jitkaau

You may need to check the details for your area first. A lady in our area set herself up and did not realise that many of the quilts would not always be up to scratch and her inexperience caused her to have many disasters with other people's quilts. Of course, she's not got much business now because word travels fast. Best to practise on 50 of your own quilts and know the machine very well before you start on anyone else's I think.

annette1952

Sounds like alot of good advice on here for you to ponder. Good luck with whatever you decide.

juliewlpn

i have had a longarm machine for about 4 years now. i bought it thinking i would do some business with it. i have done a few quilts for people, but have found that i enjoy it more just for myself. there's nothing like finishing a top and being able to just run downstairs and start quilting it! this is an expensive venture, but i also work full time and figured i need to work for something i like as well as "the bills". also, i was spending a LOT of money paying someone else. it does take a lot of practice, though, as everyone has said. my husband is actually better than i am at it, go figure! he is mechanically inclined though. good luck with whatever you decide!

njgrl4evr

Is there anywhere on this site where long arm quilters cam advertize? My local long arm ladies are quite costly, many months out on waiting time, and none of the work I have seen really knocks me out. Would love to have a resource of quilters that offer an on-line service.

C.Cal Quilt Girl

One of the first permanent posts on buy trade etc. has the names of several board members that quilt pro :)

Interesting thread thanks for posting!!

Have a mid arm and have quilted many of my own, with good results after practice practice practice, really like meandering, But I really hesitate to take in out side work, may be just a OMG what if I screwup on someone elses work. (confident aren't I) :)

njgrl4evr

Thank you. I went to the buy/sell/trade board and there was a list of longarm quilters by state.
Great resource.

greensleeves

I have read a lot of good advice here and what it comes down to is the courage to try and the willingness to work-and work hard. I have done longarm quilting for only 3 years and know my limits--I don't do custom work yet because I haven't practiced it enough. I do pantos and have quite a few regular customers. I live in a town of about 50,000 mostly middle income. My prices reflect what is reasonable for this area. My customers come from recommendation at our LQS, people from my guild and those that have seen my work either in the quilt shop, at someone's home or in a quilt show. Pantos are not as intricate as custom work therefore they take less time and the results are still very pretty. Some people do not want heavy quilting but there are many pantos that are fairly intricate-a panto is not just meandering. I thoroughly admire custom quilting and have noticed that those are what usually win ribbons at shows but I think the majority (OK to say here) of quilters are making quilts for themselves or as gifts to be used. They bring their tops to me and they are finished quickly for using or gifting. I'm happy and they are happy. There are 4 LA quilters in this area (2 panto, 2 custom) and we are all friends and gladly share information and recommend customers to each other if necessary. In discussing the pros/cons of custom vs panto we have realized that if broken down to an hourly rate the two of us that do pantos are ahead money-wise even though we get less per quilt we can do more of them. I want to try my hand at custom but have only done simple backgrounds so far and it was stressful and time-consuming but rewarding in the end. Start with what you can do well and work from there. Following the panto came very easy to me but I can see that custom will be practice,practice, practice. I don't know if many people "make a living" just quilting for others but I do enjoy it and do bring in some extra cash. It is a tough decision to make for all the reasons given by other posts, but if you can afford a machine that may not pay for itself very quickly then you should try. Other than the cost of the machine you also have to have supplies and upkeep of the machine--that cost comes into play also. In closing "if you have the chance to dance or sit it out---I hope you dance".

CircleSquare

Good advice here! I've had my LA since 2003. I practiced for a year before doing a paid quilt. I joined 2 guilds in my area, took show-n-tell every month and introduced myself. Then I started doing charity quilts for free, just for the practice. I mostly do pantographs (all-over designs)but a few customers want custom work and are willing to pay for it.
I live in a rural area, and there are no other LA quilters within 45 miles, but the local quilters were used to sending their quilts out. It was a hard market to break into. But I keep my prices low so that more people can afford my services. I rely on repeat customers now.
Also, most of my income goes back into supplies and new patterns. I don't have payments on the machine - if I did, I would have lost it.
It took me 3 years to build up a reasonable customer base. Now I do a fair amount of business, and my turn-around is 1-2 months most of the time. My customers are friends now, and they are loyal. That doesn't come overnight.

Sewze

I bought a LA because I can't hand quilt or quilt on a domestic machine because of Carpal Tunnel in both wrists and crippled up Arthritic fingers in both hands. After classes at a LQS on their LA, I fell in love with the fact that I could do the quilting myself using a LA. Jinnie

TX GMimi

Hats off to all hand quilters! :) It's an art and it is beautiful, relaxing and but it can be time consuming. With my Tin Lizzie (long arm) depending on the quilt size, it doesn't take long to finish. I prefer meandering - sometimes a lot of stippling makes the quilt stiff. And I do like to use pantograms and boards (patterns). I think it's all about personal preference. (And, you get it done so you can move on to the next project!) :)