Welcome to Mesquite Bean Fabrics!

So, this is the first official post of Mesquite Bean Fabrics Blog!  I guess I should come up with something charming or funny or at least useful to post.  To tell you the truth, I just had 14 boxes of new fabric arrive and I am procrastinating opening them and getting them out on the floor!  I suppose I could introduce myself.  I am Joy.  I will be doing most of the posting for our blog although you will also hear from Karen, Katie, Ashley, Cindy or Paula.  That's us!  The Bean Team!  We opened our doors on June 19th in San Antonio, Texas.  We've been having an amazing summer getting to know our new neighbors and meeting people from all over the country who have found us on the Row by Row Experience! Our owners are Cindy Wheeler and Paula Watts. They are just a couple of Texas girls with a dream!  A dream to be surrounded by beautiful fabrics and fabulous friends!

You may ask, "Why Mesquite Bean?"  Well, we're in South Texas!  Mesquite Trees are indigenous to the South Texas area.  The seed pods, or "Beans", have ingrained in the South Texas culture since the beginning of recorded history in our area!  It also one of the most resilient plants known to man.  The "beans" can lay dormant for years and when a rain comes through...POOF....mesquite trees!  I'm pretty sure that's how it works anyway.  Check this out if your interested:

Very cool information on the Mesquite Bean.

And if you're not interested, it's just a cool name.

Here's a short tour of our shop located in Alamo Heights, San Antonio, Texas.

Our store front!

 Our shelves have filled more than this picture shows!

 We had a lot of fun shopping for antique tables and raiding Cindy's house for cool things!

 We have a very nice juvenile section.

 This was our color wall the day before we opened on June 19th.  It's even more amazing now!

If you haven't been to our shop, we've heard it's a pretty cool place to hang out.  We also have some fabulous fabrics, and plans to bring even more fun things to the South Texas sewing community.  You just wait.  The best is yet to come!  When I asked Paula and Cindy why they decided to open a quilt shop, here's what they had to say:

"Great Grandma didn't sew. 

Grandma didn't sew. 

Great Great Aunt Val sewed. We have two of her quilts plus all of the pieces she cut out for a Wedding Ring quilt she started in the early 1940's. (You can see all 3 in the shop.)

Mom sewed. She sewed everything. Barbie clothes, doll clothes, clothes for us, clothes for her, bed spreads, curtains, drapes, slipcovers, etc, etc, etc. She had many other hobbies but got seriously involved with quilting in her mid 50's.

At first we weren't interested in the quilts (especially the traditional patterns and fabrics) but we were in love with the newer fabrics (and this was in the mid 90's when fabric wasn't nearly as great as it is now). So we started by just collecting fabrics. :) Then we actually made a quilt or two and we started liking the traditional patterns using the newer cute fabrics. And we've grown so much that we now love lots of quilts and lots of fabrics! Hence, Mesquite Bean Fabrics. We had talked about opening a fabric store with Mom but it never made it past the talking stage. Mom is only with us in our hearts and spirit now but it is our mutual love of fabrics and quilts that inspired Mesquite Bean Fabrics.

We are going to work hard to be your favorite fabric shop - in person and online - by offering great fabrics and the best service possible. We will be adding more fabric choices as well. Please let us know how we are doing!"

Paula and Cindy

So, there you have it, our story!  We look forward to being able to help you in your future creative endeavors!