In November 2008, on a shoestring budget, we bought a building in Hamilton to house my very first longarm quilting machine and started Missouri Star Quilt Company! At first we only offered long arm quilting services and sold a few quilting supplies. But soon we realized that it would be difficult to make a decent profit here in our small town. As a result, we decided to take our new quilt shop online and Alan, teamed up with his best friend, David, to get the business started.
With Alan's experience running tech startups, David's financial and marketing background, and Sarah’s expertise in the quilting industry, we had the ingredients for a successful online quilting company. I helped run the quilt shop with my daughter while Alan and David focused their efforts online. Together we worked harmoniously to build Missouri Star Quilt Company from the ground up.
At first, we relied entirely on our creativity to help the company grow without much advertising, but business really picked up when we started posting free quilting tutorials online to help people learn to quilt. It wasn’t long before Missouri Star became the biggest quilting channel on YouTube! Because of my background in theater, I soon felt comfortable in front of the camera, but I never anticipated becoming a quilting “sewlebrity.” Over a decade later, I have taught hundreds of quilting tutorials and connected with quilters around the world to spark new enthusiasm for quilting.