About Us

About Inspired to Sew

Most businesses start with a business plan, goals and many sleepless nights of worry.  Dreams and visions and plans stir up in many sewing enthusiasts of owning their own quilt shop.  Ours started with

Jill & Therese Partner

“Hey, we could open a fabric store.”  And Six Weeks Later We DID.

And that is just how Pine Needles Quilt Shop opened in Cresco, Iowa on January 2, 1999.  Our first day of business was a snowstorm.  We opened for three hours and had to shut down as the Iowa State Patrol started closing roads.  I will never forget the faces and the welcome from those first customers who graced the threshold of our humble little store.

We are a family-owned business and our kids grew up working in the business alongside us.  Their earliest memories are of being “paid” in pizza to help move the store around or sitting in our living room folding and attaching stamps to flyers to mail to our fans most enthusiastic to hear about the happenings at our little quilt shop.

Owner Jill Reicks had started a business with friends in 1988 making gift items that were sold at craft fairs then craft shows, then through Country Sampler magazine.  For a period of time, the business Lydia’s Sisters ran a vigorous wholesale business selling coasters and placemats and wall quilts to gift shops all across America.  A mother of five young children, Jill engaged the services of friends and neighbors in making parts of the projects.  Many of the sewists have gone on to establish their own businesses in the sewing and crafting industry.  When her youngest child was readying to go to kindergarten, it was time for a career change…perhaps go back to her teaching vocation.  Then the quilt shop idea popped up and in less than six weeks, the store was opened in the charming town of Cresco, Iowa. 

"People who sew dream in fabric and color. Let us inspire you to bring your dreams to cloth..."

Carrying fabric, Bernina and Baby Lock machines and a lot of classes, the mission statement of the business bloomed from “Let Us Inspire You...”  These were the first words that we used to describe who we are and what we vision to do for people.  To this day, we are proud of this mission and excited to keep inspiring people.

In 2003, the Reicks family opened a second location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa…Pine Needles Sewing Center on Blairs Ferry Road.  Embraced with enthusiasm by the community, the business flourished and enjoyed even more opportunities to inspire people.  Then in 2005, the Nagel family purchased the original store in Cresco and still operate their location, now moved to Rochester, MN. 

In 2008, Pine Needles Sewing moved into its current home on Old Marion Road.  With hundreds of classes each year and more than 7,000 square feet of an amazing location, we continue to strive to have the people and product to keep sewing alive and thriving.  Sewing has grown to reach all ages and interests with a wide scope of sewing taking hold of the world.  We are proud to represent a brick and mortar store and an ever-evolving online presence to inspire and motivate our customers.

In 2015, we have welcomed a new name for our business… “Inspired to Sew”.  People often ask why we would abandon our original name.  No doubt this has been a long and challenging decision.  However, as a family and as a team, we took very serious consideration of what we do.  Our former name was cute and charming but did not embrace the spirit of our work.  Therefore at the risk of losing name recognition, we are taking a leap of faith and embracing “Inspired to Sew”.  It is true, we will hold onto the “at Pine Needles” tag line and will likely carry that around fondly for a while.  We hope that you join us as we move into a new phase for our business.

As proud independent business owners in America, we want customer service, a welcoming and inspiring environment and a mindfulness of being attentive both to stewarding our resources of time and talent well, we will continue to work to be the store for you to have your needs met, to be educated and to be inspired.  We continue to thank you for your enthusiastic support.  While we have put a lot of hard work into this business, we have all of you to thank for our growth and ability to employ people in a just and honorable work environment.  It is through your financial support by buying from us that we are able to continue to push on to make small businesses (like ours) in America thrive and survive.

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If you appreciate what we do for service, product support and education, we hope you choose to support us with your purchases from us so that we can continue this good work. Our business is what it is today because of the loyal support of our friends and customers and we are always mindful and grateful for you always.

Henry and Jill Reicks

Therese and Joel Gansen

And the entire Inspired to Sew Team

Interested in joining our team? Click here to find out more information.

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