Congrats!

Prairie Flower Quilt Co. would like to congratulate Charlie's Mexican Restaurant of Leoti for being one of the finalists for the 8 Wonders of Kansas for Cuisine. Charlie's has been in business since 1962 and was one of the first Mexican restaurants in the state. Help Charlie's win by voting for them at www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/cuisine.php!

Paper Piecing

This Friday evening, we'll be teaching how to paper piece quilt labels at the Leoti Quilt Guild's retreat. If you're planning to attend, please bring scraps of fabric from your last finished quilt and we'll help you complete a quilt label for it. We'll be bringing "Sophia" along to embroider the labels. She's our latest Baby Lock sewing and embroidery machine - and she's only $699.99 until the end of May!

It's all in the bag!

Here's a photo of one of our class participants and their finished Bow Tucks Tote Bag - isn't it great! You can make one too. We're going to schedule another class, so stop in and sign up today.

Stack 'n Whack

This Saturday, April 18, the Breakfast Club will feature a stack 'n whack star pattern by Buggy Barn. You can make a table square, throw or full size quilt. This will be a fun one, so be sure to come in and check out our sample, sign up for the class and pick out your fabric soon!

Upcoming Classes

April is a busy month at the shop & we don't want you to miss out on all the fun! We have two upcoming classes scheduled:

• Beginning Machine Applique - Friday, April 17, 1:30 p.m., Instructor Carol Miles. Learn beautiful applique techniques with your sewing machine. $20 plus supplies.

• X-Block Quilt - Monday, April 20, 1:00 p.m., Instructor Pat Norton. Learn this fun technique using the X-Block ruler. $25 per person or bring a buddy for $30 plus supplies.

Space is limited, so sign up soon!

It's that time of the month....

....for the Block A Month classes! We'll be a third of the way through and making great progress. So make sure you've got it on your calendar - either Saturday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m. or Monday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. See you then!

Bow Tucks - Not Botox!

Join us this Friday, April 10 for the Bow Tucks Tote Bag Class taught by Judy Moyer of Lakin. Class is $15 plus supplies. Class begins at 10:00 a.m. and by the end of the day you'll go home with a new bag for spring! Stop in today to sign up and select your fabric before the class fills up!

Just for laughs

Found this cartoon on Quilting Weekly's blog.

We're on Twitter Too!

Are you on Twitter? Sew are we! Come follow our tweets here.

Spring Quilters Challenge

Join our Spring Quilters Challenge! Make a spring-themed quilt creation that is no smaller than 8” x 8” and no larger than 16” x 16” using a recognizable piece of each item in the challenge kit (Kits are only $1). You may add any number of other fabrics, notions, etc. to your creation. You are limited only by your imagination and creativity. Creations can be made into a quilt block, wallhanging, purse, postcard, etc. Completed items are encouraged but not mandatory (ie: quilted and bound).

Turn your entry in to Prairie Flower Quilt Co. by April 30 to be entered in the Challenge. The winner will be selected by public vote. Voting will be open during the month of May. Winner will receive a $25 gift certificate.

Stop in today to pick up your Challenge Kit and join the fun!

Snow Day Projects

Tell us about (or better yet, show us) your snow day sewing projects! Sharla spent part of the day working on this project (& she had a whole lot more fun that Belinda did working on her taxes!). This cute quilt is made from American Jane's newest collection called "Snippets" by Moda. Next will come an inner border of pink (or maybe yellow) prairie points and an outer border of the focal fabric that features paper dolls on it. Comment to this blog entry and tell us about your snow day sewing project for a chance to win a little prize. Enter before Friday, April 3 at midnight to get your name entered in the prize drawing!

Apron Antics

It was a great day at the shop. Here's a peek at the finished (or semi-finished) projects completed today!

We're on Facebook

Are you? Become "Prairie Flower Quilts" friends on Facebook to keep up with the very latest!

P.S. Yes, we're open today (3-27), so come join us for a snow 'n sew day!

