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January 11, 2018January 12, 2018

2017 Year in Review

Happy New Year, dear quilters! This is sure to be a memorable year filled with many exciting moments here at Missouri Star Quilt Co. We are grateful for your loyalty and patience with us as we grow and we think 2018 is going to be the best year yet! But before we jump right into it, let’s take a moment to reflect and look back on some of the highlights from 2017.

Shark Applicutter

Our dear friend, Rob Appell of Man Sewing, designed an innovative cutting tool that took the sewing and quilting world by storm! With a 14mm blade, the Shark Applicutter is the go-to rotary cutter for freestyle piecing and intricate cutting. Learn more about the handy Shark Applicutter HERE.

Missouri Star Academy

Missouri Star Academy began as a dream. We imagined quilters gathering together from across the globe in Hamilton, Missouri, to learn directly from professionals in the industry and from each other. In 2017, this dream became a reality for more than 450 students and instructors who traveled to Quilt Town, USA, for a two-day, immersive, creative experience filled with demonstrations, classes, and trunk shows. We are still amazed by the ideas and inspiration shared during Missouri Star Academy. Thanks to everyone who attended! We hope to see you again this year. Be sure to mark your calendars for June 7 and 8 for our second Missouri Star Academy! It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Jenny Turns 60

Our very own Jenny Doan hit a milestone birthday in 2017, and we celebrated her “Sweet 60th” together. We are so thankful for her contagious enthusiasm, her kind spirit, and the creativity she shares with us every day!

Birthday Bash

Missouri Star Quilt Co. celebrated its 9th birthday last year. Can you believe it? Time seems to have passed as quickly as our bobbins go empty! Three days filled with fun, games, food, and inspiration culminated in a party that will be long-remembered here in Hamilton. Reminisce about all of the festivities from the 2017 Bash HERE.

Stay tuned for 2018 Birthday Bash. We’ll be pulling out all the stops for our big 1-0 coming up later this year, and make plans to attend September 20-22nd!

Hurricane Relief Quilts

Thanks to quilters like you, our hearts were filled to the brim this year by the overwhelming support you showed when we asked for donations to help those affected by the hurricanes that ravaged our coastal states. You answered the call with more than 9,000 quilts, blankets, and afghans, as well as 4,000 pillowcases! These handmade labors of love were donated to organizations and distributed to those in need.

The entire Doan family and dozens of Missouri Star employee volunteers helped sort and repackage the donations.

Fabric Feature: Kona Cotton Color of the Year 2018

The 2018 Kona Cotton Color of the Year is a bold and brilliant pop of color certain to awaken our creativity! If you haven’t heard, this color is called Tiger Lily, and it is sure to add a powerful punch of rich, warm orange to quilt tops and sewing projects throughout the year!

To jumpstart our creativity, Robert Kaufman invited five quilters to show off Tiger Lily by creating the wonderful quilts, below! Each of these patterns is available for free courtesy of Robert Kaufman. These dynamic quilts came to visit us at Missouri Star from Feb. 6 to February 16, 2018, and were displayed at Penney’s Quilt Shop! Have a look at the display below, and keep scrolling for images of each individual quilt!

Each of the Color of the Year quilts has a free pattern from Robert Kaufman and you can download by clicking on the image of the quilt below. You can also view the entire Tiger Lily lookbook HERE!

Tigerlily by Valori Wells

The Giant Pineapple by Karen Lewis

Autumn Bliss by Darlene Zimmerman

Terrace by Violet Craft

Mushrooms by Elizabeth Hartman

Looking for a Missouri Star tutorial for a Tiger Lily project? We think these three would make terrific choices:

Chevron Quilt

A sweet Chevron Quilt would show off the boldness of Tiger Lily in a timeless design!

Sweet Blend Quilt

Created with Tiger Lily, a Sweet Blend Quilt is sure to dazzle!

Pecking Order Quilt

By using Tiger Lily to create the points of the Pecking Order Quilt, you can easily create a beautiful sun that is bursting with color!

Tiger Lily yardage and precuts are available at Missouri Star! Explore all of the bold options HERE, and view all of our Kona Cotton fabrics HERE!

Don’t forget to share all those colorful creations with us on our Facebook and Instagram using #msqcshowandtell! Happy New Year!

November 7, 2017November 9, 2017

Pin Peddlers

Are you looking for a dash of whimsy or a pop of color to liven up a favorite jacket or customize a scarf or bag? Look no further than the hundreds of pins and charms available through Pin Peddlers!

If you have ever visited the Missouri Star Quilt Co. shops in Hamilton, MO, you may be familiar with some of Pin Peddlers’ creations. Each of the 12 uniquely themed shops in town has its own charm, perfect for collecting and commemorating your trip to Missouri Star.

You can also shop all of our Missouri Star charms HERE!

All 12 Missouri Star Quilt Co. shops, plus Man’s Land have a uniquely-themed charm.

Once you have your charms and pins selected, the next step is deciding how to display them. Pin Peddlers created this fantastic video to show how versatile pins and charms can be! You can also use a quilted wallhanging for an adorable way to show off your collection!

In addition to supplying Missouri Star with dozens of creations for shops, quilts, and special events, Pin Peddlers sells a wide variety of pins, charms, and charm-related jewelry directly on the Pin Peddlers website. From cats and dogs to sewing machines and beautiful quilt blocks, there is something for everyone!

Be sure to click HERE to see all of the jewelry accessories Pin Peddlers has available!

If you are on the hunt for a truly special charm or pin to commemorate an event, or a special piece to sell in your shop or guild, Pin Peddlers is here to help! They specialize in creating custom pins and charms (with a minimum purchase of 50), and you can learn about custom pin orders HERE. Pin Peddlers has created custom work for quilt guilds, sewing groups, businesses, conferences, and museums, and is happy to help you design a pin to meet your specifications.

October 27, 2017November 7, 2017

Fall Shenanigans

There’s a wicked little chill in the air. The pumpkins are carved, the costumes are prepped, and I’ve already started sneaking candies from the trick or treat bowl. Halloween is just days away, but we still have one more weekend of holiday sewing to do!

This week Jenny is working on an adorable Halloween wall hanging featuring kitty cats, witch hats, and one great big pumpkin. Click HERE to learn how to make Fall Shenanigans!

(Jenny uses an Under a Spell layer cake by Jennifer Pugh for Wilmington. Click HERE to see our entire collection of Halloween fabric. We’ve got skeletons, monsters, and spiders galore!)

October 26, 2017

Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Quick and Easy Ribbon Block

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know that more than 250,000 women will be diagnosed this year? Many of us have been touched by this terrible disease in one way or another, and when those hard times come, we search for ways to help.

Quilts are a beautiful way to show support and give comfort. Jenny has a tutorial from a few years back for a Ribbons of Hope Quilt but this year as Jenny was brainstorming ways to show her love and support for two of the Missouri Star Family’s very own Breast Cancer Survivors, she was able to come up with an even easier way to make a Ribbon Quilt Block.

Isn’t this Ribbon Block so stunning and powerful? It’s as simple as snowballing a few corners. Jenny got the idea from the X’s and O’s Quilt Tutorial and we want to share how it was done with you. Watch the video below for a mini tutorial on how to make this Ribbon Block and to hear Betty and Sherry’s stories of how they won their battles against Breast Cancer.

Check out the block diagram below. Use one block to make a pillow like Jenny or multiple blocks to make a table runner or quilt!

While October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we know that there are many out there affected by other types of cancer. You can make this Ribbon Quilt Block in another color to show your support to those battling other forms of cancer as well. Stitch by stitch, we can make a difference.

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