How Cathy Kleinschmidt Built Her Longarm Quilting Business from Scratch

0:00 So, uh, this is a, a little bit of an unusual setup put together at the last

0:29 minute, um, we are live, although I'm going to give a little bit of

0:33 time for, uh, for people to come in.

0:35 So in the meantime, um, I'm just filling a little time.

0:37 So this is the, uh, GAML quilting business success, uh, podcast and webinar.

0:45 And, uh, we have a very special location and a very special guest tonight.

0:52 Um, this is, I believe episode number 33, but don't crucify me if I'm wrong.

0:58 Um, but I was just listening to episode 22 earlier today or 32 earlier today.

1:04 And, um, this year, uh, GAML has, again, we're, we're continually, uh,

1:14 pursuing, uh, ways to get more close, uh, more, um, into, uh, uh, well,

1:21 closer, closer is a good word.

1:23 So like, for example, um, you know, we don't just ship somebody

1:27 a long arm quilting machine.

1:29 We come to your house in a GAML truck and we're there at your studio to put

1:35 it together and show you how to use it.

1:37 And for our classes, you know, we've got prerecorded classes, of course, that

1:40 you can watch in your video or in your studio, and then we have, um, you know,

1:44 the zoom sessions with the teacher right there, you know, inches from your face,

1:49 you know, she's right there in your house.

1:51 And, um, we do cruises and retreats and different kinds of events.

1:58 And there's a lot of resources that was going to, um, to, um, displaying,

2:05 uh, you know, putting booths at quilt shows.

2:08 And we, we were like, well, this is, this is kind of not our focus.

2:13 Like we try to get closer to people and spend more time with them and not

2:16 just, um, not just have people walk by and spend five minutes, you

2:20 know, that's not a very good relationship.

2:22 We would rather spend days with people.

2:24 And so, um, today we're at one of just two shows that we are going to this

2:30 year and the reason we're at so few shows we're at Paducah, Kentucky, but

2:35 we're at so few shows so that all those resources, manpower, diesel, um,

2:41 machines, all that stuff where we can, we do, we're doing, um, nearly 50, um,

2:47 one day free events all around the country and 50 additional two day events

2:53 that are paid there, they're a training event, and you can learn a lot if you

2:58 do all three days or even just one day or two days, and so that's a lot better

3:04 than just spending 15 minutes with somebody who just walks by.

3:07 So anyway, um, that's a long winded introduction to where we are.

3:12 We're at, uh, we're at Paducah, Kentucky today recording live.

3:16 If I was to pan the screen, you would see, you know, the, the aisles and all that

3:23 stuff, so pretty, um, pretty, uh, rustic set up here with a laptop and a couple

3:29 of microphones, but my special guest today, uh, is, uh, Kathy Kleinschmidt.

3:35 I've known Kathy for quite a long time.

3:37 Some of these questions that we ask are going to be a little bit different.

3:41 Her, her story's not quite like anybody else's, uh, but, uh, she has a lot of

3:48 experience and I think everybody's going to enjoy, uh, this interview.

3:51 So Kathy, let's just get right into it.

3:53 Um, what part, where's home for you?

3:55 What part of the country do you live in?

3:57 Home for me is the Midwest.

3:59 I am from Orfordville, Wisconsin, which is just north of

4:03 the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

4:05 Okay.

4:06 And how long have you been longarm quilting?

4:09 I started longarm quilting back in 1998.

4:12 I had used a short arm in 95 and 96, but a longarm in 98.

4:18 Had you, had you been, um, a quilt top maker for longer than that?

4:25 Uh, yes.

4:26 I had started quilting more making tops probably about 1990.

4:33 Okay.

4:35 1990.

4:36 All right.

4:36 How old would you have been at that time?

4:38 I'm trying to...

4:39 I'm just trying to make a pick.

4:40 A lot of people don't start piecing tops until they're in their forties.

4:43 I was probably 42 in 1990.

4:45 Okay.

4:46 All right.

4:47 I had never, I had never quilted.

4:48 My neighbor wanted me to, she wanted to take a class and I said, I don't quilt.

4:53 And she said, well, but you're my friend.

4:55 And I said, yes, but I don't quilt.

4:57 And she said, well then just be my friend.

4:59 So I don't have to walk in alone.

5:00 Go walk with me.

5:02 So I did.

5:02 It was a one day class.

5:04 By the time I went home, I was hooked.