Northern Solitude

....doesn't describe the current weather conditions outside, but it is the newest collection of fabric at the shop. Northern Solitude by Holly Taylor hints at lazy summer days on the shores of the great northern lakes with freshly blooming wildflowers, butterflies gliding on delicate wings and mysterious dragonflies flitting about the water surface. The soft muted colors of this collection would make a gorgeous quilt for any bed!

Blizzard Forecast

Blizzard conditions are forecasted for Friday in western Kansas with 5-9 inches of snow expected. Stock up on supplies for your snow day sewing plans. We have lots of new fabrics to start a new quilt project, and notions to complete the project. Stop in the shop and stock up!

It's officially spring

...and the spring flowers are pushing through the ground and beginning to grow. Just like the spring flowers, we're growing at the shop as well. Sometime during the last three months, we surpassed our original goal of having 1000 bolts of fabric. Every week new fabric arrives and our collection grows. This week, we passed 1200 bolts! Two new collections that arrived this week are Snippets by American Jane for Moda and Storybook VI by Windham Fabrics, a 30's reproduction collection. Both feature spring colors and would make a fun quilt for your favorite big or little girl.

Top Shelf Sale

This year, National Quilting Day, celebrated on the 3rd Saturday of March each year, is devoting the day to the home. In recognition of the home, Prairie Flower Quilt Co. will have a "Top Shelf" Sale on Saturday, March 21. Our "top shelf" fabrics will be 15% off. These fabric collections are perfect for your home accessory projects and feature many of our themed fabrics - chickens, cowboy/western, hunting, 30's and more. Wheather your next project is an apron, curtains, or a quilt, there will be some wonderfully fun fabrics to fit the bill!

Alpha Buddies

Sure to delight every little one in your life, Alpha Buddies by Andover Fabrics is the newest line of juvenile fabrics at the shop. This cute panel features the ABCs and comes with a whole line of bright coordinating fabrics. Click here for a free quilt pattern for this collection.

BAM!

No, we're not talking about Emeril, we're just reminding you that the next Block A Month class is this Saturday, March 14 at 10 a.m. or Monday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. We'll be making blocks 2 & 3. Here's a sneak peek of the blocks in the pink colorway:

Sign of the Times

Newest arrivals...

This newest arrival at the shop is from Red Rooster. This cute collection is by Jacqueline Paton and would be perfect for a little one's quilt...or as a charming wallhanging as shown above. Download the free wallhanging pattern here.

We've been so busy at the shop, we forgot to tell you #8 arrived last week. Deb now has a new granddaughter named Jayah. Mother and baby are doing well. Congratulations!

Fun n' Funky

Vibrant citrus color and whimsical stylized compositions makes this fun and funky collection a must-have for your next project. The possibilities are endless - hand bags, children's dresses, aprons, and more! And they'll all be the 'objects of desire' among your friends! Stop in and see this new collection by Sandy Gervais for Moda today.

This & That

Here's a hodge-podge of news and reminders from the shop...

...Friday is the last day for our introductory prices on our Baby Lock machines. If your current sewing machine isn't performing up to standards; you would like to expand your creative horizons with a new embroidery or embellishing machine; or you'd like a lightweight machine to carry to quilt classes and retreats, then stop in and save!

...The Chenille Scarf class is this Saturday, so this is a reminder to those that have signed up for the class to stop in and purchase your supplies prior to the class starting at 1 p.m.

...Another new Moda collection arrived today. Stop by and see Beach House by Blackbird Designs. Relaxed and sophisticated in dusty earthen colors, Beach House is an afternoon coastal retreat. The collection inspires the senses: the salty scent of the ocean lingering in the air carried by a gentle off shore breeze; the steady rhythm of crashing waves creating the perfect sound track to an evening of creative handwork and reminiscing with close friends.

...Does your husband have plans to spend the day at Berning Auction's consignment farm sale on Saturday? If you'll be a 'widow' for the day, come spend it with us! We'll have the coffee pot on and lots of fabrics to inspire your next quilt project.

