QuiltingCrazie

I'm not pointing fingers don't think that, but rarely do long arm quilters that quilt from home declare their income or report to Uncle Sam. So that being said, they might be thriving but that's without paying out half their profit in taxes. It's not cost effective in most cases. I'm not saying all but I know several that do not report their quilting income on tax returns. I would use sewing quilting to subliment your current income for fun stuff for you and your boys. I would love to see some go into the business of embroidered quilt labels. I don't have a machine capable but love them. There's an idea, it's small, custom and quilters are your customers

justflyingin

I am going to be nice and ask, "How do you know?" Wow. I'd never ask anyone if they report income or not. That is totally their business and not something I would ever bring up.

My whole family is "self-employed" so I wouldn't automatically assume any such thing. In fact, if someone has it as their business, and wants to be able to take off all that stuff (machines, thread, equipment) as tax deductions, they'd need to report the income.

Sandygirl

Key phrase: "They are gorgeous!"

I attended a large craft show a few months ago. Only 2-3 "hand made" booths stuck out in my mind for their great workmanship, crisp details and on trend style. The rest were recycled craft show crap from the early 90's. Cheap fabric, low skill level. I felt sad for some of the crafters. Their wares were a labor of love but the workmanship was not up to par.

Anytime one wants to go into business for yourself, do your homework. Develop your business plan. Treat it like the business you want it to be. And, be brutally honest about the quality of your product.

sandy

JenelTX

No one can know whether it's a good idea for you. Only you can determine that. But making money from quilting is possible. There are people who do it. If they can do it, you can (in theory) do it. The trick with any self-employed person is that you must do excellent work. When you do excellent work, word will get around.

Your second post, about making a quilted dog bed for a little girl (too cute!) leads me to believe that you're talking about something different than most of the commenters are talking about. I think they believe that you would like to do the quilting for quilters who only enjoy the piecing process and want to hire out the quilting process. Quilters know how much work goes into quilting, and because we're an active community, we have a rough idea of how much longarm quilters charge. In other words, we're prepared to pay the price. However, if you're talking about making things on order for other people, you'll want to discuss price up front. You may also need to charge sales tax. Find out whom to ask about that in your state.

Good luck, whatever you decide! It's a little scary to make that leap into being self-employed, but it can be wonderful, too.