Missouri Star Quilt Company

The last time I had a conversation with my eldest brother was the morning MSQC was featured on a Sunday morning show. I'd just started quilting and was working from scraps friends donated to my project. My brother was enthusiastic about my new hobby and told me all about the show about this company which was new to me. Fast forward two years and I went to a quilting retreat in Hamilton after spending a small fortune with the company. The business has grown since then, as has the collection of quilts in my "done" pile and the fabric and tools in my sewing room. The one time I had a problem with something I bought it was resolved and the vendor sent the missing quilt kit pieces before i had the email telling me it was on its way. The customer service phone line is answered with a message that includes an option to press a number if you just want to talk. I don't know who answers those calls, but just having that option with all the isolation brought about by recent events is amazing. Not your usual business by any means. Well worth supporting this family that changed a small town for the better.

I can see that MSQC is working to keep up with technology by bringing out a new shopping app. It works fine on my iPhone in its vertical only position. Sadly, I don’t use my iPhone for MSQC shopping 95% of the time. When I tried to use the app on my iPad, it doesn’t turn to the horizontal position. I will stick to the website to shop leisurely. After looking through the new app, I did not find a pattern I had been interested in so I tried to go to my tutorial app. Imagine my surprise to find my tutorial app had vanished along with all of my marked favorites! I went back to the “new” app thinking it was possible the tutorials and my marked favorites would be there. No. They are gone. It was frustrating trying to find tutorials because I could see only 2-3 at the same time leaving me scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. I love the tutorials. I have learned so much from all I have watched! My 11 year old granddaughter and I have watched countless tutorials together over the last 6 years! Unfortunately, it takes longer to find the tutorial I want to watch than it does to watch it. I understand the need to keep up with technology in this fast moving market. But, don’t forget those of us who like a slower pace and an easier, more user friendly approach to tutorials and shopping.

I look forward to each Friday tutorial and if my schedule is changed it seem like it takes forever for Friday to come. I first got aquatinted with MSQC in 2014 when we were in Durham,NC for my hubby to get a single lung transplant. It was hard to be away from our kids. I had my sewing machine with me but not much fabric. I ordered some jelly rolls from a place online. They came postmarked from my hometown and the return address was on a street where I rode my bike as a kid. I had fun doing a jelly roll race quilt and another pattern which my youngest daughter claimed. Two years ago our guild did a challenge in which we were given orphan blocks with which to make a quilt. The ones I got were black, white, and tan and “not me”. I would look at them and say “I have no idea.” Our youngest son died in December 2018 and my hubby needed to have an in hospital antirejection treatment at Duke. It got postponed 3-4 times for various reasons. I didn’t look forward to 5 days alone in a motel room. It happened that we had to bring our granddaughter with for part of the time. She was good and kept me company. I watched the tutorial that week (the first of 2019) and Jenny made it with 6 inch blocks but said it could be made with orphan blocks. I knew that was my pattern for the challenge and got to work on it when we got home. It didn’t win anything at guild but the quilt was a winner for me. I call it my healing quilt because it kept me out of the dark hole of grief I had found myself in after the loss of another son in 2005. Thank you, Jenny!