...We finally have our sign installed! Now it will be easier than ever to find us. The braces are still in place while the cement dries, but hopefully those will be gone soon.

Congratulations....

...to Marilyn Luebbers, winner of the Grace Baby Lock sewing machine! Thanks to everyone who stopped in today and joined us for our baby shower. If you didn't make it in, you still have time to take advantage of our introductory prices until Friday, March 6.

Basically Speaking

We've been anxiously waiting for a new blender line of fabrics to arrive. It was due to arrive in November, but finally made its appearance this week. Bonnie Blue Basics is a great line of small prints in a wide variety of colors. With a flair for reproductions, these will be great to mix and match with other fabrics as a blender or make a whole project featuring the line. Stop by and check it out!

P.S. ~ Don't forget to stop in on Saturday to meet our new "brood" of Baby Locks and take them for a test drive. Introductory prices available until March 6!

Moda Bake Shop Open

Our Moda Bake Shop will be open on Thursday featuring two new collections that arrived today in the store - Flag Day Farm and Harmony. Stop in Thursday to oogle these beautiful collections, taste test sugar cookies straight from the farm and pick up your free Flag Day Farm Sugar Cookie Recipe.

It’s a sunny summer morning on Flag Day Farm. Laundry is being hung on the line to dry, fresh eggs are collected from the coop and new calicoes from the Mercantile are waiting to be made into shirts and dresses in preparation for the new school year. Minick and Simpson have brought us yet another glimpse of rural American life in dusty shades of patriotism and gorgeous vintage prints.

Harmony is a collaboration of primitive ideas and classic details. Jan Patek’s traditional Americana palette of reds, blues, blacks, tans and olive greens blend seamlessly into an array of paisleys, dots, stripes and plaids. Classic color and a primitive aesthetic overflow into a coordinating collection of homespuns.

We know you'll want to take home these beautiful fabrics for your next quilting project before they're all gone! Need a few new project ideas? Visit the Moda Bake Shop for some fun and free projects!

Whew, What A Day!

We were meeting ourselves coming and going today as Deb and Belinda kicked off the day bright and early at 8 a.m. with the Breakfast Club. A shop full of ladies came for breakfast and sewing -- some stayed until we closed the doors this evening. Meanwhile, Janet and Sharla headed to Scott City to man our booth at the Scott City Shop Hop. Midday, Janet headed back to the shop to trade places with Belinda so she could give our demonstration at the shop hop on our quilted wallets. Attendance was good at the shop hop and many ladies made a day of it, stopping both at the hop and the shop. Thanks to everyone who visited us today!

As we worked on stuff this week for the shop hop, we worried about how we would display our goodies without tearing up too many displays at the shop. We didn't have a plan ahead of time, but we think it came together and represented the look of our shop well.

Eggs & Tulips & Stars, Oh My!

This week, we've all been frantically putting together kits (aprons, quilts, pillows, bags, wallets.....) and making tulip and star fat quarter bundles to take to the Scott City Shop Hop on Friday. We're also excited about our new egg carton bundles and loaves of 'Bread & Butter', they are soooo cute (in our unbiased opinion!). So stop by our booth and see our goodies!

P.S. We'll be doing double duty on Saturday, as the shop will also be open. Deb will be hosting the Breakfast Club featuring Eggs Benedict.

Shop Hopping

Our rotary cutters are flying at the shop as we are busy cutting fabric to get ready for our first "shop hop". On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, we will load up our goodies and set up a booth at the Scott City Quilt Guild Quilt Show. We'll have kits for quilts, aprons, bags and more, plus fat quarter bundles, etc. At 2:30 on Saturday, Belinda will demonstrate how to make a fabric wallet using a neat bias ruler & we'll have kits to purchase to make your own. Show hours are 7-8:30 Friday evening and 9-4 on Saturday at the William Carpenter 4-H Building in Scott City. The shop will be open from 10-4 on Saturday also, so stop in on your way and see the new fabric arriving daily!

