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!

Like Kids In A Candy Store...

We placed our first order! After a marathon evening (from 4 - 11:30 p.m.) of pouring over fabric swatches and patterns, we purchased our first items for the shop. It was every quilter's dream. We're so excited and can't wait to show you!

We purchased batiks and marbles, baby and novelty flannels, 30's prints, civil war, tone-on-tone, florals, orientals, western, panels, Minkie, homespuns, sunflower prints, rooster prints and cottage prints. We bought bright pinks, greens, and purples; black and whites with a splash of red; black and pinks; brown and pinks; blues and greens; blues and browns; pastel pinks, blues, greens and yellows; golds, greens and browns; and neutrals.

We purchased fabrics from Lake House, Red Rooster, Benartex, Henry Glass, Windom, Baum Textiles, Fabri-Quilt, David Textiles, VIP, South Sea Imports and more.

And we bought patterns, patterns, patterns! We'll have patterns for jelly rolls and charm packs, table runners, bags, aprons, appliques, and lots and lots of quilts.

And we're not done yet. We have meetings set with two more reps before we go to market! Did we list your favorites? If not, don't forget to see our previous post and let us know what you want us to carry.

Help Us At Quilt Market!

We're ready to hit the road! We've completed our registrations for the Internation Quilt Market in Houston October 24-28. Other shop owners tell us the experience is fun, exciting & overwhelming! They warn us that you have to have definite purchasing goals in mind or you can really get into trouble. So we need your help. Let us know what you want to see in the shop. You can leave your comments on this blog, or email us at prairieflowerquilts@yahoo.com.

• What are your favorite fabric lines and designers?
• What are your favorite colors? Jewel tones, brights, pastels, earth tones?
• What kind of prints do you like? Big scale florals, small scale florals, batiks, 30's, western, tone-on-tone, novelty, holiday prints.....
• What is your favorite brand of thread?
• What kinds of notions would you want? What brands?
• What brand of sewing machine do you like?
• Who are your favorite pattern designers?
• What other products would you like us to carry?

Location, Location, Location

Just a couple of days ago, we secured the location for our quilt shop. It will be located at 102 South Indian Road in Leoti, KS. This is the first unit in a former strip mall, The Leoti Plaza, that now houses several county offices and services. The space is large enough to accommodate not only a large selection of fabric, but also classroom space, coffee area and a room for a quilting machine (which we hope to add really soon). The north side of our space faces Highway 96 and we've already secured permission for signage to help you find us easily. The front of the store features a wall of windows for lots of great natural light for fabric selection. There is ample parking for our customers and no steps to trip on when your arms are full of fabric purchases! We can't wait to begin work on the inside!!!

Name

There are several stories as to how the town of Leoti, Kansas was named. One that was noted in Volume 1 of the Wichita County History Book says that "Leoti" is an Indian word meaning "prairie flower". I've always liked this version the best (another possible claim is that the town was named after one of the founding fathers' wives, Leota); and thought it would make a great name for a business. So that's how Prairie Flower Quilt Co. got it's name.

A Business Is Born!

On August 27, 2008 (Sharla's b-day), Prairie Flower Quilt Co., LLC was born. The business is a collaborative effort of five women (Belinda, Deb, Janet, Marilyn and Sharla) who enjoy quilting and wanted to take it to the next level. This venture began in the spring when Sharla, county director of economic development by day, sent 80+ letters to local quilters to seek their interest in forming a community-owned quilt shop. Interest was small, but a core group of women was interested and on August 1st decided to move forward.

Once the decision was made, things have moved fairly fast - mostly out of necessity because the deadline to register for fall quilt market is in mid-September. The group accessed assistance from the Small Business Development Center, the local Enterprise Facilitation pilot project and local attorney to assist with developing a business plan, financial projections, and legal formation.

Now that all the paperwork is complete, the FUN begins! We'll take possession of the building which will be the future location of the shop on October 1 and then the real work will begin. We'll keep you in the loop of our activities and progress on this site, so we hope you'll join us often on this new adventure! Just remember...

Friends are like fabric -

You can never have enough!