Shelbie

My best friend and I bought a longarm together as we both had piles of finished tops. We just quilt for ourselves, QOV, and our two guild’s Community Projects. We do invite quilting friends in for afternoons of quilting “fun” but have not graduated to seriously quilting for others. Some of the donated quilt tops that we’ve quilted have really been “doozies” and real learning experiences. We have quilted over 300 quilts in a year and a half and have had so much fun without the pressure of producing “masterpieces” for others. We are very blessed to be able to just enjoy our quilting time and not have to make a living from it. We are no threat to our local longarmers in the business as we quilt things that they don’t have time to do.

Pagzz

I really wanted a longarm and thought I would quilt for others after I retired. I found quilting for others stressful. My first customer spent 1.5 hours explaining what she wanted, and it just made me nervous. I do free motion not pantos so that contributed to feeling like it was all on my shoulders. I decided to just do my own quilting.

Wanabee Quiltin

I bought mine for myself. I actually enjoy using it except...the tension is a big headache. I will never do quilting for anyone, I love to piece quilts instead.

luvstoquilt301

I bought a a used one on Craigslist that does not even have a stitch regulator. I quilt mainly for charity. I hated basting the sandwich.

I have done a few for close friends for $ who are happy with what I can do. I do not want to quilt for $ as it will turn my fun into a business.

Snooze2978

I bought my first one and last one for just myself. I occasionally will quilt for a friend of mine but I don't feel I'm good enough to hire out. Just added IQ robotics to my Innova on Tuesday so I'm in hog heaven right now getting to know how to use it. Again, I didn't mind the cost as it would help me in the long run. I still have to make the decisions on what to stitch out on my quilts so I haven't left it all up to the robotics to do it all. Laying out the patterns is still a big job.

sewnclog

I'm with most of the above. I bought mine so I could finish my own quilts rather than have to send them off. I have done a half dozen or so for others but mostly it's just for myself.

ninab

I've been bitten by the quilting bug, and Hard. I want a LA b/c I don't want to pay to send mine out, and I am totally Loving piecing the tops, but paying someone to quilt for me - eeks, I don't have the wallet for that...

I've been looking at a Juki 2010 w/a grace frame (2800.00) - which I think would suit me just fine. Initially, I thought "Hmmm, over the years, maybe this would be a nice retirement business?" However..... as I am learning to quilt, and correcting my own mistakes - I can't imagine having to deal with this on someone else's quilt (like others have mentioned!). So, I will save for an affordable LA and find a good person for referrals. This way, if asked, i can say "Nope, only quilt for me, but here's a wonderful person who does beautiful work, their number is...."

rryder

I bought my sit down for me. I don't have any desire to quilt for others. When I was making jewelry I used to do some commissions and I always found that to be stressful.

ninab- if you're looking at getting a frame system, you might want to think about getting a larger machine than the Juki 2010. The quilt rolls up on the bar in the throat of the machine and that takes up quite a bit of quilting space so you would not be able to quilt the full depth of the throat.

If on the other hand you find you like to do quilting on your domestic (moving the quilt rather than the machine), then the Juki 2010 would be a great machine to give you a little more throat space and better visibility. And you can get it for under $1000.

Rob

Rob

Rob

stitch678

I bought my Bailey midarm and put it on a used frame when l retired. I love fmq stitching with it! I make project Linus quilts and fundraisers that are raffled. For the past 4 yr., l have also stitched a great many charity quilts for the charity quilting group l belong to. The members are tickled to death to be able to send me their tops. The group funds the backing and batting. I donate my time and purchase thread. Every so often, they give me a gift card or $ towards thread. They show their appreciation, and l get to work on some really marvelous Valor and baby quilts. For me, it's enough to " give back" to the community. If l turned proffesional, it would take the fun right out of it.

quiltingshorttimer

My Mom left me an inheritance when she passed in 2012 and April 2013 I bought a used Gammill Classic Plus on a 14' frame. I was retiring in a year and half and planned to quilt for others at least enough to pay for my quilting "addiction"--later I hoped to get enough business to routinely pay my health insurance--that hasn't happened!

I've taken lots of LA classes, including one on maintenance and one on running a quilting business. I've also found my area (8 counties included) machine quilters guild very helpful.
I am very glad that my quilting business does not have to pay off a debt on the machine! My local area has a number of very good LA quilters and also some that charge well below a level that they are actually making any money. My area Gammill rep told me a couple of years ago that she is cautioning those that purchase a new machine with the intent of making a substantial income that the recent market of sit-down and mid-arm machines that are affordable for quilters to purchase and do their own quilts has made a cut in LA income. I would agree from my own experience and that of LA friends.
My 2 LA friends that seem to have steady customer quilts both have robotics and are able to charge less for E2E than those of us without . My other close LA friend doesn't do pantos generally, but she has built up a large clientele over the 12 yrs she's been quilting--and she says her business pays her about $15,000 per year--but she also quilts most days at least 6-8 hrs daily. She also does not do heirloom/show quilts.
I do almost strictly custom work--it's what I prefer and while I'd like more income from it, I also find that between a part-time job and working on my own stuff and family,etc, I wouldn't have time for more really.

Remember as a business, you will need to check into your state's laws--do you need to carry business insurance if customers are bringing quilts to your house? What is the state sales tax? Do you plan to do enough to do separate business records/taxes? or just add to household income? I really wasn't prepared to even think about that stuff and appreciate my machine quilters guild and classes to help with that. One LA friend that retired from IRS pointed out that if you are not paying sales taxes you are more likely to audited for any business deductions.

How to get customers--you need to be involved in a couple of guilds and be sure to show your work; enter local quilt shows; work with a LQS doing samples in return for referrals, etc; do some charity work (but if you are planning on making money, watch that you limit how much time you allot for charity); get business cards printed; put up a business FB page and other social media. I was told to start with the prices you plan to charge--you will need to learn how to use your machine (charity quilts work well here) before you actually start quilting for hire. Good luck!