Jenny Doan Seminar July 16, 2015

Jenny Doan came to Sacramento!

Meissner's Sewing of Sacramento (http://www.meissnersewing.com/) hosted Jenny in a four day, fun filled seminar. Wednesday Jenny gave a  trunk show. Thursday, the day I attended, She gave a full day explanation of how Missouri Star Quilt Company (https://www.missouriquiltco.com/) came to be formed and what they do on a daily basis. She showed us quilt after quilt after quilt. She told us stories about her kids, her husband and her life in Hamilton Missouri. There were 250 people there to oooh and aaah, laugh and even cry. That was Thursday.

Friday (today) she is giving a quilting class. I did not sign up for it because the description was for beginning quilters. I am not a beginner, but after yesterday I am truly sorry I did not sign up. She is truly a remarkable person and makes it fun to be with her.

Tomorrow, Saturday, she will re-do what she did yesterday.

Jenny and me. Don't you love that pink quilt behind us!

Venita and I attended together.

Me, Jenny and Venita

Pat Miljarek attended, also. She grew up in Spreckles California, as did Jenny. When Jenny came on stage and started welcoming us, she saw Pat and stopped and talked to her directly. Then explained to the audience they came from the same small down just south of Salinas California. With tears in her eyes, she told Pat how happy she was to see her. During the break, Pat was able to get a picture of her and Jenny and Jenny's husband Ron, who grew up in Salinas.

Ron Doan, Jenny and Pat Miljarek

I took a camera with me but the battery died after taking just a few pictures with it. So most of the following pictures were taken with my phone. The quality is not the greatest but you will be able to see some of the beautiful quilts that were displayed and discussed during the seminar.

 The above quilt was made with layer cakes. Jenny explained how to scallop a quilt and then how not to be afraid to do bias binding and how easy it is to sew it on even in the grooves of the scallop. It does make the quilt more charming. But so does that fabric she chose.

 Pinwheels. Offset them so you do not have to line them up perfectly. Plus it gives more motion to the quilt.

 Disappearing Pinwheel. Love it!

 Jenny said she was making a bunch of Dresden plates when someone put her large tumbler template down on top of one set. The above quilt was born. Charming.

 This quilt is called Orange Peel. Venita and I wondered why it was done in blues. I like it though so much that I bought the template to make it.

 Jenny's Disappearing Hour Glass quilt done using a package of layer cakes.

 A simple and quick baby quilt made using one charm pack package. Too cute.

All the quilts Jenny showed us has had a tutorial made about how to make it. Her tutorials are on You Tube, but you can also get an app that has them all listed with a link to each of them. I have been saving all her tutorials on my Pinterest application but after installing the app to the links this morning, I now have instant access to them.

Jenny showed us a turkey she made using the Dresden template. Too cute. There is a tutorial for that, too. Plus on her blog there is a pdf file you can down load for the pattern. The link to it is http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/?s=turkey.

In her little town in Missouri, she has been creating an empire. She has several quilting shops now. They have developed a retreat center that will house 40 people (minimum of 10 needed). It is a bed and breakfast set up, with her caveat of "you make both." There is a wonderful restaurant, bakery and hamburger joint if you don't want to cook your own food. There is no hotel in Hamilton, so bring your ten best quilting buddies and stay and sew at the retreat. In case you can't do that, there is a motel 12 miles away.

At the end of the seminar, Jenny said quilters are selfish. Yes we are. We spend an inordinate amount of money to purchase beautiful fabric that we cut up into smaller pieces and sew into quilts. We give these quilts to family, friends, charities and others less fortunate. We put off cleaning, cooking and other household duties. But at the end, we are leaving our legacy with these quilts. These will be passed down to future generations. They will be sold at yard sales or thrift stores to excited quilt lovers. They will become dog beds and furniture covers. But in the end they will be our salvation. As Jenny said "when you create, you heal." So go heal yourself and work on a quilt.

Keep on Quilting