5:07 Ah, you were there to give her courage.

5:09 Yes.

5:09 Well, you've encouraged a lot of people over the years as we'll

5:12 find when we get into your story.

5:14 So, um, so what made you decide to long arm?

5:18 Because you had been, uh, you'd gone to a quilting class with your friend.

5:22 You discovered how fun it was to cut fabric apart and put it back together.

5:26 Um, how did you get into long arm quilting?

5:30 I had to live in Mexico for a couple of years with my husband's job.

5:33 And I knew no one, didn't know the language.

5:35 So I took along $600 of fabric and a sewing machine and I started piecing.

5:39 And when I came home, I had all these tops and I took them to a lady who had a long arm.

5:45 And she, after doing a few of them said to me, good Lord, you need to learn to long

5:49 arm because you've got so many tops.

5:51 And so I started drawing designs with stencils on quilts for her and trading her time.

5:59 And then she'd let me come and use the machine.

6:01 And from that point on in 1996, I started long arming and I've never quit.

6:10 Ah, okay.

6:12 So I'm going to adjust the camera because I just realized that you talk with your

6:16 hands a lot and nobody can see half of what you're saying.

6:21 Okay.

6:22 So, um, Hey, this is, we're a lot more professional with our long arm machines

6:29 than we are with our video and audio.

6:31 I'll tell you that.

6:32 Um, you know what, it's, it's the, it's the result that counts.

6:36 All right.

6:37 So, um, so when you got your machine, the question that comes up next is, did you

6:43 intend to start a business with it or did that happen accidentally?

6:48 It sounds like, you know, with your, with your friend, the lady who was doing the

6:52 quilts for you, it just kind of made dollars and cents for you to do that.

6:59 She took her machine and moved away and there were all these people

7:02 who needed to have a quilter.

7:03 And I thought, I know how to quote, I could do this.

7:06 And so I talked my husband into letting me get the machine that took me a while,

7:09 but he finally did, and I started it as a business, not so much that I wanted to

7:15 make a living off of it, but I wanted to make enough money for pay for my machine.

7:20 And I've done that a few times.

7:24 Yeah.

7:25 A few times over.

7:26 So tell me a little bit about the resistance that your husband put up.

7:31 What was, what were his concerns?

7:33 Um, his basic comment was we got to cut back.

7:37 We got to cut back.

7:37 You don't know about the economy.

7:38 You know, the economy is going down.

7:40 Got to cut back.

7:41 And I made the comment that how come every time you wanted to buy a boat or a

7:46 saw or another boat or canoe or kayak, there was always money to do it.

7:50 But when I wanted to get my machine, I had to cut back.

7:56 And so I got a little testy and I walked out the door and went to the library and

8:01 stayed there all day and read a book.

8:02 And when I came back, he sat down and he said, okay, while you were gone, before

8:06 you jump up and go in the other room, while you were gone, I checked out some

8:10 investments and there's one that's not doing so well.

8:12 So if you want to get a machine here, take this and figure out how to cash it in.

8:19 And I didn't wait for a second offer.

8:21 I just said, Oh, thank you very much.

8:22 And I took it.

8:23 And the next day I called and said, how do I get this money?

8:26 And then I called and got my machine.

8:28 And I haven't had a gamble since 2001.

8:30 Nice.

8:31 Yes.

8:32 So, so at that time in 2000, 2001, um, Gamble wasn't the only choice.

8:39 Like there were other brands of machine that you could have bought.

8:42 How, how did that decision, uh, land on a gamble as opposed to something different?

8:46 Okay.

8:47 Back at that point in time, they had what's called machine filter showcase.

8:50 And they were in Springfield, Illinois.

8:53 And I had gone down there a couple of years in a row and I

8:56 had tried all the other machines.

8:58 None of them compared to the quality of the gamble.

9:02 And if you're going to buy a machine and you only want to buy it

9:07 once, then you buy a gamble.

9:08 So I had my husband come down with me the second year and I said, okay, look at him.

9:13 And he went through and he said, you're going to buy one by the gamble.

9:16 It's the only one that's of the quality that's going to last.

9:18 And so I did.

9:19 And I've had it ever since.

9:21 Your, uh, your husband, I've spent a little bit of time with him.

9:24 He is.

9:25 Um, I believe that in the dictionary, if they have an entry for frugal,

9:30 they probably have his picture there.

9:32 Um, he's very frugal.

9:34 Oh, I'm sure.

