Side Trip

Each year about this time, I take a road trip north to visit my family. I loaded up on Tuesday afternoon and finished packing Wednesday morning so I left after 10am, heading west. I always stop at the Hancocks in Paducha, KY to look at the fabric there. 

This time, on Thursday morning I arrived at Hamilton, MO about 10:30am. If you don't know about Hamilton, it's where JC Penney was born but now it's also the home of Missouri Star Quilt Co. It's a magical place with 11, yes, eleven quilt shops all owned by Jenny Doan and her company. Apparently there are 300 employees now with an active online presence for sales and tutorials.

The best thing is to visit the shops.

Near the center of town they  have murals painted on the side of the building.

This section of buildings holds the majority of the shops on two levels. Wandering around the shops is more fun than you can imagine. Lots of inspiration for anyone that likes fiber. One of them used to be the JCPenney store.

This is the courtyard next to a burger joint and bakery. They've made the place look festive.

The music playing in most of the shops was Christmas. Christmas in July. It was a very hot day but they were getting the idea across.

This town was dying til this shop started and took off. I'm so glad they found a way to keep the town growing. Busses bring lots of shoppers and there's plenty of room for them.

Oh, and there's a shop called Men's Land. It's got recliners, TVs, games, etc in it for the patient men waiting for their wives to finish daydreaming as they walk among the bolts and bolts of fabric.

Then I got fairly serious and drove. Stopping Saturday near Winnipeg to visit a BFF from school and family, yesterday afternoon I headed across the prairie to Moose Jaw. The trip took well over an hour longer than it should have because of construction. For many miles traffic was down to one lane each direction. Speed limit under 40mph, in the middle of prairie with no traffic. But, you have to drive slowly anyway or risk a speeding ticket. 

I listened to the end of my 24 disc audiobook and enjoyed the scenery.

Now I can relax for a bit before we start on some projects up here.

I've got some handwovens to work on and maybe a quilt to sew.

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol