Don’t Quilt Your Day Job

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Eco-friendly lunch bags and totes by Kim Thomas

What is the first thing you ever made? I used to make hippie shirts and bags to sell at Phish shows. Most everything had some sort of patch on it. Since I wasn’t the best sewer I usually ended up bartering to concert goers for bootleg tapes or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Why did you choose the medium you work with? After making quilts for a few years  I was inspired to do something with the closet full of plastic bags I had in my apartment. So I started folding the bags into squares and they almost became their own fabric, like quilt squares.

What importance do the materials that you use have to your art? Plastic bags are a great reusable product that is free! Also upcycling plastic bags is a great way to save landfills from waste and use a product that won’t biodegrade on its own.