9:35 So, so how is it that because he basically just said, it's okay for you to

9:42 buy the most expensive one at the show.

9:44 No, he said, you go check them out.

9:47 You find the best quality one.

9:50 And I went to the show that year and I looked at all of them.

9:53 I tried all of them and I went home and I said, okay, this is the one that I think

9:58 is the best, but I want you to come and look at it too.

10:01 And he said, if you think it's the best and it's the one you want, then get it.

10:05 And so I did.

10:06 Husbands do their research on the internet now.

10:09 They, uh, they look at the, uh, Google reviews.

10:13 Uh, you know, they, they still do that today.

10:16 I mean, you don't, it doesn't matter if you're a husband or a wife or, you

10:21 know, what, what your situation is.

10:22 That's a, that's a big investment.

10:24 Yes.

10:25 So yes, it is.

10:26 Yep.

10:26 And you're still going to find the gamel's the best quality.

10:29 Yeah.

10:30 Uh, I don't, I don't think anyone seriously debates that, but it's funny.

10:36 People do try to say that you don't need a machine as good as a gamel, but I, when

10:42 does it ever hurt you to buy the best?

10:45 It doesn't.

10:46 If you want it to last, if mine will be inherited by my granddaughter,

10:52 it'll be inherited by her child.

10:54 Anybody who loves quilting in the family will keep getting this machine.

10:58 It's always upgradable.

10:59 It's it's wonderful.

11:02 So when you got that machine, uh, was it a hand guided machine or computerized?

11:06 Nope.

11:06 It was hand guided.

11:07 It was constant speed, no regulator, anything.

11:10 The stitch regulator came out four years late.

11:12 Well, it came out two years later, but I didn't get it until four years later.

11:16 I added a stitch regulator to it in 2005.

11:21 Okay.

11:21 And then I upgraded later and put the statless stitcher on in

11:25 20, about 2011, 2012.

11:29 So is that the same machine that you have today?

11:31 Yes.

11:32 Okay.

11:33 So it's gone through its original life and then you upgraded it to a plus machine.

11:41 And then, uh, retrofit it to a statlet.

11:45 Okay.

11:45 It's a 26 inch classic.

11:47 Okay.

11:48 From 2003, it was the, my, my serial number said the casting was poured in 2000.

11:54 I bought in 2001.

11:56 Okay.

11:56 It was delivered in May of 2001.

11:58 Okay.

12:00 Well, that feels like a long time ago.

12:02 It is a long time ago and it's still running.

12:06 It just, there were forces.

12:08 Yep.

12:09 So how did you know that there would be enough long-arm quilting business in

12:13 your town to support the machine?

12:15 Or were you making enough quilts to make it worth it?

12:19 Well, at that point I had some of my own to do, but I also knew a lot of

12:22 people who were getting into quilting and I was teaching some friends how to

12:26 quilt and they all needed quilts done.

12:28 And so there was your business.

12:30 I mean, there's all kinds of ways to start a business.

12:33 Sure.

12:34 So that also answers my other question about how you found customers.

12:38 There was your friends that you had taught how to quilt.

12:41 What about, were there other areas that you found customers?

12:45 Just word of mouth or?

12:46 Word of mouth is one.

12:48 Quilt Guild?

12:48 Quilt Guild.

12:49 Well, no, I didn't, I didn't go to Quilt Guild because everybody goes quilts.

12:53 So I didn't.

12:54 Yeah, a little different here.

12:55 I, through church, you get a couple of them through church.

12:58 Then I donated a couple of them at school.

13:01 T-shirt quilts that I'd made as, you know, things for raffles and organizations

13:06 of sports clubs and stuff at school.

13:08 And then people would give them to you and people from church started.

13:11 And then an excellent way to do it.

13:13 And I know it might sound a little morbid.

13:14 However, if you watch the paper and someone passes away, you send a sympathy

13:19 card and you can have these cards made at 4imprints, they'll make them for you.

13:24 And your business card.

13:25 And you put a business card in there and put with my deepest sympathy.

13:28 If you would want a memory quilt made of your loved one's clothing,

13:32 let me know when you're ready.

13:34 And just have your business card in there.

13:37 And it's, it's a booming business.

13:39 It it's phenomenal.

13:41 Yeah.

13:42 You have to stop and think about all the different people that, you know,

13:47 well, that after they pass on that somebody wants to get a memory quilt.

13:51 Yeah.

