Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Offermann
Hi Kyle, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was in nursing school and felt like I needed a creative outlet. I took some classes on making quilts at my local quilt shop and decided to try to make a t-shirt quilt from my tennis t-shirts. I did and from there other people started asking me if I could make one for them so I started making t-shirt quilts out of my house. At the beginning I didn’t have a long arm quilting machine so I would hire someone to do that part for me or rent a machine. The busier I got it made more sense to purchase my own quilting machine so I did. Quilting after all, makes it a quilt! After awhile the quilting was taking up my whole house. My office was upstairs where I’d see customers. I put design walls in 2 bedrooms. I hired a few employees and they would be working in the dining room. The quilting machine was in the basement. We quickly outgrew my house so the next big step was to rent a commercial space to have more room for everything: equipment, employees, and customers. I am now in my 8th year at the same place.
I finished my nursing degree and always had always done both, nursing and my quilting business, until Covid. I had 2 employees that could no longer come in to work so I decided to work in my business full time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are so many hats to wear being a business owner and being in charge of everything: the hiring, finances, purchasing, sales, customer service, cleaning, etc. Today I was tech support – troubleshooting an internet issue. It can be very challenging.
I also missed the regular nursing paycheck. The business can be very seasonal, yet there are always bills to pay !
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Just T-Shirt Quilts, LLC?
We take memories and create art and quilts from upcycled clothing and personal items. These are often made from special t-shirts earned and collected over time. We also make quilts in memory of loved ones who have passed from their clothing and personal items. The challenge is to take these items that may have been discarded or end up in a landfill and repurpose them into something beautiful and functional. Making a quilt requires many specialized skills, tools, and time to do it right. We’ve got all of them, have been in business 12 years. It’s an honor to serve our community and have returning customers that appreciate our work.
In additional to quilts, we can also make pillows and duvet covers. We can provide extensive repairs for “well loved” quilts that need some TLC. There are some examples here https://justtshirtquilts.com/makeovers/
For those that make their own quilts, we also provide long-arm quilting services and have over 500 designs and threads to choose from.
What’s next?
Continue what we’re doing !
Pricing:
- Being fully custom our pricing is based on customer requirements. We’ll often start with a sketch or picture, create a design and from there come up with an estimate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://justtshirtquilts.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/justtshirtquilts
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/justTSQ
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-offermann-66168b2a
