in the beginning

[dfjett]

I am just beginning my journey in this arena. Questions that come to mind are:

Did you have machine quilting experience before you started your business?

Where did you receive most of your training?

If you had no machine quilting experience prior to purchasing your APQS machine, what did you use for practice.... your own unquilted tops, cheater quilts, etc.

How did you receive your first customer?

Thanks for any answers.... Deborah

[Guest LA]

Hi Deborah,

These are really great questions to ponder, & we have all been there!

I got into machine quilting 4 yrs.ago. I could never find anyone in my area to do custom work. And cramming it through my Bernina at high speeds, was *NOT* my idea of a good time!

I knew what skills I wanted to obtain, so I took the plunge & bought my APQS machine, & took a class from my Rep Marilyn Badger. She was great at encouraging me to push myself to excel, & I continued to practice, practice, practice!

I would take a class from teachers at the Machine Quilting shows, quilting video's you name it!

Then once I had quilted on muslin & my own quilts, I went to a local charity organization that makes quilts for the community. They were more than happy to give me quilts to do, it was great practice to achieve my skills, & they appreciated the finished quilts! The wonderful thing was that group of women became a loyal customer base!

Your work will speak for it's self, & word of mouth is a great form of advertising. Of course you can befriend your local quilt shops, & your local quilt guilds are always an excellent resource!

I am sure there are many other things that you can do, but that is a few that come to mind.

Let us know if you have questions, we are here to help you in your quilting endeavors!

[SilverThreads]

Hi Deborah,

When I started on a longarm machine several years ago, I did not have any back up of any kind. The lady we bought the machine from worked with me for about 5 hours then I was left to fend for myself! After a couple weeks of practice on "cheater cloth" and cheep sheets and material, I felt comfortable in doing one of my mom's quilt tops. After that it seemed to fall in to place. Turn on some music and quilt away.

Now I am the owner of a used APQS Ultimate II that came with lots and lots of help. Just go to the posting and look for the topic.

Relax, enjoy and tell all your friends and soon customers will begin to call.

Teresa, Silver Threads and Golden Needles Quilt Shop

Coeburn, VA

[Sherri]

Hi Deborah

Good questions!

I had been a piecer and hand quilter for a long time, but decided I'd never live long enough to hand quilt all these tops! And I tried wrestling them through my Bernina, but it wasn't for me. I could never quite get the hang of it. Diana Gaudinski, I am not......unfortunately.

The machine quilters in my area were all booked up for months - so I decided there was probably room for at least one more quilter.

I bought a new machine in March of 2000 - not many bells and whistles - but enough to get me started practicing. I attended MQS for the first time in 2000 and took every class I could fit in my schedule - taking lots of notes and lots of pictures. I bought every video I could get my hands on, lots of books and came home and studied and practiced - using muslin at first and then switching to my own quilts. Some came out ok, others I wasn't too pleased with. More practice.

That first year, I had an opportunity to take a couple classes from a travelling teacher who came to a city not too far away - more practice.

I finally took in my first "other than mine" quilt after about 4 months of practice. It was a close friend who was doing charity quilts. More practice.

Freehand, pantos, custom, feathers.....I'd try anything. Some results were good, other required much more practice.

Slowly but surely, after showing some of my work, I quilted for a few friends and word got out and customers started trickling in. Within a year I was booked a couple months in advance and it didn't take too much longer to pay off that first machine - (which was my husband's primary objective for me.....) and I was just quilting part-time, too.

Since then, I've done some quilting for the local quilt shops so they feel confident in handing out my cards and recommending me to their customers.

I've attended MQS every year - (because that's the major machine quilting show that is closest to me, but there are now others such as Innovations in September, MQX in April, Quilting on the Waterfront in Duluth every other summer, and I think a couple others, too). I took more classes, got more ideas and inspiration. I try to take classes and workshops at every opportunity.

About six months ago, I sold my first machine and bought a new Millenium.

I recently quit my day job and now quilt full time.

To answer your first question - I personally think previous quilting experience would be most helpful, but I know a man who had never even pieced a quilt before he bought a machine - and he did just fine.

Bottom line - lots of practice, take classes when you can, show your work, and be patient.

I hope you find something in my long-winded story helpful - best of luck!

Sherri Dolly

Overland Park, KS

APQS Mil

[dfjett]

Thanks for all the responses. As I had surmised, practice is the key here. I've just about settled on the Millenium as my machine. In viewing some of the quilt shows about the area, I have found everything from "I'll quilt a queen for $100 to the by the inch pricing. I'm fast coming to the conclusiog that this business is like any other. There are those that will do a job for a rock bottom price and that's the quality you will get. And, there are those who have earned the designation of professional by perfecting their craft. I am definitely looking forward to this. And, again, thank you.

Deborah

[Debbie Rolek]

Practice. Yes every quilt in my house is practice. I don't have any perfect ones, but always trying something new or working on something until it is easy. Drawing on a dry erase board when you are not at the machine until it feels and looks good, then draw it into a drafting book, maybe with notes, and you will develope quite a skill. You can even do it in the car while someone else is driving. Check different teachers/designers out until you find one you are comfortable with. Then expand each day.

Sometimes the male members in my house haven't been very supportive of my quilting. "You don't make any money quilting". Well, since they think I don't. I have kept it in a "slush/stash" spot in my sewing room and don't have to share it with them. Already at half of last years income. Boy will MQS be fun

Debbie

[BarbWetzel]

Well get some muslin and practice, practice and practice.... then dive in.

I got my Milli in September and I am finally doing customers quilts. I need more business, but I still work full time. I can retire in 1.5 years.

I have about 10 quilts to finish, I am feeling pretty confident now. I took two classes from Dawn Cavaugh at APQS. I would like to go back and take another class when it is offered again. But $200.00 a class is a little steep.

Barb Wetzel

Altoona