Stay-at-home mom creating custom quilts out of T-shirts
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The art of quilting has been around for centuries. It’s the process of stitching together layers of padding and fabric, a process that can take days or even weeks to complete. It's become a hobby, passion and or business for many around the world. One young woman from Oak Creek, Wisconsin turned her passion for quilting into a business, adding her own twist.
Natalie Stremlau, a 24-year-old stay-at-home mother has been creating custom t-shirt quilts for her customers for about over a year with her business NRS Quilting.
"The most rewarding part for quilting is giving it to the customer and just seeing their reaction when they see it," said Stremlau.
Stremlau said her creations can take up to 18 days to make, depending on the custom details. Her price on the quilts varies from $80 to $300 depending on the size.
Her idea to quilt t-shirts came from a personal experience after she wanted to make use of old sentimental t-shirts.
"I had a lot of shirts from my high school, college years that didn't fit me anymore and they still had a lot of memories to them so I wanted to make something out of them and not just have to throw them away because I thought if giving them away wouldn't mean anything to anybody else."
She adds, "So I thought of just making stuff for myself and I started off with just making two quilts to see if I could do it since I've never done shirts before."
Stremlau said she's been creating quilts for customers for about eight years. Her first encounter with quilting happened when she was a young girl.
" I learned how to quilt from a woman who watched me when I was younger and she taught me a lot of hand techniques for hand quilting," said Stremlau.
Stremlau said although the process could take days to weeks, she finds comfort and motivation knowing that her creations mean more to her customers.
"I've had quite a few customers cry on my shoulder so that meant a lot," said Stremlau.
Stremlau doesn't exclusively just sell quilts, she also offers t-shirt pillowcases, bean bag covers, robes and a slew of other items.