In the past six years, the president’s office assistant has completed more than 125 quilts for family, friends, charities and clients around the world.
By Shakori Fletcher ’16
When Robin Plummer first learned to sew at the age of five, she developed a passion for color and textile that would last a lifetime. Six years ago, as she was looking for a new challenge, Plummer’s passion led her to give custom quilts a try.
Since her first project in 2010, the president’s office assistant has completed more than 125 quilts for family, friends, charities and clients around the world. Plummer, who is essentially self-taught, uses a Bernina 830 sewing machine to make her quilts start-to-finish from home. “Wasn’t it Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, ‘Every garage needed a car?’ she asks. “Well, Robin Plummer says, ‘Every bed needs a quilt.’”
Once Plummer realized her productivity exceeded the need of her immediate family and friends, she started sharing her projects and ideas through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. She also opened a shop on Etsy.com, an e-commerce marketplace for handmade, vintage and uniquely made items. “From that, I’ve sent quilts around the world. They’ve gone to Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, France and Canada,” she says. “To me, that’s amazing.”
Plummer finds ideas for new quilts in an array of places, including requests from clients. In one instance, a woman preparing to move to a new home asked Plummer to make a quilt resembling the flower garden she couldn’t take with her. “She drew the pattern and asked if I could make a quilt from it,” she says. “So I just let my creative juices start to flow, and it really turned out to be an adorable quilt.”
Plummer also creates quilts to donate to various organizations and fundraising events. She’s created sensory weighted blankets for children with autism, quilts for Relay for Life and Project Linus, memory blankets for friends with loved ones who have passed away, a quilt for a family friend undergoing chemotherapy and wedding quilts made of fabric signed by wedding guests.
Plummer, whose dream is to one day open a quilt shop, offers this advice to those looking to take on creative projects: “If the project doesn’t come out as you envisioned it, make something else out of it,” she says. “It may end up being better than your original idea.”
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