Longarm Survey
 

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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!

This would be me!

I bought mine just for me and it is still and always will be just for me.

Interesting thread. But I have a question. Other than the obvious larger throat, why buy a long arm? I've read this thread and others on this board and everyone comments on how much work is involved with a long arm (i.e. how physically hard they are to use). I'm hoping this Fall to find a local quilt show and try a long arm so I better understand the advantages.

Thank you for sharing!

There are several big advantages for me. I don't have to make the quilt sandwich, so I'm not crawling around on the floor trying to pin or spray. Because you have such a large quilting area, your quilting can go much faster. I have found that my hand-eye coordination is much better moving the pencil (machine) compared with moving the paper (quilt). As far as the machines being physically hard, it's all relative. If you get a quality machine and an appropriate frame, I think it's much less strain and effort to use a long arm as opposed to wrestling a quilt thru a domestic machine's harp. If the machine & frame are well balanced, it's pretty easy to move. But it is a repetitive motion. Doing any repetitive activity for an extended period of time is going to cause problems. Frequent breaks help. Also, learning that you don't really need to have a 'death grip' on the handles is a must. A light touch is really all you need. Most frames are adjustable, so you should have it set up at the best ergonomic height for you. Also you are standing, so an anti fatigue mat is a big help, and many folks use wheeled dental or draftsman's chairs.

How do you like your Innova? I have one on order and have been patiently waiting for quite a while for it to come.

I absolutely ADORE mine. I would never give it up unless it was to upgrade to another Innova.

I love mine and agree with feline fanatic. I would never give it up. I have a 26" with Lightning stitch. I love how you can modify the machine without having to upgrade. It's also lighter than some of the other brands. There are at least 2 Innova Yahoo groups.

As far as the original topic, I bought mine for me. I only do my quilts and donation quilts (charity for guild and QOV). I did a single baby quilt for an acquaintance, but she was in a time crunch and didn't have time to take it to her usual LA'er.

I stress out doing my own quilts, cannot imagine doing for others. I would love to be able to quilt for others when retire, to help with my income, but do not feel talented enough. Right now have a Sweet16, hoping to upgrade within a year, do not know if that would improve my quilting or not.

Don't give up. After waiting approximately 6 weeks, ours will be delivered this next Monday. I can hardly wait.

A little of both. I don't ever expect to have a roaring business ( frankly don't want one ), but I have paid for the machine.

I also do not want to go into business I love the idea of quilting and enjoy quilting. I do charity quilts and do a few commission quilts for a few select people. I agree with the gal that said if you make a mistake they won't know I really don't think it stresses me out

I actually have found for me it is easier on my body quilting on the longarm.

I bought my just for me and that's the way it will stay. I thoroughly enjoy it but do not want to do it for others.

Have ya got a few minutes? I'll tell my story...could be a little long though. I bought my A-1 in 2006 when I was working as a nurse part time. I was going to have a business so when my part time client went off to Kindergarten, I would have the business from home. I was driving 104 miles a day to work and the idea of not doing that was very appealing. I lived on a ranch in East Texas and we raised goats. Surprisingly in about 6 months I had 10-15 clients. Many older people in town dug out their old (and I do mean OLD) quilt tops and had me quilt them. This was a little town of 2000 people but San Angelo was much larger and 52 miles away. I joined the Guild in San Angelo and had some clients there also. I thought everything was going according to plan until the morning my ex husband told me he had filed for divorce. I had no idea....I never saw it coming. I was dumbstruck to say the least. He could not give me a reason so you know what that meant...
So me and this 12 foot longarm had to move! I moved all the way to El Paso Texas because both my elderly parents were here. They have since passed away but I thank God each day for the time I was able to give them thanks to, of all things, a divorce!
Well...now I had to go to work full time because I had had to purchase a house! I did buy one with a room large enough to house my longarm though. I joined the Guild here and dabbled around at having a business but I was working 12 hour night shift and I didn't have much energy left for quilting.
In late 2009 I remarried and my husband wanted me to be at home if I wanted to be. Oh joy oh joy, it took me 5 minutes to turn in my notice! Now I went at it hard and heavy but it was such a slow go! Remember it takes YEARS to build up a clientele and also remember that it is feast and famine. One month I may have 15 quilts and the next month, none.
I am now saving up every penny so I can purchase a Gammill Statler Stitcher and my A-1 is for sale CHEAP! If it doesn't sell I will be trading it in. I really enjoy being in the business. Is it stressful? Yes. You have someone else's hard work in your hands and there are so many things that can go wrong. But the feeling I get when that top becomes a beautiful quilt is like none other. Of course I have a bout ten tops of my own that need quilting but you know what they say, "the cobblers children have no shoes". I have enjoyed reading everyone's stories here, thanks for posting! Michelle

