A Quarter-Century of Design

If you’d told Lynne Hagmeier in 1998 that she’d be designing fabric 25 years later, she might not have believed you. When Moda first approached Lynne after seeing her quilt patterns, she had left her job as a social worker to be home with her four young children after her first husband passed away. But her philosophy is “Jump in with both feet or give it up—I can’t do things halfway.” And so, she took on the challenge. Today she’s sharing her 73rd fabric line, Clover Blossom Farm. “Inspiration comes from all kinds of places,” she says. “The only really difficult part of creating a new line is naming it!” 

Lynne’s decision to jump in with both feet brought numerous changes in her life. In 2001, she and her husband Robert bought a two-story building in downtown Bennington, Kansas (population 662). “The last kid went off to college in 2000 and I had stuff in every kid’s bedroom,” says Lynne. The 2000-square-foot building provided ample storage for her growing business but needed a total renovation. When American Patchwork and Quilting wanted to shoot photos for a feature story about Lynne, the couple hastily converted one corner of the upstairs. 

With months more work, it was ready for retreats and the next logical step was to provide somewhere for retreaters to shop. “I wondered if anyone would come,” says Lynne of her Kansas Troubles Quilters shop. “Bennington is out in the middle of nowhere, but quilters will go where quilt shops are.”

On the Road

Pre-pandemic, Lynne also went where quilters were—to guilds, shows, and festivals—and spent about half her days on the road. She and Robert traveled together but eventually he stayed home to mind the shop and Lynne struck out with her new travel companion, granddaughter Aleece. For years, on summer vacations and school breaks, Aleece traveled with her grandparents and showed an entrepreneurial spirit. Lynne remembers Aleece selling rulers at a show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. “On the way home this 10-year-old was negotiating her percentage,” Lynne says with a laugh. “It was her version of a lemonade stand. She’s a fabulous help.”

In 2019, Lynne began hosting larger-scale retreats at Kansas Troubles, sharing teaching duties with fellow Moda designers. As the store got busier, Lynne moved her computer from the shop to her cramped home sewing room. 

Fulfilling a 24-year-old Dream

Eventually she designed a dedicated sewing studio—“After 24 years, it was about time!” says Lynne—and her son, a contractor by trade, poured the foundation in February 2020. Then the world shut down. “We couldn’t get parts—even last fall the post beams arrived crooked and took months to replace,” she says. But by May, 2022, Lynne was taking her first stitches in the light-filled space. She credits her son for doing 99% of the work, along with his son who graduated a year ago and also helped, for making it happen. 

Now, Lynne’s myriad swatches of inspiration are nestled in 18 glass-fronted drawers rescued from an old hardware store. Each is labeled—dots in one, larger florals in another—and another cupboard holds quilt tops. “I have three times as much space,” marvels Lynne. “And while I like to be able to see my inspiration fabrics, I’m also using more closed storage,” she says. “There’s a sense of calm when there’s less visual clutter.”  

When she’s not sewing in her new studio, Lynne’s planning upcoming retreats and a quilting cruise. And she’ll continue designing patterns and fabric. “During the pandemic, people really appreciated cozy and comfortable fabrics,” she says. The warmth of Clover Blossom Farm will bring quilters pleasure in any circumstances.  

To see Kansas Troubles newest collection and the fabrics shipping to stores now, shop Moda's Piece Catalog, Issue 54.