- Reproduction Fabrics
- Posts
- Creating a Website
Creating a Website
History and Evolution of ReproductionFabrics.com
ReproductionFabrics.com , a History
I have always said that my husband's brain was wired differently than mine. When we married, Ron (10/8/44 - 2/21/21) was an Electrical Engineering major. After a stint in Naval Air (Vietnam Era)...we returned to Michigan State to finish our educations. He switched to Wildlife Biology.
For my 40th Birthday we bought a quilt shop in Bozeman, MT. Main Street there is an amazing retail space....but after 7 years I was burned out. Sold my walk in business and moved out to a small Dutch farming community (Amsterdam , MT) with my repro fabrics as a small mail order company.
Ron’s happy place was always outside in nature and exploring the most remote areas of the wilderness. But he always enjoyed a good technical challenge and working with me as my “business partner” for almost 40 years! He always said he would pitch in and help with my business as long as he didn’t have to cut fabric, that was a bridge too far!
The Barrens Northern Canada | Ron with 2 of his Grandkids |
In 1997 Ron suggested we put up a website. It was a very basic 'static' affair. He would take fabric samples to Kinko's and come home with a hard disc. Somehow he beamed the images 'up'? People would call with an order/cc numbers or send a letter with an order/check.
Early in '98....he suggested we buy some Point of Sale software for the website. The critical functionality we needed was a system that could manage our inventory (I didn’t want to sell things we didn’t have) and the ability to sell “fractions” of fabric (he did some investigating...only to come back to me and say 'Alas...no fractions. No one is selling 1/2 of a shirt or 3/4 of a pair of shoes). So he took on the challenge and helped build reproductionfabrics.com. He developed the program I am still using. The admin portion is very Margo/employee friendly. I have had people tell me the site looks dated...like the 1990s...but it still works!
I have since relocated the store to Northfield, MN to be closer my Daughter and her family but the website is still hosted on a server in Montana. We have enhanced the site over the years with credit card processing and security features but the main guts of site is still as Ron designed it 26 years ago.
Come See us! - In-Store Promotions
We LOVE getting visitors to our store in Northfield, MN. There isn't a better time to visit Northfield than in the Fall with all the wonderful colors and great shops to visit along our Main Street. We are running several promotions this fall for those that come visit us in person.
Beautiful Historic Northfield | Beautiful Downtown Northfield |
Fat Quarter Fridays all Fall! In store only. Loose/pre cut FQs will be $3 each (Normally $3.50). We have a big selection of colors, patterns and time periods from 1775 through 1950.
We are partnering with Scott Fortunoff, VP of Henry Glass Fabrics in the #ScottSentMe2024 challenge! We are offering an incentive from Sep 1 to Nov 30 for all visitors to our store. Just say “Scott Sent Me" and get 10% off a purchase of $25 or more. Check out all the participating stores. Hope to see you in the shop soon! Some great prizes are available for the top visitors. Check out the website for all the details and prize.
FABRIC HIGHLIGHT: Elegant Estate Collection from Marcus Fabrics
Wow! Check out this new line from Marcus Fabrics, the "Elegant Estate Collection".
This line has a great example of Ramoneur Grounds. This was Middle French for Sweep. English...Chimney Sweep....deep dark brown background. 1780-1810 Manganese dye stuffs...first used on wool, then on cottons. ES412A is a great example of this styling. That piece is how I dated the line.
Combining Smithsonian collection inspiration with the signature style of Judie Rothermel (Schoolhouse Quilts), this group begins with the beautiful stripe, taken from a wallpaper dated 1860. Black and beige are highlighted with shades of rose and teal. All of the prints in the line would complement a beautiful Estate home of the mid 1800s or a home of today.
FABRIC HIGHLIGHT: Genevieve by Carrie Quinn for Marcus Fabrics
The pretty florals and coordinates in a sophisticated blue-and-cream palette make up the debut collection from Carrie Quinn, inspired by her grandmother.
Inspiration Quilt using this line:
Bette Faries' Lots of Little Pink Stars
Available once again!...Bette Faries' Lots of Little Pink Stars pattern. Finished quilt is 83" X 104". Hand piecing templates as well as rotary cutting directions.
The inspiration for Little Pink Stars II is a quilt made by Margo’s friend Bette Faries. Bette lived in the Tidewater area of Virginia in the early 1970s. While shopping for Blue Flow china at local antique stores, Bette started to pick up quilt tops and blocks. Always fond of pink, she chose pieces that contained classic double pinks but were damaged or poorly sewn. Bette took everything apart, saving the good parts.
Bette's quilt, entirely hand pieced and hand quilted, contains 432 mostly pink star blocks with a sprinkle of other colors: lights, taupe/tan, warm browns and several Indigos. The background fabric is late 1970s broadcloth; all the stars are antique fabrics, 1840-end of the century.
We have a flutter of pre cut FQs...requirements are for 36 Double Pinks, 3 Indigo/white, 3 Browns and 2 Tans. Please note in your order if you want our help in picking out the fabrics for your project. We have lots of pre-cut FQs and will add to your pattern order.
New Summer Lines:
Bucklebury Chintz by Michelle Yeo brings together many historic and timeless motifs in beautiful raspberry pinks, olive greens and ocean blues. Reproduction designs from the mid-19th century.
Temecula Quilt Company Liberty legacy. I have been seeing renewed interest in reproduction fabrics from the 1900-1930 and I’m really excited about this new line of fabrics from the Temecula Quilt Company called Liberty Legacy. We just loaded the 20 new fabrics from this line on our website and also have a FQ bundle available for all 20 fabrics.
Haberdashery by Marcus Fabrics. Early Colonial bedrooms often featured expensive imported Toile fabrics augmented with 'Domestics' (woven checks). Those fabrics were readily available in America at the time. This Haberdashery line has yarn dyed checks and stripes reminiscent of the 1775-1825 time period.
Whistler Studio Circa: Sharp Cheddar - Wonderful Oranges and blues perfect for those fall projects. Available individually by yard or FQ Bundle. 18 lovely prints in this 1865-1900 Late 19th Century line. Post Civil War fabrics had a variety of designs that included paisleys, stripes, and florals. Predominant colors were madders, browns, greens and pinks.
Please follow and share our Instagram and Facebook pages. We share the very latest happenings on our socials. We can use your help, if you find our content interesting and think there is someone in your life that would be interested please send them this newsletter or share our social media pages. We greatly appreciate the support!
I wanted to make sure you know we have new fabrics coming all the time from all time periods. Visit our What’s New page to see all the new fabrics added in the last couple weeks.
News for humans, by humans.
Today's news.
Edited to be unbiased as humanly possible.
Every morning, we triple-check headlines, stories, and sources for bias.
All by hand with no algorithms.