Quilt Shop Hopping & Visiting Family

When we left Michigan and began our Fall travels, I had an agenda of my own for a few of our stops – visiting quilt shops along the way!

Our first quilt shop related stop was back in Wisconsin, as we travelled from Door County to Iowa.  In my newest addiction, wool applique, I often order patterns and hand dyed wool from Primitive Gatherings – they have shops in both California, and near Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Our route took us through Oshkosh, so we planned a quick stop so I could do some in-person shopping.

It’s a really cute shop – and bigger than it looks from the outside!

Walking through the door, yours eyes immediately go to the neat little stacks of brightly colored wool on the shelves, and the beautiful wool projects that cover the walls.

My first thought was . . . oh, I am in trouble!!

Continuing into the first room, there were shelves and shelves full of wool in various sizes – charm packs, small and large bundles, fat quarters and larger pieces.  There was a sample on the wall of every single pattern they sell – all numbered to match the shelf where each pattern could be found.

Yeah, definitely my happy place!

So much to choose from – it was so hard to decide what colors of wool to buy, and which patterns I wanted to make.  There are many that I have already made, or have the pattern and haven’t made yet.

I found several that I liked!

That was just the first room . . . as I moved around the corner and deeper into the shop, there was still more wool, but also some very beautiful quilting fabric and patterns.

I was focused on the wool in this shop, so I just admired the quilting fabric and then returned to the first room.

After considering and reconsidering, I finally selected several pieces of wool and a pattern that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.  I think I showed quite a bit of restraint!

Our next quilt stop was unplanned – I didn’t even know there were quilt shops in the Amana Colonies, but there were, and the one that was a combination Antique Shop/Quilt Shop was really nice.  They had lots of unique fabrics that I have never seen anywhere else, and the people who worked there were incredibly nice.

I bought new pattern to work on this winter, and I’m really looking forward to getting started on it.

In Winterset, there were 2 Quilt Shops and I visited them both one afternoon, but again, I couldn’t get motivated to buy anything . . . I think I was subconsciously holding back until we got to our next stop . . .

Hamilton, Missouri

Quilt Town, USA!

Home of Missouri Star Quilt Company

It was a fairly short drive for us, and we were only staying one night.  There’s a cute little RV Park right in Hamilton, within walking distance of downtown, and all the RV Quilters usually stay there.  I gave them a call to see if they had an available site for one night -- a Thursday, and I wasn’t expecting to have an issue.

Then I found out that it was the first day of the MSQC Birthday Bash, and that the RV Park had been booked for nearly a year!

He gave us the name of another RV Park nearby, and we were able to get a site for the night there.  We arrived before noon, did our minimal setup, and headed to Hamilton for an afternoon of shopping.

Missouri Star is not just one quilt shop – it is made up of 12 individual shops, and pretty much takes up the whole town! 

Everything was decked out for the Birthday Bash with a Hawaiian theme.

There were games and giveaways,

and quilts everywhere!

I explored each shop – each one focused on a particular type of fabric – solids, novelty, vintage, florals, primitives . . . and more that I can’t remember.  There were sales in every shop – with $1 fat quarters and selected bolts of fabric at $6/yard.  The primitive shop had wool, but not much, and not many patterns, so I actually didn’t buy anything there.

One shop is for sewing machines and accessories – which I didn’t spend much time in, and then there’s the “Man Cave” . . .

Complete with comfy chairs, sports on TV, and plenty of quilts around to cover up with on a chilly day!  Tom had to check it out, but he was having fun shopping with me!

There were a few other non-MSQC shops in town too, and we visited all of them, as well as the giant spool of thread,

and the vintage sewing machine display at the Quilt Museum.

When I found out that we were going to be there on the first day of the Birthday Bash, I was a little concerned about the crowds were going to be like.  I needn’t have worried . . . there were a lot of women there, but not bad at all, and there were hardly any lines.

I did pretty good on my purchases, and actually showed a lot of constraint!  I did pick up a pattern and fabric for a small lap quilt,

and a nice selection of re-purposed wool plaids from one of the non-MSQC shops.

I also managed to snag a few freebies!

It was fun, but we had plenty of time . . . we were actually back at the RV before 5pm, an hour before the shops closed!  We ended up spending the evening sitting outside with the neighbors – the men, anyway.  There were 4 RV’s camping together around us, and all there for the birthday bash.  The women were attending several workshops and classes, and the men were hanging out at the RVs and golfing during the day.

Tom and I sat with them around their fire, and when the women got back they told me about another shop in the town before you get to Hamilton, and said that it had a really nice wool selection.  One more to add to the list!

Before getting ready to leave in the morning, we took a quick drive into town to check it out.

It was a very nice shop, with lots of beautiful fabrics and a great wool selection . . . and even a spot for Tom to sit . . . not quite as nice as the Man Cave, though!

I bought a few things, but forgot to take a picture . . . you’ll just have to take my word for it that I was once again restrained in my purchases!

Back at the RV Park, we packed up and got on the road for our 75 mile drive to the Blue Springs Campground in Lee’s Summit, near where most of Tom’s cousins live.

It’s a nice campground, and you couldn’t get any more conveniently located!

We spent the next 5 days visiting with family and enjoyed many delicious meals!

We enjoyed all of our time catching up with everybody and were really thrilled that everyone made the time to visit with us!

Tom even got his baby fix!

It was a fun visit, and we can’t wait until we are able to see everybody again!

Joplin, Missouri

Since Bryce had to watch the MI State game on Saturday afternoon, we waited until Sunday to visit Joplin, and we should have known . . . lots of stuff CLOSED!  Oh well!

After mass in Webb City, we drove through downtown Joplin looking for Route 66 sites . . . and we saw several, but all of them were closed.  I was especially bummed about missing the Joplin Museum Complex . . . I really wanted to see the Cookie Cutter Museum!!

All that driving around made us hungry, so we stopped at Norma’s Diner for lunch.

With our energy replenished and a beautiful day ahead of us, we decided to enjoy some outdoor activities.  We went in search of Grand Falls . . . and eventually found it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colors were beautiful, and the boys enjoyed climbing on the rocks around the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Grand Falls we made our way to the George Washington Carver National Monument. 

I remember doing a biography of Carver when I was in grade school, and I knew he was a well-known scientist, but I didn’t remember that he grew up in Missouri.

He was born a slave in the household of Moses and Susan Carver, who taught him to read and eventually sent him to school.  He eventually earned college degrees, including a doctorate, in Iowa, and was hired at Tuskegee University where he spent the remainder of his career.

He was most well-known for discovering hundreds of uses for the peanut, but he was also a teacher,

and he did considerable research on how to improve the health of plants and animals.

 

His other passion was health and nutrition, and he spent lots of time teaching the farmers how to grow other crops that would improve their diet, and even even taught them how to cook!

He would take his Jesup Wagon into the villages and demonstrate recipes with fresh vegetables . . . if he were still alive today, he’d probably be on the Food Network!

After completing the tour of the Visitor Center, we went outside to walk along the interpretive path on the property.

The path took us through the woods, along the creek where George spent his youth,

and also the location of the slave cabin where he was born.

We also saw the home of Moses and Susan Carver,

and the family cemetery plot.

George Washington Carver is not buried here, though . . . his grave is at Tuskegee University in Alabama, where he spent his adult life.

We enjoyed this beautiful fall day . . .

and I just couldn’t resist taking more pictures of the fall foliage.