Avoiding Burn Out??

[njquiltergirl]

Hi.

As professional longarm quilters, burnout from the hours and pressure is not unusual. More and more, with this struggling economy, customers are fewer.

How do you balance quilting work, family time, YOU time and keep your sanity...or is that presumed to be gone!!??

I have two friends who have been at it for a long time who are really struggling and I'd like to pass along some helpful suggestions. I'm still new at all this and enjoying it but would really like to help my friends.

Thanks!

Lisa

APQS Liberty

CL

NW NJ

[witha'K'quilting]

I avoid burnout by only quilting for me. I am fortunate enough to not need customer money...I have another job, well many jobs actually, but that is another story. Try mothering 7 kids!

So quilting stays fun for me. It is my "me time". No pressure from others to perform and no stressing over a customer's quilt.

[meg]

hi lisa - my fellow jersey girl. where ya been?

im sorry that your friends are experiencing burnout. maybe a weekly lunch or dinner with them would help. might give them a chance to laugh a little, or commiserate, or to vent..or drink heavily. sometimes having a fun thing to look forward to helps me deal with stress.

[Sparkle]

I'm with Kristina---I only do quilting for fun.

I learned this because at one time I did have a hobby I loved, and turned it into a business. Three and half years later I gave it all up (big time burnout). To this day I don't even want to see another wholesale show room or go to market. I don't even have my samples anymore. Total burnout.

A lot of it was my fault though---Time management is SO important with any hobby or craft business, especially if you are home based instead of leasing a space outside your home. There is something positive to "going to work" ---literally away from home base.

I know of two long arm quilters in our area that are still in full time business after close to 10 yrs. now. They lease a space near downtown, and have two machines. They are open 6 days a week, but they only work 3 days each. They open at 8:00 a.m and go home at 6:00 those 3 days. They know how to walk out the door at night, and not think quilting all the time.----- They still piece and quilt their own projects and enter them into shows. They know how to keep things in prospective. They are both booked up months in advance ---but they are so good at time management. Other long arm quilters have come and gone in our area, or do only custom quilting with some break periods where they don't take on client quilts.

-I also had a friend who after 3 yrs. just closed her quilting business, and only quilts for herself now.

She said it was just too overwhelming at times, her overhead expenses were more than she had anticipated and she went back to a what she called a "normal life and job".

There are all sorts of reasons to like machine quilting as a business, and there are probably just as many reasons not to. I think you have to be highly motivated, very organized, and as I mentioned have your priorities all sorted out so that the rest of your life is balanced with the "quilting business". Creative people have a very difficult time hitting that happy medium of "balance" it seems. I know that was a lot of my problem.

Best of luck to your friends---it is difficult to combine a hobby with good business practices--but, it can be done.

[mrsbishwit]

I think it is normal for longarmers to go through the ups and downs. I know I have a couple of times over the past 5 years. For me what has worked was to...

1) stop trying to be good at pantos and custom both at the same time. When I was doing custom, I would stress out about the time it would take compared to the $ it brought in, whether they would like the quilt when I finished and so on..Plus I was better at pantos than custom because I was never in a position to take the longarm classes (they were too expensive) and with raising 5 kids there was never anytime). So easy fix was to streamline my business and get rid of things that stressed me out...custom for customers.

From now on I am only going to do custom on my own quilts, this way I can PPP in my time and improve at my pace without the stress. Also there are alot more detailed how to DVDs out now which solves the $$ problem with taking classes.

2) You need to schedule weeks of down time for yourself throughout the year (so you don't start to hate not being able to do your own stuff).

3) Organize, when you are organized you won't over book too bad to the point you get behind and stress.

4) keep looking to add new things to your business that excites you. New pattterns, techniques, promotions, update the website or even the business card. the little things can perk you up when the stress starts to invade.

[Melanie Rouse]

All great advice. Mine would be much the same and would apply to any job or responsibilities you may take on. Learn to say no and not feel guilty about it. Women tend to take on the world because they are fixers. There is nothing wrong with down time. Even God took a day off to rest.

Treat it like any other job. Set the hours and stick to it.

(I think I am giving myself a little pep talk here )

[carolinequilts]

My advice is very similar to Joann's. Keep a good schedule and stick to it and don't get pushed into rush jobs. Try to do the type of quilting you like and don't be afraid to refer to someone else if its a job you don't want or know how to do. Block off vacation time for yourself.

