The Farmer's Daughter unveils fabric, notion room Friday

The Farmer’s Daughter (TFD) Fabric and Notions Room actually started with a preconceived notion. 

Around 10 years ago, Lorena and Rick Freis bought an estate of 32 vintage quilts and sold them in TFD. Someone left a Google review saying they loved all the quilts in the store, and ever since Google has thought TFD was a quilt store. As a result, for the last few years summertime visitors asked daily, “Where’s your fabric?” 

Although Lorena thought about selling fabric years ago, TFD was not established enough to branch off. Now TFD is 18, and Rick and Lorena have owned it for 11-1/2 years. And as Lorena explained, every once and a while things need to change to keep a business thriving. 

In January, “When Rick and I were talking about ways to kick it up a notch this winter, I said, ‘Google already thinks we’re a quilt store so what do you think about this?’” Lorena said. 

That conversation was the beginning, and TFD Fabric and Notions Room is the end result. 

“I’d like to say magically we have fabric, but there’s nothing magic about it. It’s a lot of hard work,” said Lorena. 

To make the dream a reality, they had to decide what they wanted to carry, order fabric and notions, set up new shelving and peg boards, get decor for displays, cut fat quarters of fabric, organize and color coordinate everything and even change the point of sales system.

There were lots of conversations, and a lot of people were involved in the process. 

“It’s been a lot of fun putting it all together,” said Lorena. 

Hill City has not had fabric in around six years, and according to Lorena a number of shops in town get asked for it. Lorena said, “I think it’ll be good to have one more thing that Hill City can fill and can offer.” 

“I have a lot of the quilters around here who are just over the moon that Hill City has fabric and has notions. And so instead of spending an hour and a half driving to and from Rapid, they can just quickly run downtown,” Lorena added. 

The Fabric and Notions Room has 430 bolts of fabric with more scheduled to come in every month for the rest of the year. Every time it gets a new bolt of fabric in stock, they start by taking a half yard and cutting it in half to create fat quarters. 

Within this fabric selection, there is a black and white collection which Lorena said, “is very popular this year.” Some of the patterns include cats, paw prints, flowers and music notes. There is even a glow-in-the-dark fabric with stars and moons on it. 

The Fairy Frost fabric is another highlight. Lorena explained that “Many stores have four or five bolts of Fairy Frost. This is the entire collection.” She described it as very happy and sparkly. 

Since every quilt needs solids, there is a variety of solid colors to choose from. There is also a white on white selection, each with a unique pattern, and a collection of neutrals. 

Additionally, Lorena is beginning a Grunge Fabric collection and there are All American and Happy Camper fabrics available as well. 

A final feature fabric is the large collection of Island Batik blenders. This fabric is from a company in California and everything is hand stamped in Bali. The pattern is stamped on the fabric with wax before dying it. Then the part with wax on it does not accept the color and is a lighter shade. After that, the fabric is laid in the sun to dry before being folded and put on bolts. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Lorena. “I just stand amazed at the fact that someone actually took the time to stamp wax.” 

Some fabrics will rotate based on seasonality. In June, Christmas and winter fabric will be available, and Lorena already ordered Valentine’s Day fabric. 

The bolts of fabric are displayed in close proximity for easy comparison. Meanwhile, the natural daylight and overhead lighting brightens the room to showcase the fabric. 

“People are passionate about their fabrics,” said Lorena, and for good reason. After all the time and energy that goes into a project, quilters want to know that it will stand the test of time. 

“So that’s what we tried to find—nice, high-quality fabric that not everybody else in the Black Hills has,” Lorena said. 

The Fabric and Notions Room also has a selection of high-quality thread. Meanwhile, the notions corner has a variety of items such as sewing machine needles, pins, cutting boards, thimbles and scissors. 

Lorena decided on the room’s selection based on the advice and expertise of people who owned quilt stores as well as friends who have been quilting for years. 

“It’s good to surround yourself with good people who know what they’re doing, and I’m enormously blessed by that,” said Lorena.

For while she is a quilt appreciator, Lorena is not a quilter herself. Instead, Lorena said she has a couple of ladies lined up to work the fabric room. One is a long-time quilter and lover of fabric, and the other has worked in the quilting world cutting fabric and sewing quilts for years and years and has a “crazy amount of knowledge.” 

This way there will be experts on site to answer any questions. 

TFD Fabric and Notions Room is opening Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. After that, it will be open year-round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer. 

“I hope that people come out and check us out and enjoy what they see,” said Lorena. 

For those who do not know how to sew, Lorena is considering starting a class around October on basic quilting skills after store hours. She already has friends who have agreed to teach classes.