New at the Shop

This week, the much anticipated Wildflower Serenade II by Kansas Troubles for Moda arrived! Wildflower Serenade II took root in the chance finding of a mid 1800 French Floral fabric. This fabric became the inspiration for Lynn Hagmeier's own back yard garden as well as for her next group of cottons. The collection developed along with the real life garden; the plots were planned, the soil was amended and after the ground work is laid all there is to do is sit back and wait for the blooms.

The line features the beautiful earthy colors you love but with a new addition - the color plum! Not only do we have bolts of fabric, but also layer cakes, jelly rolls and turnovers. Charm packs will be arriving soon. Stop in and pick a bouquet of "wildflowers" before its all gone!

Mason Cole

Well, I'm chalking this one up to bad cell phone reception - surely my hearing is not going like my eye sight! When Deb called to tell us that she was a grandma again, I thought she said the new bundle of joy was named Nathan, but actually it's Mason Cole. Whatever the name, we're pleased to welcome him in the world!

No. 7 & Counting

Congratulations are in order as Deb is a new grandmother for the seventh time. Daughter Karianne had a baby boy named Nathan on Saturday, weighing in at 8 lbs., 5 oz. Nathan joins three older brothers. And, No. 8 is set to arrive in about a month!

Come meet our new "Babies"

You are all invited to our Baby Shower for our new brood of "Babies".....Baby Locks, that is! Mark your calendars for our Baby Lock Baby Shower on Saturday, February 28. We'll have our full line of Baby Lock sewing, quilting, embroidery, and serging machines available for you to test drive. We'll have sales specials all day long and our drawing for the Baby Lock Grace sewing machine. Don't miss it!

A Bounty of Baby Locks

This week, Deb and Sharla are at Baby Lock Dealer Training in St. Louis, while Janet and Belinda are manning the shop with the help of Pat and Janet's sister, Judy.

We can't wait to show you all the wonderful line of Baby Lock sewing, quilting, embroidery and serging machines!

Of course, we have all fallen in love with the Espire sewing and quilting machine. It has the easiest touch screen functions and over 300 stitches. And, unlike many other machines, an enlarged table/sewing surface is included with the machine.

The Baby Lock Imagine Serger is like no other! It has jet-air threading, making it a snap to thread. And it has automatic tension....no more tension dials that take forever to get set. We have so many ideas for samples to make with both machines......now if we can just find the time!

Hearts Helping Hearts

Join us this whole month as we honor Marilyn. February is Hearts Helping Hearts month at Prairie Flower Quilts. For every yard of fabric you bring into the shop and donate, we'll give you $1 off on a new yard of fabric. At the end of the month we'll donate the fabric to a needy charity (yet to be determined) in Marilyn's honor. Marilyn's mission in life was to give of herself for others....to her family, friends, church and community. So clean out your stash closets and help us carry on Marilyn's mission.

Meet Grace & Enter Our Drawing To Take Her Home!

We are pleased to announce that we will be giving away a Baby Lock Grace A-line Series Sewing Machine. Drawing will be held on Saturday, February 28 at our Baby Lock Baby Shower. Stop in for details.

Meet our new mascot!

Stop in and meet our very own Eleanor Burns. She'll be helping us sell Baby Lock sewing machines. And just as in the photo below, she's decked out in a purple feather boa! She'll be a fun addition to the shop.

Super Weekend, Super Savings

Join us on Saturday and Sunday for our Grand Opening Super Weekend and score big savings! Our Quarterback Sale features 25% off all yard goods (minimum of 1 yard cuts) and 25 cents off all fat quarters. Buy 4 fat quarters of special group of civil war reproductions (red banded fat quarters) and get the 5th one free in our 5th Quarter Sale. We'll have drawings for goodie bags and prizes every hour and gifts for the first 25 purchases each day. Guess the combined total score of the Super Bowl game for a chance to win our Super Weekend gift bag. Enter our drawing for a Baby Lock sewing machine to be given away later in February! Don't miss this exciting event! Game times are Saturday from 10 - 4 and Sunday from 1 - 5.