I've told my customers I can handle 1 quilt a week (I work full time too). I only quilt Saturday and Sunday mornings (yeah, right ). In January, I thought I would 'experiment' and allow for quilt reservations (instead of the customer actually having a quilt even ready for me). That exploded and I quickly had 31 reservations in my back log. Even though I was booked 31 weeks in advance I felt obligated to quilt and quilt until they are done. My family and me time and work time was not balanced and I was stressed.

The 'reserved spot' experiment failed. So, no more reservations - you actually have to have a quilt to get on the list. I also raised my prices. And, I'm not pushing myself to get them done. My customers know that 31 quilts means 35 weeks turnaround (I blocked off 4 weeks in the summer). I'm slowly working the numbers down and my my turnaround will be back to what it was last year (about 2 months) soon I hope.

I learned the hard way, but learned, none the less!

[gable428]

I'm with Kristina [not the 7 kids part, the "quilting for me" part]. I tried quilting as a business for six months. I did not like it at all. Demanding customers, rush orders and no time for my own quilts. A lot of quilters think it's great to be your own boss, but for me, it wasn't worth it: no health insurance, no vacation or sick time accrued and not that much money when you break it down. A lot of quilters say you can make $20 bucks an hour on a good day, but in my real job, I'm way over that so it was not worth it for me.

[LadyLake]

Do you and your friends belong to a long arm quilt guild? If not, start one. If it vital to have ongoing support -- a regular time that encourages friendships, sharing of trials and tribulations and growth and a time to 'show off' their work (we all need regular strokes).

If they have reached as far as they want to in terms of technical expertise, maybe it is time to teach.

[quiltmonkey]

I like Joan's suggestion about a longarm guild. I belong to one here. If anything, you can "talk shop" and whine and get it off your chest. Plus, it's nice to have that support network. Most times we just eat and yak and have some laughs. It's good to know we can all talk and relate to the same things on the same level.

I read a book a while back called "Make Money Quilting" by Sylvia Landman. The author makes a lot of points and provides tips about the importance of time management. I found some good nuggets in there.

The other day, I was kinda complaining to my DH that I never have time to do my own quilts and he said I should schedule my customer quilts out a month or two, rather than hurrying to get them quilted when they come in the door. (that's what I have been doing---getting them out the door ASAP). he has a point....

[njquiltergirl]

I have printed all your responses out and will be sure they read them. One of my friends, Martina, would be a great teacher, that may just be the thing to snap her out of her funk! Thank you all for the great suggestions. I hope I can keep them loving quilting. It would be a shame for them to put their skills on pause.

Quilting for fun or profit is great. But like quilt making, it takes time and patience.

Thanks for them!

Lisa

[Quilting Heidi]

It is always a hard juggle to to get it all done. I have a full-time job and also have a quilting business. I had not originally planned on quilting for others but hubby encouraged me to start the business. I really make sure to schedule time in for me and I don't feel guilty about it either. This helps me avoid burn-out but I do have to say it is a lot to keep up with! I keep a waiting list and don't give my customers a hard firm date. I give them a date range as my best guess. I also don't take their quilts until I'm within two weeks of quilting it. That way I'm not stressing about having their quilts hanging out in my house.

[Mary Beth]

Well, for me...I am in the middle of the storm. I have burnout so bad that some days I can't walk down the stairs to look at my machine. When I quilt, I stress over the rest of the house. When I work on the house, or go away for the weekend, I worry about the quilts that I didn't get done in my off time from work. We all joke about dust being a protective covering, yada, yada....but it's really not funny. My house is not a pig pen, but it is not as clean as I would like for it to be, and I am not a perfectionist, just like a clean house. It is very, very difficult to balance housekeeping, working 8 or 9 hours a day at a real job. Cooking dinner and cleaning it up. Sleeping And spending my evening in the basement working on someone's quilt, while my husband sits upstairs watching television finally falling asleep in a chair. Then I have spent the evening with my quilting and not spending time with my husband. I know a lot of quilters who work 40 hours a week, use the weekends to catch up on customer quilts. That works sometimes, but not always. Oh, and don't get sick, you absolutely cannot work that into the schedule. You can join machine quilter's guilds, but when are you going to go to the meetings? I have been machine quilting for 5 years. I have spend many days, like a lot of you in business, quilting for customers and spending my time on their quilts, making sure they are happy and missing time with my family. It took me 3 years to make and quilt a king size quilt for my son and his wife. So instead of having fun trying to make their quilt, it was just another job. Burnout is no fun. I would almost like to sell my machine and all of the equipment and just send my quilts out to you all to finish, at least I would be able to make a quilt I have posted to my blog this week that I would be selling my machine and getting out of the buisness. That decision is still up in the air. If I do sell, I may try to get another machine in a few years. If I keep my machine, I will need to come to a place in my mind where it is okay to have $20,000.00 worth of equipment sitting in the basement collecting dust.

