qfairy Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 I agree with all the girls what they have said. Mainly where I live there are over abundance of LA quilters and not enough people to really make "a living at it". As for me I advertised every where especially on the internet. That is how I got so many customers (last I counted over 100, scary huh?). I have them sent in from all over the world, but that was luck on my part that one lone girl that belonged to a quilt quild took a chance on me and sent me something for me to do and then showed it to her friends and the word just spread. I would do some research as advised and check out how many LA quilters are in your area and what they are charging. Tell your friend Good Luck and hope it works out to her advantage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 I am with Q-Fairy, I knew right from the start if I was going to make a living at quilting I would have to go "global". 90% of my quilting business is from online contacts or their friends, as word of mouth spread. I do all kinds of quilting for clients, but probably I'm best know for doing freehand & artsy stuff & there was no way I could make a living just relying on my local quilters to provide me with enough work. There is also at least 13 other longarm quilters within a 30 mile radius of me & honestly, I didn't want to play the pricing game. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. I can compete on price, I just don't like to & when I started out I didn't do any pantograph quilting (now I will - since I got my Compuquilter). I don't work well from the back of the machine, so I just referred any panto quilting to my other quilting buddies & they refer the stuff that they don't want to do to me. Just for info sake: I was able to pay off my machine in 9 months, while paying myself a wage also ( A gal's gotta eat!) Now 4 years later, I teach at a few national shows each year, quilt for clients, design patterns & digitize for computerized quilting systems, & the company opened it's online store for downloadable designs in August. Has it been really easy....no....lots of hard work & some really long days, but the answer to "Can you make money quilting?" Yes, you can, don't put all your eggs in one basket & just keep trying. Market yourself, even where you think there wouldn't be quilting business. It is surprising how many quilters you can find in an entrepenueral women's group, or at the Dr.s office, or ball game. I usually take some hand work almost everywhere I go & when people ask about it (they almost always do) then I just make sure to swing the conversation around to the fact that I actually quilt for others - for a living. Cheers, Jessica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 Jess, How did you go about finding internet business? I can pretty much forget local business. I have about 3 or 4 people locally who quilt, but this is a very small town and it is not that far to one of the big cities (ie. more LA quilters and good fabric stores). I have a good website. I try to keep it current. I have updated my prices as everyone here suggested. I just don't know how to find internet business. Someone suggested listing on ebay, but those prices are ridiculously low for quilting services. I mean who can really quilt a queen size quilt for $40? Any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbann03 Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Teresa, have you tried advertising with google or yahoo ads? I just placed some ads at Yahoo, I get about 2-3 clicks a week for very cheap.You are only charged when someone clicks on your ad. Unfortunately, my website screams newbie. I gave a link to my webshots page, and I don't have many quilts to show yet, and I think many people pass me up because of that. I don't know how to improve that, except keep quilting and posting images. But, it's a thought. Barb:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CucumberQuilting Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 My best advise for starting a business in longarm quilting is to find a mentor (ie: make a friend) and to have very realistic goals. I have been blessed with good fortune to have had the best of the best in the mentor department and I think my goal of establishing myself as a professional in our community while not being overly ambitious about the income has been right on. I am making money, enough to make the payments and keep my studio rolling along. Money to pay myself or income for the family is still many months away. It all depends on your goals. My goal as a full time mom, part-time studio quilter, is to keep my sanity and sense of humor intact while being a "work-at-home, mom-on-the-go." Sometimes it's nuts. Sometimes it's great. "Do the research," sounds intimidating but really that just means asking a lot of questions. Get to know the shop owners in your area. Ask, ask, ask. Be sure you belong to a guild or some quilting group. Go there willing to be a true member, not just soliciting for business. Show off your work. All these things help you make that decision and once you have, they help grow your business too. Have fun, Eva Hathaway ~ CucumberQuilting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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