Mansland in a Quilt Universe

The reason we drove more than 400 miles.
10/14/2021 dwm photo

 I've been a 'quilt husband' for more than 20 years.  It's not a bad thing, by any means, except when the quilter wants to shop for 'just a minute,' when you are driving someplace together.

 More times than I can count, I'd look across the parking lot to see other men trapped behind the steering wheel casting hopeful glances toward the doors of the shop.

 'Just a minute' translates in quilterese to half-an-hour, brothers, I can feel your pain.

During the pandemic, my wife became closely connected in a virtual way to the Missouri Star Quilt Company, drawn in by its free YouTube tutorials.  She's ordered enough fabric and notions that they have an operator waiting for her call.
 

'Mansland' is a temporary
refuge for quilt spouses.
10/14/2021 (dwm)

When the pandemic subsided enough for us to feel good about traveling (we're both fully vaccinated), Hamilton, Missouri was at the top of her list.

It's just 6 and a half hours behind the wheel from our house, giving her time to shop before they closed.

My incentive, she told me, was that the good people at the Missouri Star Quilt Company, were concerned about guys like me.  They had a place set aside with over-stuffed recliners, a big-screen TV, pool table, and available snacks.  

Eight recliners face the TV
in Mansland. 10/14/21 (dwm) 

 Just a little skeptical... "is it a trap?" I liked the idea of having some place to go while she shopped.  

 It's made sense to me for years, why not invite men in... entertain them, give them something to drink and put the game on TV.  That will keep us happier than we'd be sitting in the car and it means the quilters could shop to their hearts' content not worried about getting back at a certain time.

Windows allow women to
monitor their partners.
10/14/21 dwm photo

Less than 10 minutes after we parked, I opened the door into Mansland.  It was deserted!  I was in control of the TV remote and the pool table.

"You rack 'em up?" was a startling question.  The last time I played pool I was living in a residence hall at Drake University.  I was never good and 36 years of not playing didn't help, but it was fun knocking the balls around the felt and sinking a couple uncontested shots.

Quilt town dresses up three blocks of Davis
Street in downtown Hamilton. 10/14/21 (dwm)

 Except for a coffee pot, the food and drink wasn't free, but that's OK.  

 It was nice to having our own space instead of trying to pay attention, carry bags, and nod when asked if we like a particular fabric... we could do something or nothing while our better half tries not to invest all our money in fabric futures.

 Jenny Doan is the public face for the family which created this unique fabric franchise in a small town in western Missouri.  Her son and his sister, two of seven children to Jenny and Ron, invested in quilting in 2008 gradually restoring much of Hamilton's business district to hold quilt boutique shops.   

Jenny's popular videos created internet traffic for online sales and passionate visitors who travel long distances (like we did) to visit and get their own jelly roll and fat quarter from the Missouri Star.

More pictures of Missouri Star Quilt Company shops in Hamilton: