Cat-run Handmade Quilts Website Expands to Add Vintage Quilts & Online Shopping

Cat-run Handmade Quilts Website Expands to Add Vintage Quilts & Online Shopping

Rolla, MO. -- A cat-run handmade quilt website has expanded to add more vintage quilts and an automated shopping cart for online shopping.

Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Collectibles, http://www.bluebirdgardens.com, features two rescue cats as guides through handmade quilts and related collectibles such as old books, flower vases, wallpockets and handhooked rugs. Headquartered in a college town in southcentral Missouri, bluebirdgardens.com has been online for a year featuring USA and imported new and vintage handmade quilts and other garden-related items.

"We started as an online catalog," said CEO Charlotte Wiggins. "Since we live with two cats and gardening is a favorite hobby, it made sense to merge the two and have a site that features the cats, a seasonal garden tour as well as garden locations to feature our products."

Originally a spin-off from selling items on Ebay, the company has evolved as the result of customer requests.

"Our customers kept asking for more features, including shopping online, so for the past 6 months we've been developing the shopping cart and locating more quality vintage quilts," she said.

To complement the vintage quilts, the website also added a quilt history section, starting with quilting in the 1800s. "We get a lot of emails from visitors interested in quilting background so it was natural to do some research and develop this section."

The site also generates a lot of email for its two feline stars, Otis Regrets Brown and Margaret Jumptall.

"If you've ever lived with cats you understand that their not being involved was not an option," Wiggins said. "These two are very inquisitive and they were very upset when we tried to keep them out of the business. So instead we assigned them what we jokingly describe as "quality control jobs." Now we wouldn't think of having a quilt photo session without them. Our site is known for the cats almost as much as the quilts!"

One of their best-selling quilts has been custom-made quilt designer Pam Bono's "Nine Lives" quilt.

"We joke that there must be a lot of cats ordering that quilt," Wiggins said.

Wiggins has been quilting since childhood, although she doesn't make the quilts she sells. She said there are enough other quilters in neighboring communities to provide ready made as well as custom quilts. She also locates her quality quilts at estate sales, auctions and through direct purchases.

"Quilting continues to be a popular Ozark hobby, which means I meet a lot of interesting people who have developed excellent quilting skills," Wiggins said. "We also have an active quilting guild that helps supply some of our USA-made quilts. It's a good way for quilters to market their work and we can have some quality control over the products."

Not that she doesn't quilt. She is currently working on a flower applique quilt her mother started last year, and repairing several customer quilts.

"I'm not the fastest quilter by any means," Wiggins said. "I just finished a flower garden quilt I started when I was a teenager. Only took me 30 years to finish that one!"

Point of Contact Charlotte Wiggins
email:bluebird@fidnet.com
573-364-1908

For information about collaborative quilting, visit http://quiltinfosite.com/collaborativequilting/