Joining more meetings really won't help me with burnout, it just stretches me more to try to be places I don't have time to be. I don't know what the answer to burnout is....but I am reading each response here to see if something is going to help me.

Lisa, thank you for starting this topic. I will be reading and waiting for just the right answer.

[KathG]

Hi Mary Beth, I am so sorry to hear that you might be selling your Millie, Do not go and do anything to hasty, as you do not want to make the wrong decision.

From reading your blog, I can see you have been poorly. Maybe when you are feeling well again you might change your mind.

But at the end of the day you have to do what is best for you and your family. I wish you well now and in the future, with which ever path you take.

Take care ((((((((Hugs))))))))))

[njquiltergirl]

Hey Mary Beth.

Sorry to hear you may have the burn-out-fever too!!

You know, if you do not take in other peoples' tops for a while...your machine will have one of yours on it and it won't be sitting collecting dust!!

Then when all your tops are done and the machine really is collecting dust, you can take in quilts again!!

Lisa

[quiltmonkey]

Originally posted by Mary Beth

.......Lisa, thank you for starting this topic. I will be reading and waiting for just the right answer.

Ask yourself this: How many men out there have bass boats that sit on trailers (or docked in water) all year waiting for fisihing season to start? These "toys" are collecting dust, too... waiting to be used when the time is right. So...

Mary, I've been thinking about this for you and maybe the right answer for you is to just quilt for YOU. Keep the machine; it's paid for. And you do your own thing. No more customers.

Don't sell your machine.... You would miss it (quilting) too much. I know you would...

Me? I am sure that some day down the road I will stop taking quilts and only quilt for me. But for right now, I am OK with the little bit of quilts that I do have coming in. I enjoy it (quilting for others).

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by quiltmonkey

Originally posted by Mary Beth

.......Lisa, thank you for starting this topic. I will be reading and waiting for just the right answer.

Ask yourself this: How many men out there have bass boats that sit on trailers (or docked in water) all year waiting for fisihing season to start? These "toys" are collecting dust, too... waiting to be used when the time is right. So...

Mary, I've been thinking about this for you and maybe the right answer for you is to just quilt for YOU. Keep the machine; it's paid for. And you do your own thing. No more customers.

Don't sell your machine.... You would miss it (quilting) too much. I know you would...

Me? I am sure that some day down the road I will stop taking quilts and only quilt for me. But for right now, I am OK with the little bit of quilts that I do have coming in. I enjoy it (quilting for others).

Shana was thinking just what I was....how many men have toys that are only used on weekend or during a certain season...hense, snowmobiles, or boats, motorcycles or whatever. I'm sure Mary Beth your hubby also has toys that aren't used every week, so why should you have to.

Quilt only for yourself, if it take 3 weeks to get a quilt done, WHO cares...and if you don't touch if for weeks WHO cares, its there when your ready and its there when and if you EVER decide to go back to work as a outside quilter. I too think you would regret it if you sold it. But that is JMHO.

[Mary Beth]

Just let me say, this is not about Rod....it is all about me. He has an old boat....not a bass boat, just a 20 year old boat that was used when he bought it. So this is not a comparison of his toys against mine....this is about me being sick to death of looking at customer quilts, or any quilt. That is all I do. Everything in my life revolves around quilts...as it does with most of you....but I just need to step away from it all. Then when I come back I can quilt when I want to, and read a book if I want to, or go shopping if I want to, or go work out at the gym if I want to. Just do things that have nothing to do with quilts. Sorry, I don't want to be Debbie Downer....but I don't want anyone to think Rod has any part of this.