13:52 Interesting.

13:54 Yeah.

13:55 So you found a lot of customers that way.

13:56 A lot of customers.

13:57 Uh-huh.

13:58 Okay.

13:59 You already covered this question.

14:00 How did you come up with the funds to purchase your machine?

14:03 Um, did, do you ever keep track of, if you didn't, I know your husband did,

14:10 but did you ever keep track of how long it took for you to earn or

14:15 pay back the cost of your machine?

14:17 Yes.

14:17 That machine was paid back and within two years, two years, two years.

14:21 Yeah.

14:22 Because that was the agreement I made with him that I would take all of the money I

14:24 made and I would pay that money back.

14:26 And I would pay for the two boys college tuition money.

14:29 If he would let me get the machine, I knew I could make enough money so that

14:33 we wouldn't have to take any money out of investments, put those boys through

14:36 college, and when those boys got through college, then I bought myself a boat.

14:41 And he, he couldn't believe I could make enough money to pay for a boat, but I did.

14:48 Interesting.

14:49 So, so when you were doing your quilting for customers, did you also

14:56 have another job at the same time?

14:58 When I first got my machine, I did.

14:59 I worked at Black Hawk Technical College in the tech prep area.

15:04 But after a while, I, I couldn't work there full time and then quilt until

15:08 midnight to get everybody's quilts done.

15:10 And so finally I just told my boss I had to, when they got there, I

15:15 would always have the summer off.

15:16 I said, I'm done.

15:17 She said, I'll see you in September.

15:19 I said, no, I'm done.

15:20 And she said, no, this is working really well.

15:22 And I said, no, I'm done.

15:23 And I did quit and go full time.

15:25 Uh huh.

15:25 Okay.

15:26 And so you quit and went full time after how many years of doing both?

15:34 Just a year.

15:35 A year of doing both.

15:36 Okay.

15:36 Just no.

15:38 Well, you have to follow your heart.

15:39 You know, if you're, if all day long you're at work and you're thinking about

15:44 the quilts you get to do when you go home.

15:47 And then you, you quilt up until 12, 1, 2 o'clock and you got to get some sleep

15:51 to go back to work the next day to function.

15:54 And pretty soon I just got to the point where, what do you want to do?

15:57 Well, I want to stay home and quilt.

15:58 Well then quit your job and stay home and quilt.

16:01 Yeah.

16:01 So I did.

16:02 And it's been wonderful ever since.

16:05 All right.

16:05 I know that everybody who's watching this live right now is pretty dialed into your

16:11 story, but I want to take a little intermission to point out that at the

16:14 bottom of your screen, there's a little thing, I believe it's called Q and A on

16:18 your side.

16:20 And so, um, as we are going, you can type a question in there at any time.

16:26 And when I see it pop up, whenever I get a break, I'll go ahead and read that

16:30 question and we'll ask Kathy this for you.

16:33 Um, so, so Kathy, um, this is 23 years ago that you started, but at this point,

16:41 are you still, uh, long arm quilting?

16:43 And if so, how many hours per week would you say you quilt?

16:45 Yes.

16:46 I'm still long arm quilting, uh, because I'm 76 years old now, so I've cut back a

16:51 lot, but there have been new people get machines and so I can refer my customers

16:57 to them so I don't feel so guilty.

16:59 Um, I probably am still quilting 20 to 30, 35 hours a week.

17:07 Okay.

17:08 Half time, three quarter time.

17:11 Um, do you, do you strictly stay mostly to the edge to edge?

17:16 Do you do some custom?

17:17 You had mentioned the t-shirt quilts.

17:19 What's your kind of working blend?

17:22 Majority of my customers are edge to edge because price, that's what they want.

17:27 If it's for them, normally that's a custom quilt.

17:30 I'm doing a king size custom right now.

17:32 I also do a blend where part of it is statler, part of it is freehand.

17:36 It kind of depends on what they want.

17:38 So I can do either.

17:40 And mostly you're dealing with long-term customers now, people

17:44 that you've had for a long time.

17:46 The group of ladies that I taught the seven, those seven ladies, I will quilt for them.

17:52 I don't, right now I'm not taking many new customers at all.

17:56 It has to be somebody who can't find anybody.

18:00 So, um, you had told me before, Kathy, that you were probably not going to be able to

18:06 answer the question of how much you think you earned in your best year or in your

18:12 worst year, but take, take a stab at least what, what you can tell people.

