How Cathy Kleinschmidt Built Her Longarm Quilting Business from Scratch

From Reluctant Quilter to Business Owner

Cathy Kleinschmidt’s journey to starting a longarm quilting business began almost by accident. In 1990, she attended a quilting class only to support a friend, but quickly became hooked: “By the time I went home, I was hooked”.5:04 Her early years were spent piecing tops, including a period living in Mexico where she sewed prolifically because she “knew no one, didn’t know the language,” so she brought along $600 of fabric and her sewing machine.5:33 When she returned home, she had a stack of unfinished quilts and brought them to a local longarmer. That quilter, after seeing Cathy’s output, encouraged her to learn longarm quilting herself. Cathy began by trading time—drawing stencil designs for the longarmer in exchange for machine time.5:59

When her local longarmer moved away, Cathy saw an opportunity: “I know how to quilt, I could do this”.7:03 She realized there was a need in her community and decided to invest in her own longarm machine. Her initial motivation was practical: “I started it as a business, not so much that I wanted to make a living off of it, but I wanted to make enough money for pay for my machine”.7:15

Making the Leap: Funding and Family Support

Convincing her husband to make the investment wasn’t easy. “His basic comment was we got to cut back. You don’t know about the economy”.7:37 Cathy pointed out the family’s other discretionary purchases, and after a day of reflection, her husband agreed to cash out a lagging investment to fund her machine. “I didn’t wait for a second offer…The next day I called and got my machine”.8:23

Cathy’s story highlights the importance of advocating for your goals—and being ready to act when the opportunity comes. Her husband’s initial skepticism turned into support, especially after the machine began to pay for itself. “Once I got the machine and it started making money my husband is…he tells people that’s the best thing I ever bought”.22:52

She also notes the emotional impact of following her passion: “Quilting is therapy. I love it…you get to get up in the morning and go do something you love to do and somebody’s going to pay you to do it”.23:08

Choosing the Right Equipment and Upgrading Over Time

Cathy’s decision to buy a Gammill Classic was based on hands-on research: “I had tried all the other machines. None of them compared to the quality of the Gammill”.8:58 She’s used the same machine since 2001, upgrading it with a stitch regulator in 2005 and Statler automation around 2011–2012.11:21 This long-term approach—buying quality and upgrading as needed—has served her well: “It’s always upgradable. It’s wonderful”.10:59

She describes the evolution of her machine: “It was hand guided. It was constant speed, no regulator, anything. The stitch regulator came out two years later, but I didn’t get it until four years later. I added a stitch regulator to it in 2005…and then I upgraded later and put the Statler stitcher on in about 2011, 2012”.11:16 Cathy’s approach was to invest once, then upgrade as her business and technology advanced. She still uses the same machine today, demonstrating the value of buying for longevity and adaptability.11:45

Her advice to others is clear: “If you want it to last…it’s always upgradable. It’s wonderful”.10:59

Building a Customer Base: Word of Mouth and Community Connections

Cathy’s first customers were friends she taught to quilt, but her reach quickly expanded through church, school events, and a creative approach to memory quilts: “If you watch the paper and someone passes away, you send a sympathy card…If you would want a memory quilt made of your loved one’s clothing, let me know when you’re ready”.13:28

She never relied on quilt guilds, instead focusing on local relationships and referrals: “Word of mouth is one…I didn’t go to Quilt Guild because everybody goes quilts. So I didn’t”.12:46 Cathy donated t-shirt quilts for school raffles and sports clubs, which brought her more visibility and customers.13:01

Her approach to memory quilts is both sensitive and practical: she sends a sympathy card with her business card enclosed, offering her services when the family is ready. “It’s a booming business. It’s phenomenal”.13:39 Cathy’s story shows how personal connections and thoughtful outreach can build a sustainable customer base, even in a small community.

