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No plans to close, plenty of fabric to share By Mig Feuser For the past several weeks, rumors have circulated around Columbia that Little House Fabric Shop would soon be closing its doors. Customers asked questions, quilters worried where they would buy fabric, and word spread from one sewing room to another. The rumors, however, are simply not true. "I am not going to close," owner Kathy Jones said with a smile as she welcomed The Adair Progress into the shop. "I've been here 10 years, and I'm just about set in my ways." At 86 years old, Jones still opens the doors each week to a colorful world of cottons, batiks, patriotic prints, flannels and novelty fabrics that has become a destination not only for Adair Countians but for customers from throughout south-central Kentucky. Long before she became a fabric shop owner, Jones spent 27 years in education, teaching in Casey County and Adair County before working in the central office. After retiring from the classroom, she looked for something different--something she would truly enjoy. The inspiration came from family history. Her mother-in-law and father-in-law owned Columbia's former Style Shop on the Public Square, and Jones always enjoyed spending time there. "I enjoyed being in there," she said. "I'm a touchy-feely person." When she realized that Columbia no longer had a dedicated fabric store, she saw an opportunity. "The only thing we had was Walmart that had second-grade fabric," she recalled. "So I decided I had a house empty. I'd find me a wholesaler and put in what I wanted." That simple idea has grown into a business that now serves quilters, seamstresses and hobbyists from well beyond Adair County. Since fabric stores in Campbellsville and Glasgow have closed in recent years, Little House Fabric Shop has become something of a regional hub. "We get customers from Campbellsville, Glasgow, Edmonton, Burkesville, Green County, Russell County and Casey County," Jones said. "It's almost like we're a hub. We're the center of the hub." Some customers travel even farther. "One lady brought her sister from Missouri," Jones said with a laugh. Business follows the rhythm of the seasons. Garden planting time naturally brings fewer customers, while winter months often keep sewing machines humming and quilting frames busy. Walking through the shop is almost like taking a tour through American textile history. One section, appropriately named "Grandma's Attic," recreates the colorful feed sack fabrics that many Kentuckians remember from childhood. "When she was a little girl, they had feed sacks," Jones explained while pointing to the vintage-inspired prints. "That's what dresses were made from." Many visitors immediately recognize the familiar patterns once commonly found in rural homes throughout Kentucky. The collection has become especially popular with churches that hold heritage events where participants wear old-fashioned dresses and bonnets. Elsewhere in the store are Kentucky-themed fabrics, heavy double-sided batiks prized by experienced quilters, children's novelty prints, flannels, country designs and shelves filled with patriotic fabrics. Every bolt seems to tell its own story. Jones says there really is no single best-selling fabric. "It depends on the people," she said simply. Perhaps the greatest story inside the Little House Fabric Shop is not about business at all. It is about service. Jones is deeply involved with Columbia's quilting guild, whose members create handmade patriotic quilts for local veterans. The effort began in 2017. "I made eight quilts that first year," she said. Today, twelve volunteers participate in the project, and together they have presented approximately 80 quilts to area veterans. Each quilt is unique. "You can make any size quilt you want and any pattern you want," Jones explained. "It just has to be red, white and blue." She says the veterans treasure them. Guild members have also noticed something unexpected. Since the quilt presentations began, attendance at local veterans' gatherings has increased as recipients proudly come to receive and display their handmade quilts. For Jones, that makes every stitch worthwhile. Although she now owns a fabric store, Jones never received formal sewing instruction. Her earliest lessons came simply from watching her mother. "My mother made our clothes," she remembered. "Even when I was in high school she made our skirts." Later, her own children were dressed largely from the family's Style Shop. When quilting captured her interest, she largely taught herself. "I learned on my own," she said. That willingness to learn continues today. Among the projects currently filling the workroom are traditional quilts awaiting binding, antique quilts being carefully restored and a particularly meaningful keepsake quilt made from a young softball player's jerseys. The colorful uniform squares preserve years of memories that otherwise would have remained folded away in a closet. "We enjoy what we do," Jones said. The shop itself carries another layer of family history. After her husband completed law school at Vanderbilt University, the young family returned to Columbia with three children and moved into the very house that now serves as the fabric shop. "We lived in this house for 10 years," Jones said. "Then we moved and built a house. But this is home." The property remains closely connected to the family's farm, making the business as much a part of her family's story as it is part of Columbia's business community. The store has also become home to an enduring friendship. After Jones lost her husband, Judge Paul Jones, Ene Harmon, now 91 years old, arrived unexpectedly at her door. "The Lord told me to turn around and come back and ask you if I could work for you," Harmon recalled. Jones said yes. Ten years later, the two women are still working side by side. "We've worked together for 10 years," Jones said with a smile. "And not many fusses," Harmon quickly added, drawing laughter from everyone in the room. Visitors quickly discover that Little House Fabric Shop is more than shelves of fabric. Customers swap stories, compare projects, seek advice and encourage one another. During the interview, conversation naturally turned to donated fabric, cross-stitch, hand quilting and even the careful restoration of an old family quilt that may be close to a century old. Jones gladly offered to deliver donated fabric to the local quilting guild, ensuring nothing useful goes to waste. It is the kind of quiet generosity that has become part of the shop's identity. In an era when many independent fabric stores have disappeared and online shopping continues to reshape retail, Little House Fabric Shop remains something increasingly rare--a place where knowledge, craftsmanship and friendship are shared as freely as patterns and ideas. This story was posted on 2026-07-21 10:28:40
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