[mrsbishwit]

I agree with Shana and Bonnie on this one Mary Beth. What ever you do DON'T SELL YOUR MACHINE!!!!! you will regret it.

And what do you have to feel guilty about? Your machine is paid for, you did your time with the customers and while working at the "real" job, you did your time. Now enjoy, no more customers, quilt for you only if that means the Millie sits for months at a time so be it, it will still be there when you are ready.

[cmoore1223]

Just my four cents.....I agree with Bonnie,Shana and Joann.

Wait awhile before you actually decide to sell, I think you'll really miss her when she's gone.

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by Mary Beth

Just let me say, this is not about Rod....it is all about me. He has an old boat....not a bass boat, just a 20 year old boat that was used when he bought it. So this is not a comparison of his toys against mine....this is about me being sick to death of looking at customer quilts, or any quilt. That is all I do. Everything in my life revolves around quilts...as it does with most of you....but I just need to step away from it all. Then when I come back I can quilt when I want to, and read a book if I want to, or go shopping if I want to, or go work out at the gym if I want to. Just do things that have nothing to do with quilts. Sorry, I don't want to be Debbie Downer....but I don't want anyone to think Rod has any part of this.

No I didn't think hubby was trying to pressure you as much as I was thinking you were feeling guilty about such not being used regularly. If stepping back and not quilting for days is what it takes then do so. I didn't even quilt for myself much in the last 5 years. I'm just now wanting to. I know what burnout does I know what it feels like. But I would never sell my machine. May be your selling is what you need to do to totally heal as we each do that at our own speed and direction. Just know whatever you decide we will stand beside you.

[quiltmonkey]

Oh I know that Rod has always supported you, he is a super great guy! I never mentioned Rod. Just made a general statement about toys that our boys have. Well MB it's OK if you want to sell your machine but I just thought you wanted to keep it ... it is patient and will wait for you. But if you want to use your basement for something else then you can always pack 'er up and ship 'er out to a new home.

Anyway, no worries. It's patient and will wait for you if you want it to wait for you. Years even. Doesn't eat much food, either. Pretty low maintenance, eh? :cool: And, it might enjoy a pretty sparkly layer of dust on its top,... I'm just sayin...

[njquiltergirl]

Shortly after getting my machine, like two weeks later!!, I stepped back into a ground hog hole and tore up the tendons and ligaments in my ankle. I could not stand on it or have it down for nearly 11 weeks. My machine sat for almost a year before I could even try my first panto or do custom for more than an hour. I could not go up the 2 flights of steps to get to my quilt room for months... Every now and then, I'd go up on my hands and knees just to see what it looked like. Pathetic!

It sat, and sat, as I paid it off. Yours can sit a spell too!! Just don't hurt your ankle!

Take a break, make a quilt for your self when you are ready...decide later....Like Scarlet O'Hara said, think about it tomorrow.

Lisa

[meg]

hi marybeth -

your blog is great - i just read the last few posts. it sounds like you have been thinking about this for a long time. i cant really understand the business pressure since i am a newbie and only quilt for myself. but i do know how difficult it can be working, running a house and family and maintaining a healthy marriage. sounds like you are really spread thin these days.

all your friends here are offering thier 2 cents because they can see that you do get alot of joy from quilting and your enthusiasm is contagious. i actually commented to my dh that you must really have a bad case of the flu cause you haven't been posting and i missed your funny comments. everyone will miss you if decide to take another direction.

all i can say is ~ i wish you the best in making your decision....and please do not make any hasty decisions that you might regret. take the time you need cause you deserve it

[lisalnewman]

Mary Beth,

Only you alone can decide what is right for you. You have been very king in responding to my questions and are obviously a thoughtful and generous person. Sometimes the kindest people suffer the most by giving too much of themselves to others and putting themselves second.

If you are not making payments on your machine and can afford to keep it sitting for a little while I would suggest that you give youreslf some time to make this huge decision. Like several others have suggested you might just want to keep it so you can quilt for yourself.

I hope you can come to some kind of decision that will give you the greatest amount of happiness. If that means selling than I hope you stop in the forum from time to time as your advise and wise, funny comments will be missed by all of us.

If you are going to MQS I would love to meet you.

I wish you happiness,

Lisa:)