My sewing room looks like a tornado roared through it. I started the day with 5 projects in various stages: the Krista Quilt; underwater coral reef; table runner; and two zipper totes. Hours later, only 4 projects litter the tables and walls.

This tote is grocery bag size, with ties on the sides to cinch it in along the top. I rustled through my fabrics and supplies to find everything without having to shop. Of course, I had plenty of zippers, but I had to find zippers (in the right colors) under 10″ long. That took some searching. Then I had to find matching thread for all the zippers…

But now, the first Zipper Tote is done. And as fellow quilter Kathy says, “done is good”.

The Zipper Obsession began in 2008. I have more ideas than time, but so far I’ve completed 3 quilts and 1 necklace using zippers and zipper parts.

I put out a call for zippers in our electric coop magazine, called the Ruralite, in the summer of 2008.

I’ve received over 90 packages of zippers since then, from all over the western United States.

The smallest package held one zipper, folded up and mailed in a legal size envelope.

The largest package came from Chugiak, Alaska, with two big boxes of over 300 zippers, all still in their original wrappers, but not new.

I bet you’ll see zippers everywhere now…