feline fanatic

I am sorry for your loss. I also add my agreement to all the other posters. IMHO the only people who can make any amount of money at quilting are those that discover a niche market and are able to take full advantage of it. We have one member here, her screen name is Bree. She has posted at her success in selling custom baby quilts to new grandparents who want something extra special for their new grandbaby and getting several hundred dollars for them. But the key here is how to market to your niche market about your services. I would think it is easier to get more for custom items if you live in an affluent area.

Others have made supplemental income making T-shirt quilts or memory quilts out of baby clothes. Again these items are very specialized and people are really paying you to preserve their memories more so than a quilted item.

With these types of items quality and good workmanship is critical. It will only take one or two bad reviews to give your startup business a fatal blow. Obviously it would take some time to get to that level of expertise but some people achieve it quite quickly others will sew. embroider and quilt for decades and never get there. So there is no set time on how long before you can make money at it and for that matter if you ever will. Edited to add that many of these people also invest in classes to learn techniques so there is another outlay.

There are many success stories in the quilting world. Many of them are really successful, not only because they are very talented at what they do but they are also very good at marketing and self promotion on social media, be it blogs, facebook, on line tutorials etc. All of that takes a lot of time. You say you plan on returning to college. If you plan on doing well in school and maintaining a high GPA I can guarantee you that your studies will take a big bite out of your spare time, leaving very little to production and the much needed self promotion and marketing. So unless you have an innate talent for sewing and machine embroidery or digitizing patterns I suspect you are much better off selling the items you inherited and finding a part time job while you are in school because you will make a lot more doing part time work, even work from home jobs like processing medical claims then you ever will making and selling handcrafted items.

bananacowboy

Thank you for your reply and I believe youre probably right. After thinking over all the things I already have on my plate, and have to come, I doubt I would have enough time to dedicate to the craft to make anything worthwhile.. I've also been notoriously bad at repairing ripped clothes by hand.. Just the other day I tried to patch a pair of jeans before work and had to stop because I was afraid I would just start punching the needle out of frustration.. that probably wouldnt end well on my part. Also with a 15 month old baby and planning on working on an engineering degree. I think it was mostly just a pipe dream and a way to try and convince myself to try and use my moms equipment. I still may at some point, but will likely be for my own peace of mind rather than a money making project.

feline fanatic

Bananacowboy, Oh yes, engineering will definitely be a demanding major! Definitely put all your energys into your studies and I am sure you will be very successful.

You remind me a lot of a member we used to have here. His name is Eddie. He hasn't participated in a long time but you may find inspiration at his blog. I believe he is also an engineer had two young children (though not as young as yours!) and he joined the QB back in 2009 around the same time I did. I think at that time he had not been quilting for very long but when he got into it, boy did he get into it! He belonged to a guild and he eventually ended up buyng a longarm and quilting for others. Here is a link to his blog
http://arkansasmanquilter.blogspot.com/

If you don't need the cash right away, definitely hold on to your mom's machines and stash as you will only get a fraction of what they are worth. You may find quilting to be a much needed escape from real world frustrations as so many of us here do. And make no mistake, quilting is fun, mending clothes is not!

RedGarnet222

I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you are able to take a class in your area to give yourself a jump start on quilting. Many of us started out that way. But, if you have time before you start your schooling, perhaps you could buy one of elenore burns quilting books to get a feel for it. She is really a good teacher and her patterns are simple enough for a beginner and will teach you a lot of ways to do thing right. She is on line if you want to watch a free video or check out her books. Quiltinaday.com I think would be her link.

Sandra-P

Mother's are so special, I am so sorry for your loss. Are there any quilt stores near you? Do they offer classes? You may want to try a beginning class with some of her fabrics and machine and see if it is something you would like to do. It is so much better to do something because you like it and by using her machine you could feel closer to her even though she is not here on earth.

Bree123

My condolences on the loss of your mother. It looks like you've made your decision & I think it's a wise one. If you ever do decide to give the quilting business a try, I strongly recommend connecting with your local Small Business Association. They can help provide critical (usually free) advice... but the one thing I think that was most helpful to me was to plan to work at least 70-80 hours a week & to have enough in savings to live off of for 24 months while you build your book of business.

Good luck with your studies & your young family!

doricu2

I am so sorry for your loss.
I have a designer 1 embroidery machine. Keep in mind this is a home machine and I love it for personal use but I have done some logos for people which I also have the software for that cost an extra $2000.00 or more . It is a very long learning curve to learn to digitize and become good at. where people are willing to pay a higher price to a shop with the big professional machines the only want to pay very little to a home business. You have to use a high quality thread and stabilizer and have several size hoops. If you mess up on a piece of clothing there is no way to repair it and that's a loss. In other words the home embroidery machine is meant for personal home use and not for a professional business.I no longer do embroidery for pay, only for friends , relatives and myself and very much enjoy that. Right now I'm making a double wedding ring quilt with embroidery in center of each ring. my advice is use it for fun and enjoy but not to make money.

Onebyone

Since you time is limited, maybe your wife can learn to do the sewing for money if money is the point of learning how. You have all the supplies so no up front cost to you.

klswift

You are years and years away from earning a living making quilts, if ever. Just the savvy needed on purchasing the materials at cost, the skills required and the know how of where and how to sell. But, you can earn some money making other items to sell. Learning how to make tote bags (grocery bags) on the cheap - BUT SEWN WELL -will not only help you learn, but is also a big seller now because of the bans on plastic bags. You can go from these to placemat sets, table runners/centerpieces and onward to bigger items as your skill advances. But, where are you going to sell them? You need to put in the legwork and check out all the local weekend craft fairs. What sells in your area? How much do they sell for? How much does it cost for the table/booth space? You have to do the homework before you start. When my kids where in college, I made them tote bags for various classes (hoping they could keep their stuff organized ?!?!?!). Some of their friends saw them and asked for some. This might be something to do in spare time at school. The messenger bags were a big hit. And I made a cushioned removable sleeve for their laptops that fit into all the bags. You will not get rich, but you might make some spending money. BUT - it is a job and must be approached as such. You can not expect to whip out a shoddy product, set up a table and sell out. Don't want to discourage you (I sell a lot of product), but want you to be realistic about it.

gillyo

So sorry about the loss of your mother. I lost my Dad a couple of years ago and I know how hard it is.

I hate to have to agree with the others on this thread, but making money sewing and quilting isn't a viable option for most people. I've been lucky enough to sell some pieces, but I'm an art quilter and that's a little different. My experience is that a lot of people think that hand sewing has little value, and machine hand made items even less. It's a shame.

However, I have saved a fortune by being able to sew. A sewing machine can pay for itself when you think about all you can do with it. I've made custom drapery treatments for my house for about a fifth of the cost it would take to buy them ready made. My son always had the coolest Halloween costumes, and even my dogs have matching coats. I also made quilted sofa covers for two sofas, recovered our patio furniture cushions, and made several sets of pillow covers. That's just in the last six months. Many community colleges and adult education programs offer inexpensive or free sewing classes so it's not too difficult to learn. I think you will find that learning how to sew will save you a lot of money down the road, and give you a lot of satisfaction as well.