Home
General Information
Show Info
FAQ
Volunteer at the Show
Raffle Quilts
Quilt Contest
Contest Winners
Special Exhibit
Hotel info
Bring a Bus
Vendors & Classes

Class Information
Vendor List
Faculty Application
Vendor Application
Sponsors
Contact
My Account
Create an Account
Login
Enter
My Home page
Edit my Information
My Entries
My Schedule
Lectures
Show Guide
Change password
Contact Us

Posts Tagged ‘Missouri Star Quilt Company’

Jenny Doan’s Heartwarming Trunk Show

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018

Missouri Star Quilt Company’s own Jenny Doan presenting her Trunk Show at the Doubletree Hotel on Saturday night. Over 1,000 guests came to learn and be inspired by Jenny and her marvelous quilts.Jenny Doan quilt trunk show While Jenny has given her Trunk Show many, many times, each presentation is unique. Before going on stage, Jenny ponders on what message of hope, creativity and support she wants to leave with the audience.Jenny Doan quilt trunk show Jenny shared that she learned to sew as a young girl in 4-H. She appreciated the women who were patient and kind and taught her a skill that her own mother couldn’t. Years later, their example instilled in Jenny one of her core values:

“Share the knowledge you have with someone or else it will die with you.”

Missouri Star Quilt Company began 10 years ago with Jenny doing long arm quilting for clients. The machine was too big for her house, so she bought a building to house the business. She had a dozen quilt patterns in her repertoire and thought that was enough to keep her busy and fund her retirement. But her son had more in store for her: YouTube videos. Jenny’s YouTube quilting tutorial videos began when YouTube was in its infancy. She broke her leg just prior to her first episode so in the first few tutorials, Jenny was filmed in a wheelchair, heavily medicated. “It was just terrible,” she recalled. Today, she has done over 500 tutorials, with a new one coming out every Friday. After one early episode, a woman called and inquired about the fabric used in the video and asked where she could get it. Jenny couldn’t help her because it was some random fabric she had in her stash. But that phone call gave Jenny the idea that maybe Missouri Star should start selling fabric lines. At first, they would purchase 60-100 lines of fabric every 4 months. Each line had 20-30 bolts and it was becoming cost and space prohibitive to continue. Then Moda came out with pre-cuts and Jenny discovered a more economical way to store and use fabric. Jenny shared that 99% of her work today is done from pre-cuts. “They have taught me so much.” Why are pre-cuts so popular with Jenny? First of all, they are precut– saving time and effort. Second, she is not a color matcher. She prefers to trust talented and gifted fabric designers to do the fabric matching. And third, using pre-cuts takes away the “overwhelm factor” because you know exactly how much yardage is in a charm pack, a jelly roll or a layer cake.Adding to the fun of the Trunk Show was having Jenny’s husband, Ron, on stage with her, helping to show the quilts and tell their stories. Ron is a quilter too. He enjoys the technical and detailed aspect of quilting.  “We quilt differently,” said Jenny, “But we do it together.” Jenny referred to herself as a utilitarian quilter; she wants her quilts to be used and worn out. To Jenny, a quilt represents love, hope, warmth, ownership and kindness. “No other hobby can offer all this.” At the end of the Trunk Show, Jenny left her audience with this message of encouragement: “The stitches you take by yourself in your sewing room is changing the world. Never before have we needed your gift than we need it now.” Thank you, Jenny Doan, for sharing your quilting journey with your Trunk Show at Road 2018.]]>

Road 2018 Was A Huge Success!!

Wednesday, January 24th, 2018

How to describe Road to California 2018?

The sun was shining.

Teachers and their classes were creating.

The vendor floors were busy.

Guests kept coming.

And best of all, the quilts were amazing!!!

[caption id="attachment_5489" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Best of Show, “Fractal,” by Claudia Pfeil[/caption] Not only was Jenny Doan, of Missouri Star Quilt Company, a popular teacher… …her Trunk Show was inspiring. Road’s Founder, Carolyn Reese, was honored by the Ontario Convention Center’s President and CEO, Michael Krause, for being a loyal business partner to the City of Ontario, the Convention Center, and the Community. The new App, QuiltSpace, was enjoyed by thousands of users. The winner of the App’s Quilter Choice Award went to “Your Place or Mine” by Marva-lee Otos. She received $500 for receiving the most votes from the App users. [caption id="attachment_5488" align="aligncenter" width="482"] “Your Place or Mine,” by Marva-lee Otos[/caption] And Road’s new owner, Matt Reese, still found time to give 5 month old son, Braden, a tour of the show. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making Road 2018  “The Happening Place to Be.” We can’t wait to start planning next year’s show!!]]>

Meet Road 2016 Vendor: Missouri Star Quilt Company

Saturday, March 19th, 2016

Missouri Star Quilt Company, the quilt destination from Hamilton, Missouri, made its way for the first time to Ontario, California and Road 2016.msqc-logo Founded in 2008, Missouri Star was started as a way for Jenny and Ron Doan to earn a living after Ron lost a hefty portion of his retirement savings and his job as a mechanic with the Kansas City Star newspaper became vulnerable to layoffs. It was their children – Allan and Sarah – who came up with the idea for a quilt business combining their mother’s love of sewing and her quilting hobby.  The first thing they did was buy a longarm machine and then they purchased a building in Hamilton (a town a little over an hour’s drive from Kansas City with a population of 1,500) to house it and a quilt store. main-shop-low-res With a shoestring advertising budget, Missouri Star got very creative with their marketing. Missouri Star began putting video tutorials online starring Jenny. Soon, the tutorials were the most searched for quilt videos on You Tube. Viewers wanted to purchase the same fabrics that were used in the videos so Missouri Star decided to make pre-cut fabrics (which revolutionized the quilting industry) and sell this core product in their online store. Pre-cut fabrics are bundles of fabric, cut in various shapes and sizes, featuring an array of coordinating prints from a designer fabric line. In less than four years, Missouri Star has grown to offer the largest selection of pre-cut fabrics in the world, processing 3,000 – 4,000 fabric orders a day!! [caption id="attachment_3899" align="aligncenter" width="610"]Photo by Brian Roberts Photography Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] As Missouri Star’s popularity has grown, so has their interest in the small town of Hamilton. They embarked on a project to restore from top to bottom many of the original buildings which were in pretty bad shape. Today, there are 10 quilt shops, each with their own theme, for fabric and merchandise. For instance, the old JC Penney building was restored and houses all of Missouri Star’s solid fabrics.penney-outside There’s even Man’s Land which offers recliner chairs and a big screen television. It’s a great resting spot for those visitors who come to the quilt store town as drivers and/or shopping bag carriers. mansland-2 Always growing, Missouri Star currently sponsors three YouTube Channels: the original series featuring Jenny Doan which offers a new tutorial every Friday; Man Sewing with Rob Appell which has new shows every Monday; and their newest addition, Crafty Gemini Vanessa Vargas Wilson offering tutorials on the Crafty Gemini Creates channel, every Wednesday. It was a long drive from Hamilton, Missouri to Ontario, California. Missouri Star enjoyed meeting many of their trusted customers and making new friends at their location in the pavilion. [caption id="attachment_3900" align="aligncenter" width="516"]Photo by Brian Roberts Photography Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] We look forward to having Missouri Star return with its Midwest charm for Road to California 2017. Want to learn more about Missouri Star? Please visit their web site. ]]>