MO Quilt Museum opens Sept. 23

Phase one of the Missouri Quilt Museum located in Hamilton will open on Monday, Sept. 23. The phase one opening will include the Quilt Town USA Exhibit, quilts from the Delbert Godsey Vintage Quilt collection, and quilts from the museum’s own growing collection.
The opening will include other exhibits and collections including a partial display of the world’s largest collection of toy sewing machines.
Museum spokesperson Dakota Redford said, “We are fortunate to have some of the world’s best quilters right here in northwest Missouri. We felt it was only appropriate that we open the museum with an exhibit that features the tremendous amount of local quilting talent.”
The Quilt Town USA exhibit will feature quilts from well known area quilters including Courtenay Hughes, Cindy Morris, Janice Richardson, Jenn Sweem, Liz Gubernatis, Annette Ashbach, the Yamamoto family, the Burnett family and the Doan family.
The museum is housed in the historic, 100-year-old Hamilton High School Building.
“Being 100 years old, the building requires extensive renovation and upgrading,” Redford said. “Due to the costs and time involved, we decided to open the museum in phases. Phase one includes areas that were added to the school in later years and required less upgrading.”
Redford said that phase two of the museum is scheduled to open in the spring of 2020. Phase two will include the National Quilt Museum Gallery and will feature rotating exhibits from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with the National Quilt Museum in order to bring some of the best quilt exhibits in the world to northwest Missouri,” Redford said.
Upon completion, the museum will feature four full galleries, numerous exhibits and various hands-on areas.
“We are not a typical quilt museum,” Redford said. “MQM will tell the story of quilting in North America from the time of the pilgrims up to today’s digital quilting processes.
There will be a number of historical exhibits and many opportunities for visitors to participate with hands on projects and demonstrations.”
Already on the museum grounds is the world’s tallest spool of thread. Standing over 22 feet tall, the spool of thread was started with 1,000,000 yards of thread donated by Aurifil Company. Visitors have the opportunity to add their own thread to the spool.
The Missouri Quilt Museum is located at 300 N. Bird Street in Hamilton. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The museum is closed Sundays.