New Arrivals

We have many different collections arriving on a weekly basis. Here are couple that arrived last week.....Stop in often and see what's new at the shop.

Mark Your Calendars!

Join us for our official "kickoff" on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 31 & Feb. 1 at our Grand Opening Super Weekend. "Game times" are Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. Keep checking back as we post our Super Weekend "game plan"!

True Beauty

Marilyn's daughters wrote the following poem. We thought we'd share it with all of you in memory of Marilyn.

When that little girl came into the world

She could really, really run.

From Marilyn, to Frizz, to Mom, then Grammy,

Her name would soon become.

She loved to give to others

And helped Dad out on the farm.

But her greatest gift of all was

Making quilts to keep us all warm.

Known by her outer beauty from far and near,

In trying to describe her its hard to even begin.

But to those who knew her the best

it was perfectly clear;

She was a great example that

"True beauty comes from within."

To difficult for words

No words can express the sadness and shock we are experiencing at the loss of one of our partners, Marilyn. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We will be closed through Friday in her memory. For those of our friends who keep in touch with us through this blog and would like to attend the funeral, it will be held on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church.

You Think You've Got Troubles!

We've got Troubles....Kansas Troubles, that is. Kansas quilt and fabric designer, Lynn Hagmeier, has a new program featuring her Kansas Troubles fabrics called KT Stash Society. For $12 each month (or $15 if you do individual projects), you will receive a 1/2 yard of Kansas Troubles fabrics in either fat quarters, charm packs or jelly rolls, a project pattern and the KT Stash Society newsletter. These are monthly take home projects that are designed to utilize your stash of KT fabrics you already have at home. Don't have a KT stash? Then you can purchase the finishing kit also. The January project is a mini quilt.....

Don't Be Square....

Join us on the 2nd Saturday at 10 a.m. or the following Mondays at 6:30 p.m. starting in February for our Block-A-Month program featuring Jodi Barrows' Square in a Square technique. Each month you'll learn a new Square in a Square technique to make your block. Cost is $10 each month for the fabric, pattern and instruction. Taught by Belinda Oldham. Sign up today for one of these colorways:

Jodi Barrows' Abby's Schoolhouse collection in pinks and greys

Moda's Miss Jump's Scrapbag in blues and rusts

Have Breakfast With Us!

All you early risers (and those who aren't) are invited to join us on the 3rd Saturday of each month for the Breakfast Club. Beginning at 8:00 a.m., the Breakfast Club will feature a different project each month that will be demonstrated over breakfast. Then you can choose to stay for the day to work on your project (bring your sewing machine) or take the project home to complete. You can sign up for this club on a month by month basis. Deb Case will be the instructor. The Breakfast Club is $10.00 each time plus project supplies.

The first project will be a table runner. Choose from one of the following colorways:

Rust & Cream

Pink & Green

First class will be this coming Saturday, January 17th, so come in or call to sign up.

Newspaper coverage

The shop was featured in a story today in the Garden City Telegram. A nice article. The reporter always does a good job of writing positive stories. Thanks Stephanie!

(Photo by Stephanie Farley, Garden City Telegram)

Charming Tote

A new pattern arrived yesterday for this tote bag:

Stop by and pick up your "Charming Totes Two" pattern today. It uses a charm pack and some additional yardage. Start out the new year with a fun new bag! This is just one of several new quilt and bag patterns we received from Whistlepig Creek. Come check them all out!

Opening Day

Today was the opening day of Prairie Flower Quilt Co.! It seems like its been a long road to get to this day, but definitely worth it. We had a great day - the weather cooperated, a wonderful crowd came out to support us in our new venture, and we didn't have too many unexpected problems. It'll take us a few days to get into a smooth routine and work the kinks out, so please have patience with us.

Marilyn's family surprised us with an opening sign and balloons today. Thank you! And we had a lot of wonderful people stop in to wish us good luck.

Thank you to everyone who made our first day such a great success! We had a great time and hope everyone else did too. Thank you all....
Belinda, Janet, Deb, Marilyn & Sharla

the shop in still life...