I love my Innova! I've had mine since 2008 and the only problems I ever had with it was due to my ignorance - it is my first (and only) longarm. It is an 18" and it works just fine for me. I rarely do E2E, usually custom quilting, so the smaller throat space generally isn't an issue. I love the free 24/7/365 tech support from the company and the way Michael was so patient with my novice questions - including tension! I love how easily my machine moves that 18 hours straight working on it doesn't leave me sore. The Innova really makes my quilting look great and that works for me! Well-made machine and the frame is awesome too!

I bought my used Gammill Classic Plus in April of 2012, but due to my first knee replacement 6 weeks before, really did not get much time on it until late summer. I knew I'd be retiring as an educator the next summer(2013) so set out with the intent of establishing a post-retirement business. Mainly, my hope was to earn enough to pay for my quilting addiction and my health insurance. So far, I've only been able to almost achieve the paying for my addiction. I found that the learning curve was significant to become good, there are quite a few long arm quilters in our area (8 in my guild of about 150,of which about 80 are very actively quilting), 3 LQS that rent time on long arm machines in the area,and more and more quilters purchasing sit-down machines. But another LA friend said it took her a full 3 years to build up a clientele, so I'm hopeful. My DH says as long as it pays for my quilting addiction, I'm in great financial state--so that's become my new goal!

Why a long arm? Despite needing to use a drafting stool due to 2 replacement knees, I find it much easier than wrestling a full size quilt in my DSM (which I have done), not to mention trying to sandwich one! Plus, I think I do a nicer job and like the results more--and the process!

feline fanatic you should try Max Pr 35 for your fibromyalgia. Won't get rid of it but it sure works faster than Aleve. I don't have fibro but I do have neuropathy (caused by chemo) and came across Max Pr 35 last summer while on vacation. It is an all natural spray that really and truly does work and it works FAST!!!! The Dr. put me on Gabapentin and it kept me sluggish and sleepy all the time and I couldn't function so I quit taking it and ate Aleve and Tylenol daily. You may want to check it out. I love it!!!! All Natural and smells like eucalyptus but I don't mind that. Especially since it does work. Here is the website if you're interested. (I don't sell it and I don't get a kick back from it but I do tell everyone about it.) WWW.maxpr35.com

I purchased my Gammill for my own quilting just before I retired. Then, six months after I retired the bottom dropped out of my retirement so I went into the quilting business. Love it!! (my quilting machine and business) Absolutely love seeing the quilts that come and go. Love, having a hobby that I can use to supplement my income.

Thanks so much for all your comments. It's only 4 more days. Why does it feel like 4 months?:D

I bought a Gammill while I was still working, thinking I'd like to quilt for others after I retired. After doing some quilts for others while I was still working, I find I'd rather quilt just for myself. I'm retired now, and will still quilt for a friend if asked, and I quilt our guild's raffle quilts at no charge, but I don't try to drum up business, because I find it too stressful to quilt for others. I did my "time"---worked for 42 years outside the home. I find I no longer want the pressure of meeting someone else's deadlines and meeting or exceeding their expectations.

I want to get one. It will be just for my use and my girlfriend will use it once in a while...