Downunder Diversions Road Trip - Part 3

Good morning friends!!!

Welcome to Part 3 of the Downunder Diversions road trip I went on last September.  If you missed Part 1 or Part 2 click on the links at the end of this post.  You won't want to miss a thing!  It was one of the best trips I've ever been on!

So for the third part of the road trip, we went to the mothership of all quilt "shops" - Missouri Star Quilt Company.  But it really isn't a "shop".  It's a street, a town, full of quilt shops!!!

It's located in Hamilton, Missouri, population 1,809.

Just on the outskirts of town, you will find rolling hills and green pastures.  It's absolutely beautiful!

Each quilt shop is dedicated to one particular type of fabric.  They've got a shop for everything.  Batiks, wools, basics, holiday, vintage, modern, even a thread shop.  They've got it all!  

In every nook and cranny of this town, there is inspiration to be found! 

  

Even outside!

This quilt company has taken over Hamilton, Mo. and it's a quilters paradise!

[Photo cred: MSQC]

There is a Sewing Center at Missouri Star Quilt Company that can be rented out for retreats.  It comes equipped with lots of sewing machines, cutting tools, pins, etc. so there's no need to haul your sewing machine across country if you don't want to.  MSQC has everything you need!  They fed us great meals and the sleeping accommodations were really comfortable!  For more information on how to book a retreat at MSQC, click HERE. 

[My friend Shari Butler, the creator of Binding Babies and me at the MSQC Sewing Center.]

So, as you can imagine, we shopped our little hearts out every day we were in Hamilton (3 days total, I believe) and then came back to the sewing center and sewed, sewed, sewed every night!

[Meeting Jenny Doan for the second time!]

 One of the most exciting parts of retreating at MSQC was attending a trunk show by Jenny Doan!  She's the mom of the family-run quilt company.  She's a hoot and very inspiring!  After the trunk show she came back to the Sewing Center to do a private Q and A with our group.  It was such a treat!  Even a few of her kids stopped by (one of the nights we were sewing) and chatted one on one with all of us.  Such a fun, genuine, funny family!

[A little sampling of some of the fabric I bought while at MSQC.]

The great thing is, they will ship your purchases home for you for free! if you spend $100 or more (which believe me, is very easy to do!)  They also have daily deals (online and in stores) so we were able to earn some free Jelly Rolls the week we were there.

It was so sad when the time came to go home.  I definitely want to go back someday!  

I hope you'll get to go someday too if you haven't already been.

Tomorrow I'm sharing my finished "Double D" quilt (in honor of that trip) so be sure to stop back by!

Here's a little sneak peak.  It's very scrappy!

Click HERE if you missed Part 1 of the Downunder Diversions road trip.

Click HERE if you missed Part 2 of the Downunder Diversions road trip.
Click HERE to see the finished "Double D" quilt!

Click HERE for information about future Downunder Diversions road trips.

Have a great day!