Missouri Quilt Museum re-opens

The Missouri Quilt Museum, located in Hamilton, has re-opened for the season.

Dakota Redford, curator at the museum, says that this will be an exciting year at MQM.

“We have some amazing exhibits scheduled for the museum this year,” Redford said. “Some of our featured exhibits will include ‘The Obsessive Quilter’ by Ann Petersen, Sarah Maxwell, Jenny Doan, the ‘Cherrywood Challenge Graffiti Quilts,’ the ‘Missouri Bicentennial Quilt’ and much more.”

Quilts from various Missouri quilt guilds will also be displayed throughout the year. Featured quilt guild exhibits include St. Charles County Quilt Guilds, Moberly, Table Rock and Piney River.

The museum also features one of the world’s largest collection of toy sewing machines, industrial sewing and embroidery machines, treadle machines, SAD irons, thimbles and antique merchandising items. The Worlds Tallest Spool of Thread is on the museum grounds and visitors can add their own thread to the spool.

The museum recently announced a donation of 350 antique and vintage quilts to their collection. The quilts are from the personal collection of Lynn and Ralph Miller.

Lynn is a self-described quilt maker, antique quilt collector, student of quilt history and a rescuer of antique/vintage quilts and linens. Her favorites are Redwood Quilts, Mountain Mist, Kit Quilts, Star Quilts and Red, White and Green Quilts. Many of the donated quilts are of these patterns and styles. Some of the quilts date back to pre-civil war years.

Redford says that the donation came about through another one of those “divine interventions” that has served to make the museum so popular.

“This donation is the result  of a casual comment to a freelance writer who was visiting Hamilton working on a different story, who in turn mentioned the museum to a photographer who then visited the museum and then a photo and mention of the museum appeared in a national magazine and the Millers happened to read the article and decided to learn more about the museum. And they liked what they learned!!”

“We are thrilled to be working with the Millers to make these quilts available for public viewing,” Redford said.

Museum hours are 11 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Friday and from 10 am to 2 pm, Saturdays.