Westminster Fibers was born in a contemporary decorative arts gallery in Boston in 1985.  Throughout the early 1980’s, Westminster Gallery owners Ken and June Bridgewater imported glass, ceramics and other unique art pieces, including original knitted garments from a young American living abroad named Kaffe Fassett.

Kaffe began a collaboration with Rowan Yarns, a fledgling yarn company in the West Yorkshire region of England.  He began designing garments and yarns under his name, and soon a book was published, Glorious Knits, that celebrated Kaffe’s work.   Kaffe suggested that Rowan work with the Bridgewaters to distribute the yarns in the American market, and Westminster Fibers was born.

Westminster Fibers continued to grow, as did the Rowan yarn brand, becoming one of the most respected yarn companies in the hand knitting yarn marketplace.  Besides Kaffe Fassett, other designers that were promoted by Rowan included Kim Hargreaves, Erika Knight, Anabel Fox, and Martin Storey.

A decade later, Kaffe traveled to India to help develop a range of export fabrics, which resulted in a range of striped fabrics that were produced on hand looms by weavers living in a remote village. Westminster Fibers purchased these woven fabrics for distribution in the U.S.  With encouragement from his friend Liza Lucy, Kaffe designed a range of quilting fabrics and with the release of Glorious Patchwork in 1997, and helped to place Westminster Fibers into the printed fabrics market.

Today, Westminster Fibers is pleased to be an important contributor to the Needlearts and Quilting marketplaces.   With wide assortments of fabrics, yarns and needlework kits, and many brand distributorships, there is something to offer every quilting or needleart enthusiast.