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LOUISIANA, MO. -- “Behold, the Betsy Ross of our modern age.”

That’s one on-line description of Louis “Shovelhead” Garrett and his hand-stitched panty quilt.

This Harley riding ex-con from Louisiana, Missouri has made quite a name for himself after showing off his quilt at a ladies luncheon two weeks ago in Hannibal.  Shovelhead is an internet sensation.

I did a Google search entering Shovelhead’s full name.  I got 117,000 results in .25 seconds.  The term “panty quilt” will get you 7,640,000 hits in .08 seconds.  Not all the articles are about Shovelhead, but tens of thousands of them are.  When I told Shovelhead about my search, he said, “Oh, you looked me up on the intercom right there?”

Maybe Shovelhead misspoke when he said “intercom” but I'm not so sure.  He doesn’t have internet.  He doesn’t even watch TV—only old movies.  He’d like to drive a car, but Illinois has his license, so he tootles around Louisiana on his Allis Chalmers tractor.  He’s a simple guy, and utterly unique, which makes his story so irresistible to people everywhere.

Here’s one of my favorites:  internationally known gossip columnist and fashion critic Perez Hilton featured Shovelhead in an article called “Wacky, Tacky and True”.

You can also find Shovelhead’s story at sites like:  odditycentral, weirduniverse, thefrisky, nutsomundo and jawdrops.  The blogosphere is full of Shovelhead tales, from his mannequin dressing to his quilt sewing.  My favorite title for a Shovelhead story:  “Cute Old Pervert Makes Quilt of Used Panties.”

The panty quilt made its debut at the Presbyterian Church during the Louisiana Colorfest a few years ago.  “The ladies there loved it,” Shovelhead said.  But it wasn’t until his quilt went on-line that anyone took notice of his talent.

Hannibal Courier-Post reporter Danny Henley originally wrote the story of Shovelhead’s quilt and posted the video on YouTube.  Since then, more than 56,000 people have logged on to look at the piece.  His story shattered records here at connecttristates.com for Facebook likes and shares.

Now, Shovelhead is fielding calls from radio stations all around the country, even outside our borders.  Shovelhead’s mom had to rouse him out of bed at 5:20 one morning when a station out of Toronto called.  I even had a call from a Fabric Trends magazine editor from New Jersey who’s featuring the quilt in its next issue.

So where does all this attention lead for Shovelhead?  Maybe no further than a couple weeks worth’s of attention.  Maybe he’ll be able to sell his quilt and make some money.  He could use it for sure.  He only works a few odd jobs when he can find them.  If nothing else, Shovelhead’s gratified that tens of thousands of people have looked at his work and appreciated it as the art he intended.

Take care ~Sarah D.