By Lindsay Conner

If you’re looking for an online quilt shop with a variety of beautiful, modern, and traditional fabrics, swing over to Coneflower Quilt Co. and have a look! Owned by Renee Wald and her husband Harvey, this small business is located in Pierre, South Dakota but is frequented by happy fabric shoppers from across the country via its online shop. Among their offerings, you’ll find fabric collections from Moda, FreeSpirit Fabrics, Ruby Star Society, Robert Kaufman, and more. But you’ll also find plenty of purse hardware, bag patterns, quilt batting, interfacing, and other notions to keep by your sewing machine.

“We want to share that happy feeling of getting pretty fabric, notions, or patterns in the mail,” Renee explains. Having been a quilter for more than 30 years, Renee lives in a small community with just one local quilt shop. “I did a lot of fabric shopping when I traveled and at quilting retreats (before there was online shopping).” Though she enjoyed quilting with a lot of different styles of fabrics, Renee always found it challenging to find what she saw on social media and designers’ blogs until online shopping grew in popularity.

“One summer, Harvey and I were on a road trip for our vacation, and I got to talking about the rise of online fabric shopping,” Renee says. “He said, ‘You should start a shop, because it would be a way to carry all the prints that you love.’ A few months later, we started our website. And almost 6 years later, we are now going to transition from online only to an online plus brick-and-mortar shop!”

Coneflower Quilt Co. carries modern fabric collections and they hope to continue to add to their shop’s wide assortment of blenders. “I think that our customers represent a wide variety of sewing skills, from beginners to advanced,” Renee says. “I love when someone tells me that they are trying something new or stepping out of their comfort zone to try different colors, patterns, or style of prints.” As an experienced quilter, Renee is thrilled when a customer asks for help pairing up colors and prints into a cohesive project. Though that can be a bit of a challenge with an online shop, she frequently texts or emails back and forth with customers to help them put together a winning combination. By offering that personal touch, she is able to offer her customers much more than just materials, but a curated shopping experience!

Moving from an online shop to a brick-and-mortar location will allow Coneflower Quilt Co. to teach sewing classes for the first time. “I have seen more interest in beginner sewers as I have vended around our state,” Renee says. “I hope to offer a variety of classes when we finally open our doors to help them sharpen their skills.” She also looks forward to getting kids involved in sewing with their grown-ups. “I know when my daughter started to sew it was fun to help her make projects, pick out fabrics, and spend time together. I think it will be also great to have sew-ins and weekend gatherings in our new classroom!”

But just because they are pivoting to an in-person shop doesn’t mean the online connections are any less important to running this business. Reaching out to new sewers and quilters through social media is key, Renee says. And looking at their bright, styled product photography of fabric stacks, you can tell that a lot of care and detail goes into making their products look appetizing online.

Over the years, Coneflower Quilt Co. has vended at local markets and learned valuable lessons from interacting with customers in person—to see which fabrics or patterns they pick up and which ones they ultimately decide to purchase. “I think that smaller, quick projects are really trending,” Renee says. “We all have busy lives, and being able to make up a small project lets us express that creativity.” Not only are small projects—like tote bags, table runners, wall hangings, and baby quilts—fun and quick to sew, but they also make great gifts, she adds.

As they get ready for the shop’s grand opening in the near future, Renee is excited for the expanded possibilities of serving customers face to face. “I am excited for Coneflower’s future and being able to have customers see all that we have to offer,” Renee says. “We also plan to keep our online experience exciting and fun!”

Opening the Coneflower Quilt Co. has always been a way for Renee to connect with the wider, creative community and curate a shopping experience that inspires creativity. It’s her way of giving something back. “I think that my sewing community is so generous with their talents and ideas,” she says. “Sewers are there for each other to help boost our confidence and creativity, and I am so glad to be a part of this community.”

Follow Coneflower Quilt Co. on Facebook and Instagram!

Learn more about Lindsay here.