Quilting - Front page Wall Street Journal
 

Ok...so i'm sitting here browsing through the Board when my husband comes in with the Feb 1-2 weekender Wall Street Journal and slaps it down on my desk and says..."Hey...i'd like to retire...stop doing that (browsing the Board) and do THIS"! There is a great article about Jenny Doan and Missouri Star Quilt Co. and her video/store "empire" - from start up til now.

I guess i should be flattered that he thinks i've got that ability in me!:)

Wall Street Journal costs money that could be spent on quilting.

Great story in the Journal. One of those "gee, I wish I'd thought of that first" moments.

I just googled the article. Very nice. Thanks for letting us know.

So find an article about a man turning his hobby into a business and tell your husband you want to retire too, LOL.

I would also take it as a compliment! I don't get much feedback since I give my quilts to anonymous charitable organizations. So if anyone suggested out of the blue that *I* could do what Jenny & her family have done I would be thrilled!

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...49133544709954

Great article! Thanks for the heads-up.

Great article!

Thank you for telling us about the article. I enjoyed reading it. Jenny and her tutorials are great. Living in Missouri,
I have visited their store, but not the new addition of sleeping/quilting quarters yet. She is usually visible and gracious
when you visit their store.

Quilting as the article proves is a growing business. Also proves it isn't just a necessary craft but an art. I'm not sure how long the quilt shops have been in town but we have quite a few. Some sell material mostly and some sell the machines mainly. I'm always material shopping.

Nice article, thank you for sharing it!

I really enjoyed the article and learning more about Jenny.

Thanks for sharing this article. The tutorials have really be a great help for me.

I think I like her because she definitely gives you the feeling that you can do it. Plus, she's just a normal person and she comes across that way--not "you can do this in 15 years if you practice every day".

But it definitely sounded like the kids had a lot to do with the business and used their mom as the face of quilting. I mean...they bought the long arm for their mom? they built the room, etc. Nice kids.

Nice article. Thank you for sharing.

What a great article and love how the kids stepped up and helped out when they knew their folks needed it...came up with a plan and then a huge success! Sounds like that town needs a fishing shop... ; ) isn't their a need for tie flying classes for men....they could have their own little retreat. Hey they really do have men's tie flying retreats...LOL...I just google it http://bluewatercovcamp.org/2011/04/...g-and-fishing/

Nice article. Thanks for sharing. Jenny is someone I can relate to. She doesn't act like a know it all and her way is the only way. She seem like someone you would meet at a quilting class. Love her tutorials.

Hahaha! Love it!

Charlotte

Going to a quilting retreat with Jenny in three weeks! Can't wait. It will be a small group (about 16) so we should really get to know her.

I love her tutorials and have a special place in the computer for some of her tutes!!!!!! They really come in handy. Smart woman, She!!!!!!!!!

I should be that smart. But I am happy learning from her, from you, and then just plain old common sense. Like buying more fabric than I really need and find out that I have to go back and get some more. My more fabric than I needed turned out to be more that I have to get. Have a great day, Gals and Guys. Edie

Julie, so jealous! Our groups has been talking about doing that. Are you car pooling or a bus tour? We're in Western PA, it is about a 13 hour drive (we're mostly old, that long a drive seems like it would take us a month with bathroom stops every 30 min. LOL)

Loved the article, loved this thread.

I once saw a video by a guest on Nancy Zieman's show. They were making pinwheels. Nancy had the four squares and was trying to show how to lay them out to make a pinwheel. She turned them this way and that, and couldn't find the right way. My fingers were itching to get in there and turn them around for her. Finally she just picked up the finished pinwheel and showed that. So funny!

Yea! my husband is always wanting to start a quilting business for me, I don't quilt for a business it would take the joy out of it then. I punched a time clock for 35 years don't plan to start that again, retirement is just fine this way.

That is an awesome find... So good that the WSJ actually acknowledges that quilting is big business....

Lol, my first thought as well :-)

I just read the article in our copy of the WSJ at the office... the one that arrives for the big mucky-mucks, who read all the financial stuff. :) So I don't have to spend my quilting money on it either. LOL

I absolutely love her videos and have ordered quite a bit from her .. I hope she can keep on doing the videos for at least 20 more years !

Neat that he has the confidence in you to achieve great things!! Thanks for the article~

i really think she's the cat's meow and would love to meet her one day. she seems to be so homey and friendly and its great to read that she is visible and sweet when you see her in her store. not like others who are snooty cuz now they have money. and she's not a size zero either! :) your hubby was sweet to give you such a high compliment ~ we all need our hubbys to be our biggest fans but need to remember we need to be theirs as well!

i am all the way in idaho but it would be worth the trip to go to a retreat with her! how fun! have a beautiful time!

YES - Thank You for sharing. That was an interesting read

***

*** That is a really nice article.

*** Wish we all could do that.

***

We all have the ability. We are creative, intelligent women. And have husbands that have confidence in out abilities.

I might thank him for the compliment that he thinks I have that ability, then I would ask him what part he would play in that endeavor. I'm just glad happy that Jenny Doan and the Missouri Star Quilt Co. are getting national recognition for their hard work. I think Jenny has enabled many more people learn to quilt, similar to Eleanor Burns, by breaking down the parts of quilting to make it easier for all to accomplish.

I like to read the little stories that with come with the "Deal of the Day" from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. They are a riot. It sounds like Jenny is writing these. She is something else.

I have so far resisted buying any of the Daily Deals, (I have enough scraps to last me until I'm 204.) But I have to read her stories and then I delete! ! !

If you had wanted to do what Jenny Doan did, you'd probably have done it by now. Nothing replaces the internal drive and determination to do something which may seem easy in retrospect, but was actually a lot of hard work, sacrifices, and multi-talents, not to mention a "stage presence" which Jenny has, but most of us don't. Your husband didn't know what he was asking of you. Take it as a compliment, and keep doing what you're doing.

All I know is that my quilting would become less pleasurable if I had no choice but to constantly work on it for hours at a time, plus overtime. I quit a job that required an average of 50 to 70 hours per week for every week of the 39 years that I worked. I am not taking on another one!

thanks for the article, I'm also impressed with Jenny and love and admire that she shares free tutorials with all of us ..

Great article. Another shop that started in a similar vein is Stitchin' Heaven in Texas.

I love Jenny's tutorials, she is the reason my quilting has progressed to were it is today.