Hi Everyone,
It has been a while since I have been on this sight. I had to have a hysterectomy two weeks ago and have not been doing much of anything. I did get my in-laws quilt done for Christmas. And another one is in the hoop!! I will post pictures of the quilts I have done for Christmas when my husband is home to help.

Now for the opinion part. I am thinking of starting a quilting business. My husband is all for it. I am researching quilting machines. Eventually I would like to add custom embroidery.
We have a huge building that we are going to put my shop in. One third of it is my husbands wood shop and one third will be storage, etc. The other third we are going to finish off for the shop. So my husband drew up these plans. I will attach it , hopefully as a pic, if not as a pdf.
We would like you opinion on the layout. Don't be nice! LOL His words not mine.

i have no experience with starting a business, but good luck to you. Have you been quilting for other people :D

I have only quilted for other people as gifts, by hand. My plan is to buy the machine and practice practice practice while we are having the shop completed. Hopefully I will get the machine this month, and we won't start on the shop until at least April. My husband has all the experience we need to start a business. He is an MBA. Good for business bad for me trying to go over the budgets. LOL

Wow looks fab! Love all the lighting can never have enough light. The tables on wheels great idea. The room looks well set up as far as I could see. I'm jealous and much luck to you! :mrgreen:

That's awesome to embark on such an undertaking. Lots to plan and research.

Do you think you might use a second wheeled work table? Or even a bit wider?

The only other thing that jumped in my head was if you intend on having it open for clients/public, the entry door may have to be widened to comply with codes for the disabled access.

Do you have a time frame as to when you'd like to be open for business?

Have fun and post more!

Hope you're recovery is without complications!

(Looks like you posted as I was mulling this response over.)

Cresha, the layout looks really doable. But I have a few questions: where will people pay you? Are you going to put in a cash register?? Will people be able to come in and watch you while you quilt? Will you "rent" out your machine to other people? Will you be selling fabric/backing/batting, etc.? Will you be having classes? Where the heck is the restroom???

Looks like you have a lots of space with lots of lighting!!!

I admire your courage in doing this!!! Here's wishing you LUCK :!: :!: :!:

There is a big overhead door that can be opened if more space is needed. If i need another work, table, I will borrow one from my husbands shop.

The office will be where they will pay me. And no people will not watch me quilt. But if they want to see the quilt machine, that will be fine. At first I don't plan on selling anything other than the quilting or quilts that I have made. I have thought about renting out the machine but I am not sure I like that idea. I would have to stand there and watch, (just my nature) and I wouldn't want someone watching me quilt. I may eventually have classes. The bathroom? LOL Well if someone has to go that bad, they can use the one in my house, which is right inside the utility room. They walk in the door and they are there. They do not need to go into my house. We have already discussed this. If they don't want to walk to the house, well they can go into the woods right around the corner i guess

might want to think about shadows being cast by the overhead lighting.......it could make it hard to see if you are following markings on the quilts......
might be better to have the quilting area centered under a light rather than have them off to the sides.........just my opinion.. : )

Cresha:

Why don't you contact Jacquemoe and ask her input of your lay out and if she would have done anything different since she has started her quilting business.

Your lay out looks great to me. Just make sure there are no shadows and you have plenty of room to move around.

As far as renting out your machine.....................I would get my business up and running and then maybe find a different machine to rent to the public. There is nothing more frustrating than to start using your machine and find the person who used it before you messed it up.

I wish you all the luck!! :D

As I was reading this topic, the first thing that popped into my mind about others using your machine was the insurance, but I see you don't have that in mind at the moment. A local lady here, buys warm & natural bolts wholesale so she can offer this as her ""preferred batting" to quilt at a reduced rate over the stores. How will you promote your business? On your 4'x 8' tables, would it be possible to make a hinged section that you could bring up if you wanted to use something wider than 4 feet? I didn't see a design wall .... Will you be using this room for yourself as a quilt studio as well as a business machine quilting area? I'd love to have floor to ceiling sliding doors that act as design walls if I had the space. Congrats on your dreams & look forward to pictures as you share this journey with us.
Just for fun, I measured out a 5'x 6' space ....not very big for an "office" as a matter of fact, if I was in that little space, there is no way I would let anyone else into it. I think if you're going to have people coming in to review pattern designs, thread selections, batting choices, etc. that you should have at least an 8" square space JMHO

will you be able to reach across the tables for cutting? are you tall enough?
on the bolt storage areas that are 4' deep will there be one layer behind the other and you can see one layer only? will you be selling bulky supplies as well? i see that the pegboard is right near the door, so you see the notions as you walk in. that's a good idea, but keep your eye on things 'walking out' with your customers. quilters are usually honest but i know the store near me has problems. also, think about showing examples of your own quilting about 3' square so customers can see your talent and have a sign underneath clearly showing prices. no arguing later.

we all wish you the greatest good luck. that's a lot of responsibility and hard work. and a big investment. where are you in pennsylvania?

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Your shop looks fabulous. Lots of lighting and work space around your quilting machine-nice. Check your counter height with your height. (I am tall and most are low and hurt my back. Big issue at work when we work on projects.) The Bathroom issue was addressed-might check with your state and see what requirements they would have. Where we are if it isn't "open to the public" the requrements are simpler. Where is your expresso machine and your comfy corner for reading quilting magazines and hanging out?