Pricing, Workflow, and Paying Off the Machine

Cathy’s pricing is straightforward: baby quilts are a flat $50 (including batting and thread), and queen-size edge-to-edge quilts run $130–$150.22:14 She completes an edge-to-edge quilt in about 1.5 hours, targeting a minimum of $15 per hour.22:20 “It takes me about an hour and a half to load it, run it, and take it off. I include the batting and the thread. It’s a fair price for me, it’s a fair price for them”.22:20

Her efficiency allowed her to pay off her machine in just two years: “That machine was paid back and within two years”.14:17 Cathy made an agreement with her husband to dedicate all quilting income to paying off the machine and her sons’ college tuition: “I would take all of the money I made and I would pay that money back. And I would pay for the two boys college tuition money”.14:26

She also used her quilting income to pay her sons’ college tuition, demonstrating how a focused, well-run quilting business can make a significant financial impact. “We put both of those boys through college. They came up debt-free and that machine paid for it”.18:36

Cathy’s pricing hasn’t changed in years, and she acknowledges that her rates may not have kept up with inflation, but she continues to do it for the love of quilting: “I haven’t changed my prices in the last five years…I do it for the love of it”.33:50

Balancing Business, Family, and Life

Running a quilting business while raising teenagers and working another job was challenging. Cathy recalls: “You’re trying to go to school events, you’re trying to work and help outside and you’re trying to get your quilting done and it’s time dedicated time to be able to quilt”.20:00 Her sons were teenagers when she started, and she often worked late into the night to keep up with both jobs. “I worked at Black Hawk Technical College in the tech prep area. But after a while, I couldn’t work there full time and then quilt until midnight to get everybody’s quilts done”.14:59

After a year of juggling both jobs, she decided to quilt full time: “I did quit and go full time…if all day long you’re at work and you’re thinking about the quilts you get to do when you go home…pretty soon I just got to the point where, what do you want to do? Well, I want to stay home and quilt. Well then quit your job and stay home and quilt. So I did. And it’s been wonderful ever since”.16:01

Now, at 76, Cathy quilts 20–35 hours a week, referring new business to others as she scales back to enjoy retirement and time with her grandchildren: “I’m still long arm quilting, uh, because I’m 76 years old now, so I’ve cut back a lot, but there have been new people get machines and so I can refer my customers to them so I don’t feel so guilty. I probably am still quilting 20 to 30, 35 hours a week”.17:07

Technology, Custom Work, and Ongoing Learning

Cathy has embraced technology, noting that the addition of computerized quilting made a huge difference: “Adding the Statler to it made the world of difference because I can run an edge to edge so much quicker…It allowed you the creativity to make it look like an awesome quilt”.21:04 She offers a mix of edge-to-edge, semi-custom, and full custom work, adjusting her workflow and pricing based on the complexity of each job.17:22

She explains the difference between edge-to-edge, semi-custom, and custom quilting: “An edge to edge is over the whole quilt, same pattern over the whole quilt…semi is a quilt that I’ve got a border on it and maybe there’s triangles on the border so I’m going to drop a pattern…in the middle I will start the edge to edge and just run that in the middle panel…custom is when you’re doing something different in every block”.31:11

Cathy also keeps track of her time for more complex jobs: “When I do that then I kind of keep track of my time because I’m gonna…it’s going to be a minimum, minimum it’s going to be $15 an hour, usually your edge to edge makes more than that”.32:52

She continues to learn and adapt, teaching classes and sharing her knowledge with new quilters: “I have people asking me to teach more classes, teach more piecing classes and it just keeps growing”.26:52

Advice for New Quilters: Don’t Wait, Don’t Fear Saturation

Cathy’s top advice for those considering starting a longarm quilting business is simple: “Don’t be afraid because of the dollar cost. Get your machine, get a good quality machine…and then just start out. The business will come word of mouth”.27:32 She’s never worried about market saturation: “There’s enough business out there for everybody and the older you get you kind of drop off and you need people coming to pick up the slack”.26:02

She encourages new quilters to take the leap: “If you look at that dollar price you think oh my god you know I can’t buy that’s just too much. No, look at how can I buy it. How can I do that? How much actually will it cost me per month to make a payment?…If my payment is $900 a month, and if I can make $150 on a quilt, per quilt, then I have to do four quilts. Four quilts for somebody else a month. That’s one a week. That’s a piece of cake”.40:00

Cathy’s story is proof that with dedication and a community mindset, a quilting business can thrive for decades. She emphasizes the importance of starting sooner rather than later: “That I should have done it sooner. I should have just done it sooner”.25:00