in at a great price - the black will really make the fabric colors pop! (And our husbands will be so happy that they won't have to build them!) They also priced items that are needed to either fix or replace things in the building that are broken- and, of course, they found time to stop at a quilt shop or two. They also found a great deal on carpet, which will not only make the shop more warm and inviting, but will also keep the fabric from getting dirty.

While Belinda and Sharla were gone, Marilyn, Deb and Janet began painting in the building. They got primer on most all of the walls - except for the west wall which has issues that need to be addressed first, and got at least one coat of paint on most of the walls. We love the color - the sage green will really look great against the black trim. Plans are to paint the back wall a brick red color as the accent wall. They also determined that the remains of the moldy wall had to go. Once the sheetrock was removed, it was discovered that only a few nails held it in place and was too unstable. It really opened the space up and looks soooo much better!

On Saturday, the restaurant and arcade equipment will be sold by sealed bid. Hopefully, there will be someone interested in each of the items and everything will sell. Stop by Saturday between 10 and noon and place your bids......please?!

Elbow Grease

Today we started tackling the building. Since its been vacant for several months, it is really dirty. And, it really needs some improvements made to the building. The last few businesses in the building have been restaurants, and since we won't be needing any of the equipment, we asked the owners of the building (the local economic development group) if they would remove the items. They said yes, and are having a sealed bid sale next Saturday. So, today we started unhooking the equipment and fixtures....and in the process discovered the smell that so many people in the community commented about. Under the fountain counter was old carpet and padding that was wet and molded, which in turn molded the sheetrock behind the counter. After a quick call to the eco devo prez, we started ripping out the sheetrock and loading it into a pickup. The stench coming from that pickup was awful!!! Now we have to decide if we want to keep a wall there and re-sheetrock it, or just take the wall out and make more display floor space.

Marilyn washing windows.

Deb washing chairs and removing the seats.

There are several round tables and chairs (39 to be exact) that came with the building that we are keeping. All of the seats on the chairs are ripped, so we are making quilt squares and recovering them. I think they'll really look neat and we'll use them for our quilt classes.

Fabric Fun and Notion Numbness

We completed another lengthy meeting with another sales rep. Started out looking at more fabric and making selections to fill the gaps in our previous purchases. That only took about 3 hours....then came the notions. After another mind-numbing 3+ hours, we finally made it through the basic list of notions. I'm sure we'll need to order more things once we think about it more.

Belinda & Marilyn discussing a potential fabric selection.

Janet, Deb, Belinda & Marilyn finalizing purchasing decisions.

We've Been At It Again!

We did a little more shopping!!! Today it was with Blank Quilting. All five of us got to be there - and Belinda kept us on the straight and narrow. Maybe it wouldn't have taken us 7 1/2 hours last time if she'd been there! We picked a few collections today that are just plain fun - for those of you that are a little more adventurous at heart. Such as 'Barnyard'.....

Cows, Chickens & Pigs, Oh My! We also picked out a few brights:

And we picked up a few more florals....

We decided we were definitely all ready for fall because we seemed to gravitate to the darker fall colors today. We meet another sales rep later this week and we meet with the Moda rep next week. Can't wait!

Wordle Challenge!

I discovered a neat website where you can design your own word art. You can print your "wordle" on fabric and make mini quilts. Here's one for Prairie Flower Quilt Co. We challenge you to make your own wordle mini quilt. Once the shop opens, bring your wordle quilt in and we'll display it!

Sneak Peek!

Here's just a hint of the fabrics we've purchased....

These beautiful pink and black roses are a collection that includes 6" panels with a variety of pink and yellow roses for the blocks with coordinating black and white background florals and green stripes, etc. for the settings and borders.

These are just two of close to 20 batiks that we purchased. We also have a great pattern featuring light and dark batiks that they will look wonderful in.

This collection features both a blue/brown colorway and a burgundy/brown colorway (we got both!). We just love the metallic gold outlining the florals. Looks gorgeously rich!