I Went to MO and....

....it was all about crochet..... quilts..... history

Hello Colorful Friends
I hope you are well. We had our first big nor’easter of the winter on Monday into Tuesday. It was a doozy. We got over a foot of snow, lost power for a while, and have tree limbs down all around. Lots of work to do when it all melts. The storm was elevation sensitive. Less than a mile from our farmhouse, there was more than two feet of snow and folks were without power for a few days.

I was on a work trip just before the storm descended. Thank goodness I got home when I did or I would have been stuck in a hotel somewhere. It was a very interesting week. I went to Missouri to work with my friend Sara Delaney. We taped a series of crochet videos for an upcoming web series that will be available on YouTube. I’ll let you know when they are released. Sara and I have known each other for over 20 years —- we met when she worked at Barnes and Noble and when my book Colorful Stitchery was released. She organized a super fun book party where we made embroidered bookmarks on wool felt with crewel wool. Here’s a throwback to that project from Colorful Stitchery.

That book was “early” as they say…… it came out prior to all the renewed and continuing interest in embroidery. One of my “problems” is I am always early with book projects. I sense trends before they are trends. Even if Colorful Stitchery wasn’t a best seller, it led me to other opportunities including teaching Crewel Embroidery on the teaching website Craftsy. Colorful Stitchery was re-designed and re-published in 2014 by Roost Books (shown on left below). I’m running a special price offer on it on my website - $14.00 with FREE SHIPPING. ORDER HERE.

I’ve gotten off-track here. So many memories flooding in about the folks that have helped me in my career and life. Back to Missouri……. Sara and I taped four different video segments at the film studio of Missouri Quilt Company. Perhaps you’ve heard of Missouri Star Quilting. If not, read this article from Forbes Magazine to learn more.

Missouri Star Quilting opened a yarn shop/online yarn biz called One Big Happy Yarn Company and Sara works for them. A couple months ago, she asked me whether I might like to film some videos. It didn’t take long for me to say yes. I haven’t traveled much at all over the last two decades and it sounded like a good chance for me to see a part of the country that I had never been to before. We had a very productive week. The film crew was exceptional and the studio top shelf. Sara and I had lots of fun on and off camera. I will certainly share the videos with you when they are published to the internet.

The big surprise for me was the sweet little town of Hamilton where Missouri Star Quilting Company is headquartered. The Main Street is lined with beautiful old brick buildings with nice architectural details. Missouri Quilting Company is the “star” of the town. They are the largest mail-order supplier of pre-cut quilting fabrics in the US. Missouri Star Quilting began in 2009 when Quilter Jenny Doan’s adult children heard about YouTube and filmed their mom. They discovered Jenny’s natural talent for teaching on video. They started uploading tutorials of Jenny teaching. They now have 867,000 subscribers with 274,001,031 views. Here’s the link to their YouTube channel.

There are 12 Missouri Star quilting supply stores that run up and down the main drag. No quilting fabric type is missing. The stores are beautifully and inspiringly furnished with bolts and bolts and bolts of quilting fabric. Amazing colors, threads, books, and tchotchkes abound. There is also an art supply store called Let’s Make Art and Sara’s new project - One Big Happy Yarn Company. Here we are in front of the store.

These are photos of Main Street in Hamilton. Beautiful murals add an artistic touch.

Here are a few interior shots in some of the stores.

On Friday, Sara and I finished filming and photo shooting a little earlier than was expected. We had time to explore. Considering I haven’t been away in forever, the extra time we had was a gift. Let me tell you a little more about Hamilton, MO. It is the birthplace of JC Penney - the man. There on the Main Street was the sweet little square house that he was born in. It is open to the public. We opened the door and there was no one there but it was full of old furniture, lovely textiles and quilts, lacework, and photos of Mr. Penney from way back. There is also a JC Penney Museum which we didn’t have time for.

After the JCP adventure, we headed off to find the “largest spool of thread in the world.” Yes, you read that correctly. It didn’t take long to find it because Hamilton isn’t that big (only 1,687 Residents). Behind the giant spool, we found the Missouri Quilt Museum. Housed in a restored brick elementary school, Sara and I were astounded by its contents and the throwback memories of our own elementary schools. There were short cement stairs (for kids’ legs), wide hallways and cavernous classrooms. The Missouri Quilt Museum is a non-profit and it looks like so much love and work has gone into it.

