Missouri Star Cool Stuff | Missouri Star Blog

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015

Sew Glamperous: A MSQC Glamping Retreat

There is something so exciting and empowering about being around people who are just as passionate about quilting as we are! Every time we have an MSQC Retreat, we get to be a part of that and it just invigorates us! Last week, we had such an amazing group of women here for our ‘Sew Glamperous’ Glamping Retreat and we had the best time! Here’s a little recap.

First, you may be wondering what ‘glamping’ is… well it’s basically glamorous camping… a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with “traditional” camping (according to google). So while most people stayed in the retreat center, we had some people bring their ‘glampers’ and they were amazing! Here are just a couple.

You can’t have glamping without flamingoes!! 🙂 Don’t they look right at home??

This glamper lined her awning with lights that were wrapped in jelly rolls! They looked so cute at night!!

This mother and daughter duo (below) is from Paducah, Kentucky, home of the American Quilter’s Society Annual Quilt Show & Contest. Last year they wore their Missouri Star t-shirts to the quilt show and people kept stopping them, thinking they worked for Missouri Star! Eventually, so many people stopped them that when people would say how much they loved Jenny and the tutorials, they just started saying, ‘Thank you!’ and went along with it! 🙂 We loved hearing their story and were so glad to have them with us for the week! It was so great to meet you, Lisa and Laura!

Mr. Jenny did some extra special construction for this retreat… he built the most adorable glamper photo prop! Here’s Jenny and Ron having a little fun! 🙂

A photo posted by sarahmsqc (@sarahmsqc) on Jun 5, 2015 at 9:10pm PDT

This is Hope from Nebraska (below). She came across Jenny’s tutorials when she was trying to make a Jelly Roll Race Quilt as her first quilting experience ever. At the retreat she was doing her first piecing and did such an amazing job!! Look how perfectly all of her seams match up! You’re a pro already, Hope! I think it’s safe to say that you’re officially a quilter! 😀 (Hope’s son was with her for the week and was just as quiet and well-behaved as anyone could’ve hoped!)

Some of the activities included one of Jenny’s amazing trunk shows, a mystery quilt class taught by Jenny, antiquing and lots and lots of sewing!! They even had some visits from Mr. Jenny (Ron) and Rob Appell from Man Sewing, who was in town filming tutorials. Our retreaters didn’t seem to mind (see photo below)! 😉

We had such a great time and can’t wait for our next glamping retreat!! 🙂

If you hope to participate in one of our future retreats or events, you can find more info on those here: Missouri Star Quilt Company Events

May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

300K Facebook Fans!

We’ve reached 300,000 Facebook Followers!! That means it’s GIVEAWAY TIME!! To celebrate 300K, we’re giving THREE winners…

Posted by Quilting Deals – Missouri Star Quilt Co on Wednesday, May 13, 2015

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015

We’re all going MAAAAAAAAAD!!

If you’re a basketball fan, then the beginning of spring is all about MARCH MADNESS! Well we’ve done our own version of March Madness and you don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy it… or even break a sweat!

Check out all the details HERE.

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015

ModBLOCK Contributor: Meet Amy Ellis

Today we are introducing yet another fabulous contributor to our ModBLOCK Magazine! We were so thrilled to be able to work with Moda fabric designer and author, Amy Ellis! She’s the greatest! Enjoy this little Q&A we did with her!

Meet Amy Ellis

Amy’s projects in ModBLOCK are ‘River Log Cabin’ featuring her new fabric line, ‘Modern Neutrals‘, ‘Rainbow Dreams’ and ‘Star Dust’

What is your sewing/quilting/crafting/art background?

I learned to sew garments as a girl, and loved all things fabric, even in college when I didn’t have time or the means to sew, I would wander through fabric shops just to pet the pretty fabrics. I then taught myself to quilt when my kids were young, and I needed some creative therapy in my life. Almost seven years ago now, I started a blog (AmysCreativeSide.com) and was inspired to make quilts that I had been designing in my sketch book.

How did you get started in this business?
I got started writing books, by taking the first step and submitted a proposal. It’s been a whirlwind of creative messes and busyness ever since!

Tell us about your collection(s) and /or pattern style.
I love clean and clear colors, with geometric shapes and pattern in my fabric. My quilt patterns are unique and modern, while still being a little traditional in the construction methods, and settings.

What are you inspired by?
I love to take everything in, but most often I’m inspired by home decor trends. Graphic wall papers, rugs, even tile work, and throw pillows have made it to my inspiration boards!

How would you describe your style?
Modern in that I like to design original quilt blocks, but still traditional in that the techniques I use are the tried and true methods that quilters have been using for years.

What are some of your greatest challenges in your design process?
I love to share what I’m working on, as I work on it, and when I have tons of secret sewing, it’s a big no, no to share it. Not sharing a pile of book quilts for almost a year is a huge challenge!

