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About Us

Gary & Janice Johnson started Pals Products, in 2005 developing the Iron Pals product. The objective of their first product - Iron Pals - was to keep Janice's tablecloths and linen sheets from puddling on the floor, picking up lint & rewrinkling. It was amazing how many other uses this aided with in conventional ironing - like holding a press cloth and small items while allowing the press to set, and even holding a shirt on the board. A local sewing machine dealer suggested quilters would benefit using our product when they ironed yardages of fabric. We approached United Notions / Moda Fabrics and they invited us as their guests in their booth at the upcoming International Quilt Market to introduce it to the market.

Pals is most popular for its Bolt Buddies - a product that answered the need of our local quilt shop owner's dilemma of having to use straight pins on her bolts of fabric. She related stories of staff and customers getting stuck and bleeding on the fabric. Gary designed a stainless steel clip with an indentation to minimize side movement so that they do very well to keep bolt ends tidy. 

Once again our local quilt shop owner gave Gary another issue to solve - that of hanging her store models. Her dissatisfaction with the heavy and expensive wood hangers made changing out models a formidable task. Gary designed the lightweight and affordable anodized aluminum Pals Quilt Hangers with clamps on the back that would hold either a quilted or unquilted top. He made them with connectors so that one could connect two or three together for larger quilts and then having the ability to break them down again for smaller wall hangings. She hung them from her walls and even down from the ceiling (using our Pals Ceiling Clips) and fishing line, making use of every possible amount of space in her shop. She loved how it cut down on her ladder time! Her customers began requesting the hangers and so they added the almond color.  Another shop owner in our area needed a way to display quilts when vending at a show so Gary designed the Pals Quilt Display Towers. These will accommodate design walls and quilts with or without sleeves. They have sold quilt display stands not just to quilt shops, but to guilds, photographers, educators, county fairs, and even museums and libraries.

In 2024, Gary and Janice decided to retire and sold the company to Jeff Snell and Karna Lackey, owners of Sew In 2 Quilts in Hutchinson, KS.  They plan to continue with the high quality products developed by Gary.  

We strive to claim "Made In the USA" in our products - it is difficult to do this for hardware. The majority of our suppliers are in Kansas, followed by CO, NE, CT, and throughout the Midwest. We hear from our customers all around the globe about how much they love our quilt hangers and other products. This unsolicited feedback tells us we're doing things right.




CONTACT US

    • Ph: 620-665-0600
    • Email: palsproducts@yahoo.com
    • Address: 126 N Main
      Hutchinson, KS 67501
    • Hours:
    • Mon-Fri 10a-5:30p
      Sat 10a-4p
      *Closed Sunday