18:16 You mentioned that you put your boys through college without loans, right?

18:21 We, we paid their, I told Bill, if I could get that machine, it could make

18:25 enough money to pay for their books, their tuition and room and board.

18:28 As long as they stayed on campus, I'd pay room and board.

18:31 If they moved off, then they had to get a job and pay their own room and board.

18:33 I would continue to pay tuition and books.

18:36 And we put both of those boys through college.

18:38 They came up debt-free and that machine paid for it.

18:43 So are they gainfully employed?

18:45 They are getting one is a, yes, they're gainfully employed.

18:48 One is a doctor's assistant.

18:51 And the other one is a high school assistant principal.

18:54 So they're very gainfully employed.

18:57 They take good care of me.

18:58 Good job, mom.

18:59 Yeah.

19:00 Good job, boys.

19:00 That's very important.

19:02 That's very important.

19:03 And then when I got them through college, I bought my own boat.

19:07 Cause I liked it, an inboard.

19:08 So I bought one cause Bill's was outboard.

19:11 Oh, inboards are better.

19:12 Yeah.

19:13 Yeah.

19:13 It, it makes you good money.

19:16 So, um, what was the hardest part of growing your business?

19:23 If you think back to those really early years before it really took off, what,

19:28 what was the obstacle that you had to get a, uh, get over time, having the

19:33 time to be able to dedicate to it, which is, you know, how old were your boys at

19:40 that time?

19:41 Uh, one was, uh, 14 in high school.

19:44 The other, or let's see, I'm sorry, 16, uh, 15 and 17 at that point in time, the

19:54 two youngest were 15 and 17.

19:56 So you're trying to go to school events.

19:57 You're trying to work.

20:00 and help outside and you're trying to get your quilting done and it's it's time dedicated time

20:04 to be able to quilt and when you look at a quilt it's a piece of art and so you're you're trying to

20:09 say okay what's going to make it look the best what can I do it to make it a masterpiece and so

20:15 it's uh figuring out the ideas of what to do sometimes it would take me a while figure those

20:24 out yeah i can see that i i have a lot of co-workers right now whose kids are in that

20:31 in your age range and i know it's a very busy time it is yeah it is um can you think of any

20:39 um change in technology from when you first started up until this day that has really

20:46 made a difference for you that made your made it much easier for you to do your business or

20:51 really changed everything absolutely technology is awesome i'm 76 so i struggle with technology

20:58 a little but the the videos that gamma puts out there and adding the statler to it made the world

21:04 of difference because i can run an edge to edge so much quicker i can do the custom work and just

21:11 drop in patterns and triangles and it it allowed you the creativity to make it look like an awesome

21:18 quilt and i didn't have to think of all the ideas people had them out there you can go watch videos

21:23 and if you had issues you could call somebody where it's before you are is on your own

21:28 yeah yeah technology is wonderful i see a question here so let me take a look and see what we have

21:37 one comment from pam is just that quilters don't do math

21:41 i can see that well and then uh cadence she was asking about the

21:51 fifty dollar flat rate again okay we cut it out at that point okay okay i think that's what you're

21:59 talking about is that go ahead i was talking about a baby quilt normally baby quilts are 45

22:07 by 45 or 45 by 50 and so if i'm just running an edge to edge on a baby quilt i tell that people

22:14 it's a flat $50 rate takes me about an hour and a half to load it run it and take it off i include

22:20 the batting in the thread it's it's a fair price for me it's a fair price for them yeah it doesn't

22:27 make sense to put a quilt on the frame for less than $50 no yeah okay great any other questions

22:36 feel free to shoot them out there to us so um so kathy i love this question because i

22:46 who was your biggest cheerleader through this well now once i got the machine and it started

22:52 making money my husband is he tells people that's the best thing i ever bought and which

22:57 i always question but he tells people it's the best thing ever bought she gets grouchy i say

23:02 honey just go to the basement and quilt she comes up in such a good mood afterwards and that's true

23:08 quilting is therapy i love it i i'm not necessarily in it to make a bunch of money now it's it's my

23:15 therapy i love doing it and it's fun and you get to get up in the morning and go do something you

23:21 love to do and somebody's going to pay you to do it that's great fantastic so he's he's your

23:27 biggest supporter huh yeah fantastic yeah yes yeah um what kind of impact has the the quilting

23:38 money and the control over your personal schedule made in your life oh it it's much more relaxing

