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| About Bee Creek... |
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The Bee Creek Quilting Company came into being in the year 2000, largely by accident. The woman who started the company, Kandi Paige Gallup, fell into design work for the second time as a fluke - just like the first time.
The first time was in 1976 when she suddenly found herself a professional dressmaker at the age of 16. Sewing was in her blood from many generations back in both her mother and father's family history. She began at the age of 8 with just a needle and thread, attempting to make a skirt for her Penny Bright doll. A year or so later in the Girl Scouts, a wonderful woman, Mary Barnett Ramirez, would again put a needle and thread in her hands and, with great patience, teach a little chatty girl how to make even stitches. Later, in junior high and again in high school, she would be blessed with outstanding sewing and tailoring teachers who loved what they did and were generous with their time and talents. One of those teachers in particular, Mrs. Monte Thompson, was highly skilled and knowledgeable herself. It was during that year of high school when an English teacher tore a hem in her skirt, came into the sewing classroom to fix it and saw Kandi's work hanging on display. She called Kandi at home that evening and hired Kandi to sew professionally for her. Kandi had her own business as a dressmaker and designer for the next 12 years.
In 1996, Kandi began to quilt. It was a hobby to amuse herself when she left her current career as a cosmetologist to stay at home with her children. After only one year of quilting, she would begin making her own designs, unable to find patterns on the market for exactly what she wanted.
The design work began with the stained glass banners you see on this website. Kandi, being a quilter, wanted a "quilt-y" type item to hang on the front door, one for each holiday season, to greet people. The first design was for Christmas: Joystar, with the Star of Bethlehem. A few months later, Hope for Easter. The other women in Kandi's mini-group saw the banners and wanted to know where they could get the pattern. Later at the guild she belonged to, other women were interested in the patterns, too. Then "Whoops?", the Bee Creek Quilting Company was born.
Bee Creek is a small creek that runs through farm land that has been in Kandi's family for over 100 years. Kandi's father and uncle were born on that land, and her aunt and uncle live there still. If you are ever on Interstate 29 between Kansas City and St. Joseph in Missouri, you'll cross Bee Creek twice.
We hope you will enjoy your visit to our website. We know you will be as excited as we are about the designs and will have lots of fun making the projects you choose.
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