The Martellis don't quilt or sew, but made a multi-million business supplying those who do

If John Martelli had been thinking about it , he probably could have saved all the little pieces of metal that occasionally emerge from his body − shrapnel souvenirs from fighting in Vietnam − melted them down and turned them into something useful.

After all, the U.S. Army veteran who earned two Purple Hearts − he got a third as a "clerical error," he said − turned a request to sharpen a quilting blade into a multi-million-dollar international business . The innovative man has about three dozen patents, though he said he doesn't really keep track. He could have figured out something to do with that pesty metal that lived inside him.

Martelli, 76, is the "inventor" for Martelli Enterprises, a Pensacola-based business whose Martelli Notions is a worldwide leader in quilting and sewing notions. "Notions" for the uninitiated are the tools, accessories and other doodads used in the art of quilting and sewing. Martelli has a warehouse manufacturing facility on W Street and a Sewing and Quilting Education Center on North Palafox , where they sell their products, including fabrics, quilting templates, state of the art electronic sewing and quilting desks, and technicians give sewing machine demonstrations on the many Janome sewing machines Martelli sells − Martelli is a Janome supplier and vice versa.

"I never dreamed it would come to this," Martelli said of the business started when he invented a blade sharpener for round blades used in fabric cutters.

'Being Martelli' Pensacola family's quilting business spotlighted in reality show

The Martelli family had been in the printing business, and he had previously invented a plunging method to preserve ink and paint. When his mother-in-law was making curtains for the business, she found her fabric cutter blades were becoming dull quickly, making fabric cutting difficult.

She asked Martelli if he could do something about it, and soon he was working out a solution to sharpen blades on his drill press. He also realized one reason blades were dulling so quickly was most fabric cutters were much like pizza cutters, and use of them was difficult because users had to press slightly one way or another when cutting, dulling sides of blades.

Martelli got some wax, molded it into his hand and came up with an ergonomic cutter design that would fit a person's hand properly, easing the use, reducing cramps and helping reduce blade dulling.

He began manufacturing a few of these new ergonomic rotary cutters − in left-hand and right-hand models − and his wife, Marsha, began selling them at trade shows. By the late 1990s, Martelli Enterprises was up and running.

Now, the Martellis and their son David − one of the couple's three children − help lead and grow the company, which has about 30 employees. David's wife, Shannon Martelli, is also a company officer. Martelli Enterprises has evolved into one of the top names in sewing and quilting notions, with John as "inventor," Marsha leading the business end and David "doing a little bit of everything."

Though no one in the family sews or quilts, they've made a reputation nationwide in delivering state-of-the-art products from no-stick rules and templates to workstations that can be electronically controlled to lift, tilt, etc.

"My dad is a genius," David Martelli said. "He works seven days a week and his mind is always going. But it's my mother who runs the place and keeps everything straight. If it costs more than a dollar, she has to approve it."

The Martellis have even appeared on two seasons of their own reality show, "Being Martelli ," which airs on the faith-based platforms Upliftv and Parables TV, which are subscription services. The show, produced by one of the producers of "Duck Dynasty," focuses on the family and the business.

"I thought it was pretty cool," John Martelli said. "Seemed like a good idea."

Martelli also produces online quilting and sewing classes for its national audience.

And John Martelli is always working − David and other family members have patents of their own − on something new. His current project is creating long-arm quilting machine, 12 feet long, that uses two synchronized motors instead of just a single motor and other developmental secrets that will increase the speed, quality, precision and user options of a traditional long-arm quilting machines. He has two in development stage in the W Street warehouse and manufacturing facility, which suffered two fires in recent years when two pieces of machinery ignited. ("Two fires and a hurricane," David Martelli said of troubles the past few years.)

On the long-arm quilting machine alone, Martelli has 11 patents.

John Martelli has always been interested in how things work, and what to do when they don't do what they're supposed to. And with the Martellis and team members attending trade shows across the nation and listening to the quilting and sewing needs and complaints of others, they're able to figure out what might be needed to improve the industry.

"My dad instilled a philosophy in me that if somebody can make something, somebody can fix it," he said. "And fixing is better. That's how you learn. Fixing things lends itself into creating things."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: The Martellis don't quilt or sew, but made a multi-million business supplying those who do