23:45 now i i can choose to when i want to quilt again i retired and so i kind of like to go do my own

23:52 thing when i want to it has allowed me to have money when i have four four sons and if the boys

23:57 needed anything it's like well go ask mom because mom's already got money and so it allowed me to

24:03 to give them money help out do this do that take a vacation to florida in january and then go back

24:09 to work in february it it gives you a lot of freedom it has given me a lot of freedom and

24:16 when i come home from my sabbatical that month in january in florida where it's warm to wisconsin

24:21 where it's cold i'm thrilled to go back out and quilt again it's fun you miss it after you after

24:26 you've been away a little while you miss it so a lot of people point out to us when we're doing

24:33 these interviews how much the the flexibility and the freedom because i mean not to not to pick on

24:40 any other type of a job but normally you don't have a lot of control over your schedule somebody

24:46 else is telling you when you're going to work yep so this is something people really do like

24:52 so um what's something that you wish someone would have told you when you first started

25:00 that i should have done it sooner i should have just done it sooner

25:06 should have done it yeah were you were you afraid like you were well you seem like the

25:15 kind of person who's afraid of nothing but you were making some kind of old promises to your

25:21 husband hey i need to buy this machine get pay it back blah blah blah what what were you um

25:28 were you secretly kind of questioning a little bit whether you really could no no i i knew i

25:36 could make enough money quilting there's enough business out there for everybody people would say

25:42 to me aren't you afraid that there'll be too many it'll be saturated mark it'll be saturated

25:47 and i always say no because again when you get to be my age it's like i don't necessarily have

25:53 to work that hard anymore i don't have to earn that much money i don't have to do this anymore

25:57 so you kind of back away but yet there's all kinds of people out there quilting they need

26:02 quilters so no i've never worried about it getting saturated i have five different people within

26:10 maybe seven miles of me who all have statler stitchers all of us are busy everybody is busy

26:16 as busy as you want to be oh as busy as you want to be i have a quilt shop that's got a statler in

26:24 it there's 70 quilts behind i went there at christmas and they're like oh my lord if they

26:30 had room they'd have another machine because they're that busy and my neighbor i look out my

26:35 kitchen window there she is she's busy it went out my living room window she's busy there's enough

26:42 business out there for everybody and the older you get you kind of drop off and you need people

26:46 coming to pick up the slack because the amount of interest and the classes that they're teaching

26:52 i have people asking me to teach more classes teach more piecing classes and it's it it just

26:59 keeps growing okay well we're getting down to the last couple questions so um

27:09 if you've got a question you want to write in uh this would be your opportunity to do it so

27:16 what advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you've done what what does she need to

27:23 hear to don't be afraid because of the dollar cost get your machine get a good quality machine

27:32 if you don't get a good quality one you get one that you're going to struggle with

27:35 then it's going to ruin your love for quilting you because now you're not going to like it anymore

27:40 it's it doesn't work and now you're frustrated get a good quality machine to start with

27:45 and then just start out the business will come word of mouth do a sample go to a quilt shop

27:52 offer to do a sample for them a class that they're going to teach

27:57 well they're quilted free i'll quilt it free for you if you'll carry my business cards and give me

28:01 the reference you'll get business um so this is 20 some years later don't be afraid this is 20

28:14 some years later and um obviously tons of things have changed why why hasn't the quilting changed

28:24 because like i've heard a lot of people say well there's so many machines out there there's a

28:28 machine on every corner but i think one thing people don't realize is there's a lot of cheaper

28:34 machines that don't actually get used they get used just as much as a uh just as much as a

28:40 rowing machine or a stair stepper or something else that you used it for a week or two and now

28:46 it gathers dust so there's a whole ton of those and then there's machines like yours that's capable

28:52 of putting out several hundred quilts a year but you don't use it that much anymore because you're

28:56 busy doing things with your grandkids that's true i have grandkids that live a distance away

29:01 and like i said i'm 76 i'm retired i'm going to go enjoy life with them too so that's why i cut

29:08 back on my clothing and i tell new people okay here's what customers are and i refer my customers

29:15 that i'm cutting back here's somebody who'll give you quality work they've got a statler also

29:21 they're good at hand guiding whatever

29:26 thank you yeah so we got a question from grace and her question is when you were promoting

29:32 yourself and sending a sympathy card offering to make a quilt from the clothing did you offer

29:38 a specific designer to you no basically they at when you get the clothing they don't really care

