Mueller Inducted Into State Quilters Guild Hall of Fame

Pacific resident Nellie Mueller was chosen as the second inductee in the Missouri State Quilters Guild (MSQG) Hall of Fame, also known as the Galaxy of Stars.

The well-known quilter and seamstress and member of two local quilting guilds was surprised at the Missouri Quilters Guild annual meeting in Hannibal.

Mueller has been a member of the state guild for 23 years and is only the second person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The honor is due not only to her quilting skills, but her enthusiasm, encouragement of other quilters and teaching.

MSQG President Ruth Rakop made the surprise presentation, handing Mueller a plaque, a corsage and a pair of gold scissors.

“It’s appropriate,” Mueller said. “You can never have too many pairs of scissors.”

The nicest part was that they had my family there,” she said. “Everybody had kept it a secret. My quilting groups knew, the people at church knew and nobody said a word.”

Mueller’s husband Jim, daughter Gwen, who lives in Florida, daughter and son-in-law Bonnie and Bill Post, son Randy and his two children Madeline and Wesley were all present.

“The induction was the biggest and best-kept secret in my entire life,” Mueller said. “The surprised look on my face when I saw my family was captured on camera, and I laugh every time I see it. No one had spilled the beans.”

Mueller began quilting more than 25 years ago, when she attended a quilting class in Washington directed by well-known quilter Eleanor Burns. She later joined the Piecemakers Quilt Guild, the American Quilting Society (AQS) and Bits and Pieces quilt guild, based in St. Louis County.

She said she’s made too many quilts to count. Her only regret with quilting is she wishes she would have started sooner.