I hope you will keep us posted! Wishing you every success!! :lol:

Oh goodness--how incredibly exciting for you!! I don't have any experience with lay outs, so I can't help you there. But, I wanted to wish you all the success in the world!! You go girl!! :D :!: :D :!:

The quilt shop I take stuff to had it on their website that they rented out the machine. When I asked them about how they worked that out (I did NOT want to rent it!! :roll: ) they had already changed their mind and decided not to. I don't blame you for not wanting someone who you don't know use such an expensive machine. Yikes.

Keep us posted!!

looks great - the others have already asked all my questions except one - the 4 feet depth of bolt storage - it is fine for things at arm level, but I wonder how practical the upper and lower sections will be. buying batting in the big commercial rolls is going to take a batch of space, too. Also, you may want to invest in some anti-fatigue mats or resilient flooring where you will be spending a lot of time.

I haven't started a business, but I do tend to send my quilts out to our local long arm lady, who does wonderful work. Perhaps you may want to give a local person a call and see what they say, or hopefully, someone here will be able to give a lot better help than me...

Either way, congrats to you and good luck!

Good luck with the business venture.

My comment is about sharing a building with your husband's wood shop. Wood shops are notoriously dusty. My husband has state-of-the-art dust collection systems in his wood shop and there is still dust with some processes. If your husband's wood shop has a good dust collection system and there is no access between the two shop areas, you should be fine, but I would check that out. You want to be sure it is clean in your quilting area.

Congrats! What a wonderful idea! Everyone has talked about most of what I would offer. When we started our business we had a list of rules to comply with, such as handicap access, bathroom availability, parking access, etc. The city usually keeps tabs on new things and will let you know whats what. Keep us posted!

that's what i was going to say = a new business has to comply with the city's code regulations. upon opening a barber shop in a new location, it had to have an 8' x 8' wheelchair accessible bathroom, all the wiring has to be in conduit etc etc a list a mile long, so just check out all those things. and good luck, it will be wonderful when u get it up & running.

You know, if you are not operating a retail sort of establishment and are just providing a service, you don't have to worry about a lot of those details. I sew and do alterations and make special order quilts for people from my home without having a "store front." Much of it is done by mail, but if I am doing local alterations, the client just uses my bedroom as a fitting room. I don't have a need for extended parking, and traffic on our street is not increased because of my business.

Basically, in your situation, people are dropping off quilt tops and you quilt them and they pick them up. I bet you are in a similar situation as I am. I would not try to set up a "customer" area at all.

Cresha- nice layout. Here's a few ideas:

1) check out your lighting, there is something else you can install instead of flourescent that is closer to natural lighting. I remember a book I bought for hubby for garage organization that had it. He had already purchased the lighting so it was too late for him.

2) agree, move the peg board to another area.
3) will you be displaying your quilts anywhere?
4) the one lqs has the machine in a "separate room"- it has plexiglass so people can see it, but not touch.

I know for home based businesses, they aren't as rigid for handicapped facilities, but since this is a garage makeover, you still may not have to do anything. Just a sign that says facilities not available will help.

Enjoy your new adventure! Where are you in PA- maybe I need to employ your services!

Barb

I don't have anything to add. I just wanted to say how excited I am for you. It's wonderful when people get to do what they love!

Such a nice large area! I think you will have a booming business and I wish I lived closer to you, so I could use your services! Good luck and be sure to keep us posted on the progress!

Also hope you are healing quickly!

Don't know anything about starting a business...... sorry
BUT Welcome aboard and good luck :P

i meant to ask you before and got so carried away that i forgot.

since you plan to sell notions and fabrics, you must have a distributer or manufacturer to do business with so will you be doing any retail business online? i think i know of some people who buy a few things online. hehehe!

wow! check out the new Pfaff quilting frame. it does it all by computer - guildes the machine and all. you just pick out the pattern on computer. not cheap of course! but i would think it would be great for a business. it has about 18" of space before you have to roll it again.

Thank you Ladies so much. I knew you would give me lots of ideas. Many things to think about. First off, we will not get a loan for this. That is why I am starting small. Mostly just doing machine quilting for others. And I plan to make quilts to sell. Second, my husband does design/build for his company at times ( did I tell you he is multi-talented?). There is a huge space between his shop and mine and yes he has a great dust collecting system. Plus he has already thought of that and will address that when we start the actually construction part. Yes I do plan to have a website. I am still researching machines and I have looked at the computer aided one. I drool everytime I see it. Maybe one day but certainly not now. I have been thinking of going with the Janome with a gracie frame. I have a Janome sewing machine and a Janome embroidery only machine. I love them both. We are going this weekend to look at one!!!
I havent' forgotten the pics. My husband has been so busy that we just haven't had time to take the pics yet. He would absolutley throw a fit if he thought i was hanging this queen size quilt without his help. ( I still have a weight restriction) He is a fantastic husband and I try really hard not to upset him. I finally convinced him I CAN cook now. LOL