Annie G | Missouri Star Blog

October 27, 2021

Doan Family Halloween Traditions (Plus: Snack Ideas!)

Every year for Halloween, we have big, themed parties. We love any reason to get together, but Halloween is one of our favorites! As many of you know, and for those of you who didn’t know, Jenny started her sewing journey as a costume sewist for the theater. She’s always been a whiz at whipping up costumes! Besides being passionate about dressing up, she loves a reason to decorate the house and always goes all out during the holidays!

Leading up to Halloween, we pick a family theme (last year was Harry Potter and this year is Disney) and then often search Pinterest to find wacky and spooky food inspiration to bring to our party. We keep it easy, but fun!

Besides bowls of candy, here are a few Doan family Halloween snacks that have shown up in recent years.

Past Halloween snack spreads:

Wafer cookie “Band-Aids”, marshmallow and caramel “Cotton Swabs”, finger shaped breadsticks, and more.

“Feet” Loaf:

One year, Sarah was inspired to shape some meatloaf into . . . you guessed it, a foot. To make this, take your family favorite meatloaf recipe and get to cooking! All you need to do is shape up your meatloaf into a foot shape, add an onion ankle bone and some onion toe nails, and you’ve got yourself a spooky but tasty treat!

Mummy and Monster Cookies:

Oreo Monsters and Nutter Butter Mummies. Yum!

For these easy treats, just take some white melting chocolate, melt it, and for the Nutter Butter Mummies, drape and drizzle it over the cookies. For the Oreo Monsters, add some green food coloring and dip the cookies into it! Add some eyeball sprinkles before the chocolate sets and you’re good to go!

Happy Halloween! Do you have any family Halloween traditions? What are some of your favorite Halloween candies or treats?

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021

Turkey Trot Quilt

The year my friend Margaret hosted her first Thanksgiving dinner, everything seemed to go wrong.

The cat left paw prints on the freshly-baked pie, the oven stopped working mid-turkey, and the little cousins ruined a white couch with a box of sidewalk chalk. (But the mashed potatoes were excellent, and so was the company!)

Thanksgiving dinner is no small feat, but Jenny’s new Thanksgiving quilt is easy as pumpkin pie—minus the paw prints!

This pretty harvest quilt combines applique Dresden turkey blocks with a variation of the Irish Chain called Irish Change. It’s simple, quick, and “sew” fun to make! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

Watch the Latest Tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co!

October 19, 2021

Tammy Reid: “Every Quilt Has a Story”

If you’re interested in quilts and their history, you won’t want to miss this event! Tammy Reid, Head Coach of the Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, is a passionate quilt collector and in her talk “Every Quilt Has a Story”, she is sharing stories of the quilts she has collected over the years.

An Irish Chain Quilt in Tammy’s collection.

In this fun, interactive talk, the three panelists, Tammy Reid, Dakota Redford (the Director of the Missouri Quilt Museum, housed here in Hamilton), and Christine Pembrook (a quilt historian who has studied for 30 years on how to determine the age of quilts) come together to talk about symbolism in quilts, share history of Tammy’s collection, and more! Refreshments will be served as well – it’ll be a great time!

If you’re local or planning a visit to see Tammy’s quilts at the museum or see her talk, visit HERE for public and private tour schedules and ticket information.

Another quilt in Tammy’s collection. Fantasy Quilt – Noah’s Arc.

Tammy’s “Every Quilt has a Story” talk will take place on Wednesday, October 27th, at 12:30pm to 2:30pm at Kelly’s Westport Inn in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tickets to this event are available now and will NOT be available at the door. Kelly’s will be closed to the public during the event so be sure to purchase your tickets HERE today or before 5pm on Monday, October 25th.

Tammy is doing this event in partnership with the Westport Historical Society and the Harris-Kearney House to raise money for education to keep the history of Westport alive. Money for the house is raised through donations and tours. To learn more about the Westport Historical Society, visit and set up a tour, make a donation, or become a volunteer, click HERE.

A stack of some of Tammy’s beautiful quilts.

October 7, 2021October 7, 2021

Peek-a-Boo Pumpkin Quilt

There once was a mischievous fellow named Stingy Jack, or so says the old Irish myth.

The Devil – who had been tricked by Jack one too many times – didn’t want him, and heaven wouldn’t take him. So when he died, Jack was consigned to roam the earth forever with a lantern carved out of a turnip. Over time, he became known as Jack of the Lantern or, Jack O’Lantern.

For hundreds of years, Irish folk carved spooky faces on turnips and potatoes to repel the ghost of Stingy Jack. Later, when Irish immigrants arrived in America, they discovered that pumpkins made the best jack-o-lanterns of all!

This week Jenny whipped up a pixelated pumpkin quilt that is sure to spook all your neighborhood ghouls and goblins. She used a custom layer cake that Riley Blake made especially for this project, and it was long-arm quilted with a spider-web pattern. Peek-A-Boo Pumpkin is the perfect size for a Halloween porch quilt, and it’s such fun to make!

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021

Book Review Quilt

Book lovers, rejoice! Studies show that reading isn’t just fun—it’s good for your health, too!

A regular date with a good book can reduce your chances of Alzheimer’s by 2.5 times, reduce stress, exercise your brain, and even extend your lifespan! In other words, a well-stocked library is like a real-life fountain of youth!

This week, Jenny is whipping up a bookcase quilt filled with books of all colors and sizes. She used a gorgeous Kaffe Classics Prims layer cake, but this bookshelf quilt is just begging to be customized with your prettiest scraps and custom details. (Jenny added a flower vase and kitty cat to hers!)

Click HERE to watch the tutorial!