HAMILTON MISSOURI--QUILTOWN USA

 This was our second visit to Hamilton, the Home of Missouri Star Quilt Company. The story of this poor little town out in the middle of no where is very interesting and should be an inspiration to anyone.  .about (missouriquiltco.com)

Every quilter knows the name Missouri Star Quilt Company, and their video tutorials but not everyone has had the chance to visit. But if you do, here's some information. Home - Visit MSQC

The last time we were here we stayed at a campground that was about 20 miles west of here. The campground was horrible even though it had some good reviews. The grass had not been cut & there was no internet.  For this visit however, some smart person opened up a very small campground .75 miles from the middle of downtown. It was extremely nice, clean and the owner could not have been nicer. I think 95% of the people there were quilters. Less than 5 minutes from all the shops.,

We were there for 3 nights, so the first day we did a walk through Hamilton and the shops. There is nothing I needed, but you do have to look at all the different stores and fabrics anyway. Each store has a different theme, so it is harder to coordinate fabrics if you are trying to add solids or blenders to a floral. Not a problem since I didn't need anything. We just missed their big anniversary week (sale) by about 2 weeks, The last time we visited we just happened to come during the time and got a lot of freebies.

Of course Bentley had a great time getting there.

                                                                      

They had some new shops in town too. One was a knit shop and another was a Nancy's Notions store. I did get something at the knit shop. A beautiful green Ella Rae yarn for a sweater.

The first day we went to Eggos Cafe for an excellent breakfast and then on to the shop. If you go early in the AM or after 3PM the shops are not crowded.

A very nice CG and they even had some red squirrels for the kitties.

                                                              The main store for MSQC

                                                           Eggos Cafe and Miss Mailin's.

There are quilt murals all around downtown and a railroad mural on the side of one of the buildings.

We checked out the shops and I did get a few of their BLOCK books which were almost a cheap as regular patterns. They have 10 quilt patterns in every book and no advertising.

New, in Hamilton is a quilt museum which we visited the next day. We were so impressed and it was actually better than any of the others we visited. It was housed in the old High School and on the corner was the worlds largest spool of thread.

The school house was great with 3 floors and every old classroom had a different display of quilts. Some were very old (1830s), some new.

                            This was a newer one, but English Paper Pieced, all by hand.

This quilt was very interesting if you can read the info next to it. Made in the 1840's by African Americans in Mississippi and they used old coffee grounds to dye the fabric brown. It had the old batting with cotton seeds still in it.

                                           There were a few Millifiore quilts hanging.

                                               A modern Kim Mclean quilt with Kaffe fabrics.

                                                      An old quilt that was well used and deteriorating.

 And LOOKY HERE --- another of the same quilts I saw in 2 other museums. AND, the mystery is solved as to where the pattern came from. It was published in the Jan. 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal. This quilt was pieced in 1915 and is in much better shape that the 2 others I saw. The colors are much more vibrant.

                                                                   Yes, Einstein in a quilt.

I loved how they used the old blackboards to write info about the quilt and displays.

                                            

The world's largest rotary cutter.

The museum also house a very large miniature quilt collection. These were amazing. Some had pieces 1/4" in size.

In th basement was the old gym which had a borrowed display from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky.

In addition to the miniatures quilts, they had a huge room with hundreds of working toy sewing machines from all over the world and every manufacturer and a thimble collection.

Needless to say we had a wonderful time in Hamilton, MO. I can't wait to see what they will add for next time.

The next 2 stops will be just overnight as was get home on Friday, Oct 8th. First the Columbia, MO and Cottonwoods Rv Park.