Misty's Mom

Just curious as our new longarm will arrive soon. How many of you bought your long arms with the intent of going into business, but for various reasons didn't? Also, how many bought theirs for hobby then ended up going into business?

Snooze2978

I bought mine, an Innova 26" with MQR robotics with the intention of plain old hobby. Still no intention of going into business as I don't want the stress. I make quilts to give to others as gifts and usually don't have to worry about any mistakes I might have made because they wouldn't notice anyway since they're not quilters. Right now I do have a quilt on my frame made by a friend and I'm stressing out afraid I might make a mistake. Don't need this at my advancing age.

Pagzz

I bought mine a few years before retirement and thought I would start a business but limited until after I retired. After 2.5 years I decided I really didn't want to quilt for others. For me, it was hard to get business (but I wasn't very aggressive). My first big paying customer wanted custom quilting. She is a sweet lady but she picked me because of beautiful feathers I did on a quilt then she spent 1.5 hrs telling how she wanted her quilt done but no feathers. I worked for hours on that quilt and it was very stressful to me. I still think of things I could have done better.

luvstoquilt301

I bought mine for just my stuff. I am a very prolific charity quilter. After taking things to guild for show and tell----I had a few people pay me to quilt their quilts. I paid $2,500 for a old HQ16 so was not trying to get back my investment money.

Misty's Mom

Thanks, I agree with all your replies. We don't want another job. Want to quilt for fun, gifts and maybe for a friend or two.

PaperPrincess

I bought mine for myself and was surprised when the local long arm quilter contacted me to see if I wanted to do some quilting for hire. I worked with her for a day, and I knew it wasn't for me. She spent as much time fixing the tops she'd been given as she did actually quilting. I have more than enough to do for charity, friends, family and me!

ManiacQuilter2

Just remember, that your work has to be of the best quality (especially with all the competition out there) and your paying customers will ALWAYS come first. When I quilted professional for others on my Bernina 1530 for a decade, I found NO TIME to piece or quilt my quilts.

feline fanatic

I bought mine for my own work but the intent to have it as a business after I retire. Now keep in mind my retirement is still a good 10 to 15 years away! Well I didn't have many tops to quilt when my machine arrived. I only had one actually. I had a friend who lives half way across the country from me and she took up quilting, or more correctly piecing and she was prolific at it. Tons of jellyroll tops, TWO farmers wife samplers and one of the big CW anniversary quilts. I asked her if she was willing to entrust her tops to me I would quilt them at a minimal charge. It was a win/win for both of us. She got her quilts quilted and I gained invaluable experience. And her being a brand new piecer I was exposed to challenging tops right from the get go. Then our own VERY TALENTED Charisma floored me by asking me to quilt some of her tops. I will forever be grateful to Charisma for that. She saw in my quilting something I didn't see in myself. Her confidence in me allowed me to be confident in my own skills. She is a true friend and mentor and I owe all that I am to her and God (for the skills and talent, as well as the resources to get my Innova, I have been graced with) . Since that time 4 years ago I have been blessed by many of the fine quilters on this board to entrust their beautiful tops to me to help lovingly finish. So for me, it is not really a business but a passion that I get paid for. I treat every top that comes to me as though it was my own. I think about the person who made it the whole time I am working on it. And I have seen some of the most incredibly gorgeous works of art come to my rack. I am in total awe of the talent of so many of these wonderful ladies. And I would be lying if I said I didn't pray before every quilt for the Lord to help guide my hands and help to make these tops just as pretty as they started out if not prettier.

I still work full time during the week and quilt on weekends but I don't take in a whole lot of quilts because of the time constraints I have. I am also now making time in my schedule for my own quilts. So I still may make this a full time business after I retire, if my body holds out. LA quilting can be demanding physically. Especially if you already have an underlying condition like fibromyalgia or bad back or any number of ailments. I don't have any kind of CG on my machine. It is all hand guided. So I will spend many hours standing at my machine and if it wasn't for Aleve I would only be able to quilt one day a week as the other day would be spent recuperating! LOL

Farm Quilter

I didn't really think of going into business when I first bought my Innova, but I had a customer quilt on the frame a week after I put it together. Stressed out to the max the first year with every customer quilt, but then figured out that it wasn't brain surgery and no one was going to die if I made a mistake and have been having fun quilting quilts I would never make. I do have to make sure I schedule the quilting of my quilts because I do have a tendency to keep shoving them back until I am up against a deadline. If you do quilting as a business, remember that there will always be quilters who are more/less skilled, faster/slower, more/less expensive and just have fun doing what you love to do. Don't compare yourself to others, just see how far you have come from your first quilt. Keep enjoying it or you will burn out quickly.

cathyvv

I had and have no intention of going into business with my long arm. It's a lot of work and time to do long arming. I'm retired and just want to enjoy what i do - no deadlines and only me to please.

Enjoy your long arm!