Jenny Doan and her family’s Missouri Star Quilt Company are headquartered in Hamilton, Missouri, an hour northeast of Kansas City. But Doan and the company reach far beyond Missouri, and even the United States, as significant players in the growing quilting industry. The Missouri Star YouTube channel, on which Doan teaches a new quilting tip each week, has over 800,000 followers, and individual tutorials’ view counts reach into the millions. 

Doan discusses her new book, How to Stitch an American Dream, with the Library’s Anne Kniggendorf. Though Doan and her family’s enterprise – which has been largely responsible for keeping Hamilton afloat during the pandemic – have been the subject of numerous articles, her book provides the most complete portrait yet of the genesis and growth of the company. 

Hear about Doan’s early-life struggles, why she moved from California to rural Missouri, how she’s taught millions of people to sew, and her family’s triumph of building a quilting empire and “Quilt Town U.S.A.” from the ground up.