Jenny Doan

Jenny showed an interest in sewing from an early age, eventually learning to sew with the 4-H Club youth organization at the age of ten. She maintained her interest in sewing throughout her adolescence and carried that into adulthood, making costumes for the local theater group when she was a newlywed.[3]

In 2003, Doan’s youngest child was out of the house and she expressed an interest in quilting. She took her first quilting class at the Grand River Technical School in Chillicothe, Missouri later that year and discovered a new passion.[4]

After the 2008 recession cost Doan and her husband most of their savings, two of Doan’s children were looking for ways for their parents to bring in additional money. They bought Jenny a loom and set up a small business for her to sew together other people’s quilts. Demand was high and customers wanted additional fabric, so her son set up a website to sell additional materials.[5]

One of Jenny Doan's YouTube tutorials in 2020

Business was slow, however, and a year later, Doan’s children suggested that she record quilting tutorials on YouTube. The videos made it easy for anyone to make a quilt in as little as a day using pre-cut materials, something Missouri Star Quilt Company specialized in. The videos turned Doan into a quilting celebrity and led to an increase in sales.[6]

As of 2021, Doan’s YouTube channel has hosted over 100 hours of content that have been viewed over 200 million times. She is a regular feature in MSQC’s monthly quilting magazine, BLOCK, hosts trunk shows weekly in Hamilton, and makes appearances at quilting and crafting events around the United States.[7]

Jenny Doan (‘’née’’ Fish) was born on June 11, 1957 to Franke and Deannie Fish in San Luis Obispo, California. Her father was a chemist and her mother was a homemaker and genealogist. At age 10 her family moved to Spreckels, California so her father could be closer to Salinas where her father had a job with the Smucker jam company. She spent her formative years in the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay area before starting a family.

In 1980, Jenny married Ronald Doan. The family remained in the Salias area unti 1995, when facing financial difficulties, Jenny and Ron decided to move to a more affordable area. Ron suggested moving to the Midwest, to which Jenny replied, “Where is that, exactly?”[8] The family moved “sight unseen” to Hamilton, Missouri, where Ron started working as a machinist with the Kansas City Star and Jenny focused on taking care of the family.[9][10]

As of 2021, Doan has seven children and twenty-two grandchildren.[11]

Outside of quilting, she enjoys sewing, knitting, painting and gardening.[12]