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Archive for the ‘Small Town Life’ Category

One of the best things about social media is connecting to people with the same interests. I follow a couple of quilting groups on Facebook and yesterday there was a quilter who was asked to make a quilt for the “Quilts of Valor Foundation” on short notice and she put out a request for help. She was asking for help making red, white and blue quilt blocks (12 1/2″). Often when I read requests they are for pretty big projects and I don’t feel like I have to time to take them on but two blocks I knew I could get done quickly. I made a Flying-x and a Variable Star….so off they go in the mail to her today. If you aren’t familiar with “Quilts of Valor” you can click on the link and read about them. They have a very cool mission.

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An unexpected and delightful surprise in Hamilton was the Missouri Quilt Museum located in an old multi-story school house. There were some amazing displays there from quilts to a machine collection and a miniature doll quilt collection. And the best part was the young man who was there to sell the tickets. His family runs the museum and he was a wealth of information. And he was thrilled to show us the quilt he had made. At 12 years old he is already on his way to be a terrific quilter.

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We spent the day in Hamilton Missouri better known as Quilt Town USA due to the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Jenny Doan and her family started a small quilting business there 15 years ago that boomed into 12 shops and a very successful online business. Jenny does terrific YouTube instructional videos on quilting and has become a star in the quilting world. On the way to Hamilton we listened to Jenny’s autobiography – How to Stitch an American Dream: A Story of Family, Faith and the Power of Giving. It made the visit to Hamilton even more interesting knowing how it all started. The first thing we did was go on a tour of the warehouse to see how it all worked. So interesting to see, especially the 30 long arm quilting machines they use to quilt all the projects that are sent to them. They do about 500 a week! WOW!!! Even though it rained most of the day we still had a great job shopping the 12 MSQC along the street. There were 5 quilters on the trip and one of our friends couldn’t make it at the last minute so we took her along in spirit and had photo ops with her along the way. You see a photo of her here with Barbara checking out BLOCK magazine – a production of MSQC. Then we loaded up the van to go again.

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We made it!

We traveled from Hannibal to Hamilton Missouri….the destination that got this whole trip started. We stayed at a terrific AirBnB just one block from the Missouri Star Quilt Company in Quilt Town USA. This was the main destination of this crazy trip. Once we got to Hamilton, after stopping at 4 shops along the way that day, we took our purchases in and organized them in our totes. We figured that 5 shoppers and 9 days on the road would lead to many, many bags rolling around in the back in our van so we stored our purchases in totes to help keep it all straight. We were excited to finally be in Quilt Town USA and anxious for the shops to open and to tour the warehouse the next day.

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Our 3rd day out found us in Hannibal Missouri where we saw all things Mark Twain. The Mississippi River was big and beautiful. The town was so cute with lots of cute shops and things to see. And we found what might be our favorite quilt shop – Hickory Stick Quilt Shop. It was in an adorable old building and had the most helpful staff along with beautiful fabric. We really liked Hannibal.

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Since almost every small quilt shop is closed on Sunday we had to find some other places to stop along our way last Sunday. Luckily we found the adorable little town of Casey Illinois, home to 12 World’s Largest Record holders. How could we NOT stop and see them all. We saw the world’s largest Rocking Chair and World’s Largest Mailbox. There were many other large things there that were not record holders….but really BIG….like these antlers.

More of the things we saw were these World’s Largests – Pitchfork, Teetertoter, Swizzle Spoon, Barbershop Pole, Pencil, Golf Club, Mouse Trap, Key, WIndchime, Ruler as well as really big Bookworm, Token Coin, Knitting Needles, Birdcage, and Taco! If you ever get near central Illinois then Casey Illinois is a MUST stop! We had so much fun going from one large item to the next. It was a really chilly day but well worth the stop.

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Last Saturday a group of quilters left on a Fabric Acquisition Road Trip to Missouri. We have had so much fun so far stopping at many, many quilt shops along the way as well as other roadside attractions. I thought I should catch up on what we have done so far. We went from Virginia to Ohio for our first stop and saw lots of farmland, windmills, barns and barn quilts.

We have seen so many odd things along the way…including the mobile Baptismal running along the interstate!

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Today we are wishing a Happy 14th Birthday to our Lincoln. He has been living his best life for all 14 of them! We want to thank everyone who has been so kind to him all these years as he has greeted you at The Studio. He loves his job and takes it seriously. I hope you’ll take a minute to flip through the photos and enjoy our Lincoln. He’s a special boy!!!

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Remembering Big Mama

I have been thinking about Big Mama all day today. She passed away on this day in 2006. I was with her. She was a wonderful person and taught me so much. I have shared stories about her many times over the years describing the things she taught me. Here is a link with one of those posts with more photos. I miss her.

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What a fun night painting these beautiful Ornament paintings; celebrating Kelly Pauley’s Birthday with Key Lime Cake and then watching the Christmas Parade. It’s always a fun time at The Studio. Why not come join us? Check out the upcoming events here.

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