29:46 it's they want something out of their loved one's clothing and normally i will do uh what i call the

29:52 back porch quilt squares six inch 80 inch 10 inch whatever and then i'll sash it and then i run an

29:59 overall on it and those quilts depending on the size if it's a couch quilt usually it costs them

30:05 120 to do a couch quilt if i am making it and quilting it doing both because i have a gal who

30:13 does a lot of my piecing for me now because it just got to be too much to do it alone and she

30:20 will piece it a couch she'll piece for 75 queen size she'll piece for 150 and so if she's pieced

30:31 it for 150 and i run an edge to edge on it if it's queen size it runs about 150 130 150 depending

30:39 on the size 110 we should have a conversation about inflation i'm afraid that your prices have

30:46 not kept pace with inflation but i guess you don't really need the money no i do it for the love of

30:50 it yeah yeah okay i see another question people are getting them in under the wire because they

30:56 know we're at the end so sandy oh hi sandy i know her uh she says as a new quilter doing edge to

31:04 edge can you explain where the line is that defines a project as custom i hear terms of

31:11 semi-custom and custom okay an edge to edge is over the whole quilt same pattern over the whole

31:17 quilt that's edge to edge semi is a quilt that i've got a border on it and maybe there's triangles

31:25 on the border so i'm going to drop a pattern a statler pattern into my triangles flipping it back

31:30 and forth all the way around and i'll just click click click click drop it in let it stitch click

31:35 click click drop it in let it stitch in the middle i will start the edge to edge and just run that in

31:41 the middle panel what i call the middle section and just run an edge to edge on that but i'll

31:46 drop something else out here or maybe i'll freehand it and i'll run bars i'll do that two inch piano

31:52 key channel lock it every two inches across and down the sides and bar their borders um custom

32:01 quick question so when you're talking um semi-custom like that where the middle of it is

32:07 an edge to edge are we talking about maybe twice as much time overall no no no no it doesn't take

32:14 twice as much time well if you were hand guided it would but with the staff if you're hand guiding

32:20 okay if i'm going to hand guide and that's where i'm going to do the bar borders i'm just going to

32:25 use channel locks and bar those borders out separately run an edge to edge in the inside

32:29 or maybe i'm going to bar the borders maybe there's a second border that i'm going to put patterns in

32:34 in the triangles and run an edge to edge in the middle or just run an overall meander in the

32:38 middle maybe i'll freehand that sometimes it's faster just to freehand it so it really depends

32:45 and when i do that then i kind of keep track of my time because i'm gonna i'm going to quilt

32:52 and it's going to be a minimum minimum it's going to be 15 an hour usually your your edge

32:58 to edge makes more than that but oh yeah yeah okay uh we got another one from iphone uh do you

33:08 trim your quilts before returning them to the customer yes i do a lot of my customers will bring

33:15 me a binding fabric and they want me to make the binding and apply it all right so now that's

33:21 another separate charge if i'm going to make it it's an apply just sew it with a sewing machine

33:26 on the top i charge 25 because that's going to take me an hour to make it and sew it on when i

33:32 get done and i i quilt them even if i'm not putting a binding on i trim all my quilts to a

33:38 half inch away so that the customer if unless a customer tells me not to trim it i trim them they

33:45 look neater they look more finished now is it fair to say that you haven't changed your prices in the

33:50 last five years yes okay because that's what i'm thinking when i'm hearing your prices because

33:56 these are the things that people were telling me five years ago that's okay yeah i haven't all right

34:01 i just want to make sure that anybody listening to you know i want to charge more guys right well

34:06 she's got a selective group of customers you know that they probably piece really nicely and

34:13 they're easy to work with don't i wish oh come on some of them might listen to this no they need to

34:21 hear it anyway i teach a class i teach them how to do it right they still don't do it right some

34:28 of them so you know it's okay yeah they'll work with it it's okay you know what sometimes it's

34:33 hard to get it's hard to get your glasses situated quite right to be able to make out that quarter

34:39 inch it can be really tricky it can be thank god for channel locks helps you keep them square yeah

34:45 well that helps you but that doesn't help her to get her piecing right i know you just have to keep

34:50 telling him measure measure okay we got another question from iphone oh it's uh it's uh amy i know

35:00 who she is okay i don't usually put last names but uh amy has actually been a guest on the

35:07 podcast she is a very successful business owner herself so okay all right well um this has been