Do you have an online presence on social media?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyscreativeside
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/parkcitygirl/
Instagram: @amyscreativeside

Are there any releases or upcoming events you have coming up that you’d like us to know about?
Think Big : Quilts, Runners, and Pillows from 18” Blocks (Dec, 2014)

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
Hardanger – my grandma loves this needlecraft, and I think it could be an exciting texture addition to my quilts. (Pretty random though, huh?)

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
Writing a book in two months was a huge challenge! Thankfully I had some friends that were willing to help with piecing, and everything was delivered on time.

Do you have a signature color? If not, what would it be?
Any shade of grey, I love the depth and dimension in the various shades together.

What is your favorite fabric line of all time?
Wonderland by Momo with the new Avant Garden being a close second.

Is there an experience or accomplishment you are most proud of?
Submitting that first proposal, was a really big risk personally! It was so hard to take my ideas and hand them over, and wait for the verdict, but it paid off, and I’m proud of the accomplishments that have accumulated since then too!

Thank you so much, Amy! Don’t miss the other Q&A’s on the ModBLOCK contributors! 🙂

July 17, 2014July 17, 2014

Nostalgia and Warehouses

Today’s post is a heartfelt one, written by Al. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

——-

Growing up brings about so many nostalgic moments.

This weekend was a huge one for our company. HUGE, I tell you! HUGE!

Almost six years ago, we started our company in a great big 5,000 square foot building at 100 N Ardinger in Hamilton, Missouri. It was way too big for us! We refinished the front 1,000 square feet to be our shop and went to work refinishing that space.

We tore out the paneling and put up some fresh paint and a new floor and that room was great.

We got our first internet orders there and we would all package the 3-4 orders a day right up and send them off right from the cutting table.

As we continued to grow, we built a little shipping department in the back, then a machine quilting room.

Once it became more than just Becky and Jackie answering the phones, we moved our customer service into their own room.

Eventually, the shop moved to the main street (where it remains today) and that 100 N Ardinger building became strictly shipping and customer service.

And then it wasn’t big enough for that, even! It was crazy, but we needed more space for our customer service team and a loading dock. Ammon (our warehouse manager) made a great forklift, but his arms were getting tired!

About a year ago (August 8th of last year, actually) we decided it was time to build our own custom warehouse for our shipping and customer service. We had all kinds of cool stuff that needed to be in there. We needed a way to get fabric cut in the shops and then connected back into your orders so they get shipped out in a timely manner. We wanted ways of organizing products so that we could always find them, even when we were down to that very last charm pack. But mainly, we needed space.

So we got building! Winter came and snowed us out for a few months, but we kept going.

This last weekend, we finally moved our shipping over to the new warehouse.

There were so many moving parts to this move. Did we think of fire extinguishers? What about chairs for the breakroom? (sorry everyone!) Carts for the pickers and bins for the carts? We got bins for the charm packs and layer cakes, but what about notions? What do those go into?

The move got more and more complex, and was a pretty stressful time for a lot of us. And now (making sure no order was lost in the mix) we are working hard to get everything up to snuff. Now we have the room to finally hire a few more shippers and get our feet back under us. Our goal by the end of the month is to be back to getting your orders out the day you place them. We are excited!

With all that hubub going on, I was a little surprised at some of the feelings. Sarah, Natalie, and myself were sweeping out the 100 N Ardinger building on Saturday night. After everything had been moved out of the front rooms and it was just a few empty shipping tables and shelves, we tidied up the floor and then all sat down and were overcome with this nostalgia. We’re definitely not sad. This is exciting! We have needed more space for so long!

But it’s weird, you know? It’s weird to grow up.

We were laughing about the early days there. How every package that has ever been shipped from our company had gone through that tiny room we were all cramped in. Hundreds of thousands of orders have been fulfilled from there. (!!)

We recalled the days the A/C unit would quit and we’d just sweat and ship. We remembered how (even before that) we had the Friday night sews, with people sitting on top of people.

It’s also where the first tutorials were filmed with a little camcorder!

Just to have those walls remember such wonderful times choked me up a little.

A lot of companies have a garage that is their very, very beginning. Ours is that building on Ardinger. It’s that small room in the front where it all started, with Mom and a long arm machine and two shelves with a half dozen bolts of fabric. And it’s great to remember that, I think.

I asked Sarah what we should do with that building now. She’s not sure, but one thing is for certain. We’ll keep that front room just like it is. No matter what else we end up doing, we need to be able to walk back in there and remember those feelings that keep this business so exciting.

I’m definitely not sad to be moving on from there. We are excited to be growing, but there’s a big part of me that will just miss walking in there every morning to tackle the day.

That being said, it’s nice to finally have room to park! 🙂 Thanks for the journey, everyone. Here’s to another great era in our new warehouse! Thanks for sticking with us while we improve and learn. I promise you’ll like what we have up ahead!

-Al