Hi, my name is Cheryl Haynes and I am the owner and designer of The Prairie Grove Peddler pattern company.  I am a wife, married 34 years, a mother of 3 great kids, and a grandmother or "Nana" to six.

I have always had an interest in art and crafts.  I won lots of awards in Junior High and High School for artwork ranging from pastels to oil paintings.  I designed and made Barbie doll clothes as a young girl.  I could never seem to follow a pattern very well so I made up my own patterns.  I designed quilts from my own patterns as a teenager.  Both of my grandmothers were quilters and made beautiful quilts that I grew up sleeping under.

 

When my husband and I were dating, I would sit on the floor of his apartment and lay out quilt blocks to sew, usually pinning them to the shag carpet (oops, my age is showing)!  I even had a sewing machine with me most of the time.  I think everyone I know got a quilt from me at some point, whether they liked it or not!  I have always loved playing with colors and fabric.  I made both of my sisters a hand-quilted quilt for Christmas one year.

I started my business in 1990 in Florissant, Missouri.  Originally, I hand crafted oak and reed baskets, dolls, pumpkins and simple wall hangings to sell at local craft fairs.  My parents were basket makers and taught me to make hand-made baskets from hand hewn oak early on.  As my money grew, so did the size of the craft fairs I attended.  I did a lot of 2 and 3 day fairs such as Green Tree in St. Louis and the Festival of the Little Hills in St. Charles, MO.  I would pile my kids and product into our little car for each show.  I even had things hanging out of the trunk, which was tied down.  I'm sure we were quite a sight going down the highway.  My two older kids came to appreciate the fun of running around the craft fairs doing all of the hands-on projects, especially the shows where they dressed in period costumes and demonstrated old fashioned crafts. Those really were the good 'ole days.  Such geat memories and great friends that I came to know at those craft fairs.

I started designing patterns for my dolls in 1992 and sold them through the same craft fairs and local quilt shops.   It was a great time for crafts.   In 1993, I attended my first International Quilt Market & Festival in Houston, Texas. What a wonderful experience!  I knew I was hooked. I added quilted wall hanging patterns in 1994 and started designing books for Darrow Production Co. that same year.  I have been fortunate to design books, for not only Darrow Productions, but Design Originals, Jeanette Crews Designs and McCall's Creates as well. 

 

Over the years, I have been honored to have quilts displayed in Calendars by Current, Inc., QuiltMaker's and other quilting magazines.  My Father Christmas quilt was on the cover of Keepsake Quilting in 2001.  I added punchneedle patterns and cross stitch charts similar to my quilt patterns in 2004.  I have designed well over 300 patterns and books so far and don't plan to stop anytime soon.

 

I now reside in the Missouri countryside with the sound of cows, horses and bull frogs croaking in the pond.  The bliss was interrupted by the overwhelming sounds of the Cicadas this past summer but they have since gone away.  My grandkids usually get a tractor ride when they come to visit because they will not leave without it!  They also like to go fishing in the pond and playing with the minnows. Besides the ice cream and tractors, we do our best to spoil them. My kids all live close so we get to enjoy them often.

 

The Prairie Grove Peddler is a team of talented, dedicated professionals.  Not only do I design the patterns & charts, but we have Betty making the quilt samples. Marilyn does all of the quilting.  Sarah punches the punchneedle models.  Taffy, Sherry, Jeanne, and Velda have all helped to stitch the cross stitch models.  Keith & Kristi are in charge of the books, patterns & charts.  We really couldn't do it without everyone's faithful support. 

Thanks for visiting!
Cheryl