This Oak Creek mom makes quilts from school T-shirts or quilts to remember lost loved ones
It might be nice if you could take a memory and just curl up with it, surrounding yourself with the warmth of nostalgia.
Natalie Stremlau offers about as close to that as someone could get with her T-shirt quilts.
Stremlau, an Oak Creek resident who runs NRS Quilting out of her home, creates quilts out of old T-shirts. Right now, a popular order is for school shirts to be turned into a quilt.
Quilting since she was 11 years old, Stremlau, 24, launched her business in 2022. Before she went public, Stremlau made quilts and similar items as gifts for friends and family.
The idea to use shirts with school logos and just general shirts worn while in grade school, high school or college to create a themed quilt came from her husband Kyle.
“There’s probably people graduating who have a bunch of things that don’t fit them anymore, but they don’t want to get rid of them because they are memorable,” Stremlau said.
She first made two quilts of her own childhood shirts to try the concept. It worked.
“I had a lot of shirts,” Stremlau said, laughing.
Since February, NRS Quilting has gotten 21 T-shirt quilt orders with about half of them being school-themed quilts. One woman recently ordered a quilt with shirts her son wore from kindergarten through college.
“I had to get creative on that one,” Stremlau said, referencing the drastic shirt size differences.
The quilt, created from toddler shirts up to XL, was a challenge, but it's Stremlau’s favorite thus far.
Other than the school-themed quilts, Stremlau often gets orders for T-shirt quilts for families who lost a loved one.
She’s also made a Marvel T-shirt quilt and created a single quilt out of skirts, pajama pants, bibs, Hawaiian shirts and a tutu or two.
“That was definitely interesting to do,” Stremlau said.
Stremlau keeps clients informed throughout the quilt-making process
Once someone contacts her about creating a quilt, Stremlau meets the client at Joann Fabrics where they go over the design and choose materials.
“There are a lot of fabrics at the store; most people prefer fleece,” she said.
The customer buys all materials in the store the day they meet, which Stremlau considers her down payment. Once she starts on the quilt, she sends the client a message and keeps them updated throughout the process.
A typical quilt will take eight days, although if someone needs it faster, they can put in a rush order for a small fee.
“I just stay up later and wake up earlier to get it done,” Stremlau said, adding the rush order cuts the typical time nearly in half.
All times are estimates, though, and are also dependent on the size of the quilt. She once had an order for a queen-size quilt consisting of 80 shirts that took 16 days to complete.
Stremlau keeps no quilts on hand, all are custom made.
“I want everything to be custom because it means more,” she said. “I just added (an embroidery option) to make it more custom.”
When the quilt is done, Stremlau will either ship it or, more often, will meet the customer at a public location where she collects the labor fee.
Prices for the quilts range from $80 to $350, depending on size
The base pricing for T-shirt quilts ranges from $80 up to $300 for baby clothing and $150 to $350 for youth and adult shirts, depending on quilt size.
Normal quilts range from $80 to $350.
Rush orders will add between $20 and $55 to the cost, depending on quilt size. She also charges various fees for driving/delivery, batting (insulation fabric) and other add-on options.
Not into quilts? Stremlau also creates T-shirt pillowcases, bean bag covers, robes, men’s tie pillows, clothes for stuffed animals and more. If a customer has an idea for a product, she’s willing to listen.
The T-shirt quilts are her most popular offering with the next best seller being the T-shirt pillowcases.
Stremlau is currently creating a felt fabric children’s book for her daughter with interactive pieces attached to the pages with Velcro. Pages include puzzles, math and matching colors. If it works out well, she is considering offering the books for purchase in the future.
Learning how to quilt and turning a hobby into a business
Stremlau said she’s “always been really crafty.” The only person she knew who quilted was a friend of a friend who babysat her as a child. The sitter taught Stremlau hand quilting techniques.
Later, Stremlau purchased a sewing machine. She started making quilts for holidays and “eventually it just became more.”
Sometimes turning a hobby into a career can cause a loss of love for the craft.
“I still have love for (quilting), but I feel like it’s become more of a necessity,” Stremlau said. “I need to get more orders in just to have the financial side done. Sometimes I do feel rushed.”
A stay-at-home mom with her 18-month-old daughter, Stremlau said this isn’t a full-time job just yet, but is a good second source of income.
Before creating her website, www.nrsquilting.net, Stremlau grew her client list through posts in Facebook community groups. She took photos of every quilt she made.
The site launched in January 2023.
“I had enough pictures for it to look decent enough and I keep adding more,” she said.
The name is just her initials, NRS.
“I actually had no idea what I was going to name it,” she said. “I just want to get my name out there.”
Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on Twitter @Redheadliner.
More: Oak Creek is providing $14.9 million toward more Emerald Row apartments in Drexel Town Square
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oak Creek mom runs a home business making quilts out of old T-shirts