Throughout the museum there are special exhibits including a room full of Jenny Doan’s quilts. There were many signature quilts along with the history behind each one.
The museum features revolving exhibits of quilts by famous quilters. Scattered throughout the building was a collection of antique sewing machines. Here is a small sampling of some of the museum’s collection.

Signature quilts. There were a lot of these with loose leaf notebooks about the history of the quilts and stories about the “signatures”.

This Albert Einstein quilt was something else. Here’s a front and back view along with a piece count.

Just one of the many different quilts displayed.

Sunbonnet Sue and her lamb.

In the basement, there is a large room that served as a gymnasium/theater space. Talk about a flashback to younger days. ….the bleachers on the side of the cavernous space and those polished wood floors. I can just imagine the school plays that were performed. The space has been turned into a Guest Quilter Special Exhibit Room which features an ever changing exhibit of a guest quilter’s work.

I’ve saved the best for last…… A large room full of 100’s of children’s sewing machines. This display was extraordinary. I never had a toy sewing machine (I began sewing on my Mom’s old Singer). Evidently - through the decades - they were quite a thing. Here are some photos of these sweet little machines that really worked. This display was worth the price of admission.

So that’s what I have been up to. Maybe you will take a detour to visit Hamilton or perhaps you have already been there.

Here are today’s links……

• I’ve been writing about re-purposing and mending recently. Here’s another company that is using old quilts and afghans and making them into stylish accessories. “Everything old is new again.”

• Justin Bieber wore the Persian Tiles crochet blanket to an Oscar’s party. I’ve been lusting after this blanket for years by stalking projects on Instagram after my friend Nicole shared hers. It was designed by Janie Crow and you can make it too. Instructions are available here. Also available on Ravelry.

• Here’s a nice interview with Charlie Mackesy - the illustrator/author of the The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. His book (which you probably know about — began as Instagram posts —-) was made into an animated film and it won an Oscar (nice speech here). You never know where the internet will lead you, do you?

• Irina Konakova, a crocheter/artist who lives in the Ukraine, makes amazing rugs out of recycled t-shirts. Here’s an interesting article about Irina. Follow her on Instagram here. According to McKinsey & Company, 70% of textile waste in Europe could be fiber-to-fiber recycled (I bet it is even more in the USA). Irina is doing her part. Here in Massachusetts, it is now illegal to throw away textiles in the trash. You can read more about that here.

• This hotel in India is so full of color and pattern. I would love to see it.

• Nora Fok makes the most incredible jewelry using techniques including knitting, weaving, knotting and braiding.

• Here’s a good article about Delia Barry, the knitter who made the sweaters in the Oscar nominted film “Banshees of Inisherin” from the NYTimes. I like this quote from Delia….“Because you get older, it doesn’t mean that you’re not useful anymore,” Ms. Barry said. “There’s a lot we can do, if we want to.” FYI - Non-subscribers have 10 free articles a month before hitting the NYT paywall.

• Do you lust after sturdy wax canvas bags and coats? You can purchase high quality Scottish wax canvas in several weights and two finishes here from The BuckleGuy. You can also purchase leather strapping for handles and other supplies.

• If you are looking for a good gift for a shower or housewarming or just for you, I suggest these US made kitchen scissors by Lamson. I have a pair in the kitchen that I use several times a day. The best thing is they come apart and can be washed in the dishwasher. They aren’t cheap ($49.99) but they are so worth the cost. I use them for cutting meat, cutting pizza, cutting herbs and scallions and then all kinds of regular stuff. I’ve had mine for over 20 years.

• Since we aren’t done with winter here yet, I am captivated by this incredible handmade cabin in Lapland.

• Jen Edwards has started a Substack newsletter. She writes about creativity, knitting, weaving, spinning, illustrating and how to stay motivated and to keep going. You can read it here.

That’s it for today. Thank you for reading. I wish you a good week.

Colorfully yours,

Kristin Nicholas

P.S. There are lots of new readers here. I’m including the video made by the fine folks at Houzz about our farm and family. It’s 7 minutes and you can see our colorful home and meet my family and critters.