Bye Bye Pincushions

Not to be morbid, but I check several of those “susceptible to Covid” boxes so I decided to do some downsizing and distributing.  I have collected pincushions for several decades but don’t have room to display them all so most of them are packed away in boxes.  I thought if they’re packed away in boxes so I don’t see them, I might as well try to find them a good home.  And I did…I found the newly opened Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton, Missouri.
Hamilton, Missouri may be familiar to you as the home of the Missouri Star Quilt Company with  twelve quilt shops (yes, you read that right….12 quilt shops) in one town.   Also in Hamilton is an old 3-story brick high school building which was purchased and is being renovated to be the largest quilt museum in the U.S. with 30,000 square feet of space.  With so much space, the museum is being opened in phases.

The first phase was opened in September 2019 and then closed down in March 2020.  But they are using this down time (you can see the museum by appointment) to do extensive renovations on the second floor and they are planning another opening in March 2021.  They have rooms full of antique sewing machines, vintage buttons, antique toy sewing machines, thimbles and other sewing memorabilia.  They will have permanent exhibits plus travelling exhibits (including from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah).  I figured they would be a possible “good home” for most of my pincushion collection.

Turns out they were thrilled to receive my pincushions and gave me a personal tour of the museum.  I’m planning on going down again to see the March 2021 opening.

Most of their displays have been donated to them so if you have something you’d like to donate send them an email to discuss it.  Of course, being a fledgling museum they can also always use monetary donations to help with their displays.

I sincerely wish them luck in their endeavor.  In addition to the Missouri Quilt Museum, Hamilton is home to the J. C. Penney Library and Museum, the World’s Largest Spool of Thread, a butterfly park and lots of shopping!