Thursday, July 30, 2015

Dear Jane

Jane is the nicest person I've never met.  She is retired and not overly computer savvy, so she is one of just a handful of customers who prefer to do business over the phone. When I get a call from Atlanta, I know it's Jane! Many years ago, she sent me her first quilt order  -  the t-shirts were all about her beloved Norwegian Elkhounds.  She and her husband were also HUGE Florida Gator fans...and over the years and since he has passed away I made eight more quilts (mostly Gator) for her grandkids, kids, and herself. Today I finished her ninth quilt:

100% sweatshirts...Gators and Norwegian Elkhounds!

Jane recently moved to Arizona and I figured this would be her last quilt. Literally hundreds of t-shirts and sweatshirts have been incorporated in her memory quilt. But, wouldn't you know, she called me yesterday and said she came across a few more shirts and she's going to be sending me the makings for quilt #10!

She lets me choose the colors, she's never in a hurry, and she's always the happiest person. She makes my day and I hope she knows how much I appreciate knowing her. Like I said, the nicest person I've never met. Wild Zipper T-Shirt Quilts<3

Sunday, July 26, 2015

A really special birthday present for Mom

Kathleen gave me a fun project. It's a king-sized machine-quilted quilt with 49 family members' names embroidered all along the edge and a beautiful quote on the back.





Here are a couple photos of the quilt on the longarm machine.  You are looking at just a small sampling of the quilt, and with four generations providing shirts and memories, celebrating the birthday of their matriarch.

You can see this on Wild Zipper:  Wild Zipper

Friday, July 24, 2015

So much fun stuff :)

There is so much going on in the Wild Zipper world, that instead of continuously modifying my website, I think I'll put it on the Wild Zipper Blog. WELCOME! After 23 years of making exclusively t-shirt quilts, I've ventured out to the world of scrappy, fun, and oh-so creative quilts. With Bonnie Hunter (www.quiltville.com) as my main source of inspiration, I'm discovering the world of recycling fabric, and clothing beyond t-shirts! Check out her website and blog. You won't be disappointed.

Quilting never gets old. Every quilt is unique. Every quilt is a work of art.  

Recently, I agreed to take on the challenge of creating "as many quilts as possible" from 88 women's blouses, almost all of them handmade over many, many years. Rhoda's mom had recently passed away and the family had fond memories of her love of sewing.  I love a challenge! Here are a couple of the completed quilts.
This is a jelly roll quilt. Check out all those crazy prints! 


This quilt is a paper-pieced string quilt. Isn't that a great design? Each of the squares uses ONLY cuffs and collars. I try to use every crumb of fabric. I think by the end of this venture I will have six or seven quilts.

Back to sewing. Now that I've got this blog up and running, please let me know your thoughts.  I appreciate your comments and suggestions and would like to hear what you're creating too. 

Interested in preserving your memories?  Go to Wild Zipper