35:18 a lot of fun actually i uh i knew a lot kathy and i have worked together for a long time

35:24 um she has i guess she basically kind of came out of retirement for a few days to come to the show

35:30 with her days yeah yeah but enjoy working with you guys it's fun but over the years she has helped

35:36 literally thousands of people overcome their whatever had them stuck on achieving their

35:44 dream because you all you quilters every one of you has a dream some of you it's to run a quilting

35:51 business some of it there's a favorite charity doing quilts for people with cancer people that

35:57 are veterans people that are maybe children that have just been um taken into a out of one rough

36:04 situation and into a different kind of rough situation and each one of you has um has a stamp

36:11 that you want to put on the world and it's something that's that's in you that needs to

36:16 come out and yet there's fears there's you know and each of you they're different fears but there's

36:24 the unknown and to go into that unknown is very scary and i just i i feel blessed to um to know

36:31 kathy because in the years that she's been helping people uh get over their fears i i don't know

36:38 anybody more encouraging um than kathy and if you have an excuse for why it won't work for you or

36:46 for why you can't do what you want to do uh don't be talking to kathy she's gonna blow your excuses

36:52 right out of the water no i hope you'll figure it out you can do it well i if you listen to the

37:00 beginning and the end of the podcast that the in and the out that's pre-recorded i forget exactly

37:07 what it is that i say there but i think that it's too easy for us to go through life and and look

37:15 back and wonder what happened to the last five years what happened to the last 10 years and why

37:20 didn't i get why didn't i make any of the things that i wanted to see happen happen everything that

37:28 my husband wanted happened everything that my kids wanted happened and how come none of the

37:34 things that i wanted to do happen and i don't have a husband just in case anybody was wondering

37:41 but um but i i just would encourage you to it's not selfish to take care of yourself you're important

37:50 too yes and it is really really and if you have a spouse who's not quite sure or you're not quite

38:02 sure about making the making the leap i want you to just remember that when you live in a house with

38:10 somebody who is happy because they're fulfilling their whatever they were made to do they are

38:17 they're going they're doing work that they care about it's a passion when when you live with

38:22 somebody who is happy in their life because they're doing the things that are important to them

38:28 they are a much nicer person to live with so um so if your husband needs that boat

38:35 help him get that boat get the boat and if and if you need a statler then he should need a

38:42 yes because happy spouse means a happy house that's right you support each other yeah it's

38:49 important it it's good for your mental health it's good for his mental health yeah yeah it's

38:57 really yeah it's so we're we're uh we're gonna wrap it up i i apologize for uh i feel sometimes

39:04 like i i uh stumble over my words to try to get my idea out but i just want i just want anybody who's

39:13 who's worried or afraid of what they what they think they can't do you can do this and do this

39:19 and if you happen to be like uh like a handful of people that i've met over the years and for

39:25 whatever reason your life changes you are suddenly blind you can't quilt anymore because you can't

39:31 see the fabric or whatever give us a call we'll buy your machine back this is not like uh something

39:37 that has to be a big problem so um it's not like you've bought a two-week uh vacation around the

39:45 world and once you get home all you have left is the memories and i mean it's a tangible piece of

39:50 equipment it is and you shouldn't look at the price if you if you look at that dollar price

39:55 you think oh my god you know i can't buy that's just too much no look at how can i

40:00 buy it. How can I do that? How much actually will it cost me per month to make a payment?

40:07 If my payment is $900 a month, and if I can make $150 on a quilt, per quilt, then I have

40:15 to do four quilts. Four quilts for somebody else a month. That's one a week. That's a

40:22 piece of cake.

40:23 We talk to people all the time who do have obstacles in the way for getting a machine,

40:29 but it is almost never, it's really never about the money. Whenever we are having conversations

40:37 with people, if you have, you know, if you're a homeowner and you have space in your home

40:42 where you can put the machine, everything else is just details that we can work out.

40:47 Get rid of the couch. You don't need it anyway. You don't want to sit in that anymore. You

40:50 just want to quilt.

40:51 All right. Well, Kathy, thank you so much for joining me today. If, if, if people have

41:00 the desire to reach out to you after we wrap up this podcast, do you have, I don't believe

41:05 you have a quilting website because you started too soon. Do you, is there a way that people

41:11 can't, they can find you on Facebook or Instagram or.

41:14 Remember now, I'm 76.

41:17 I know you have a phone number, but we don't want to put that out. What's your email?

41:22 F-T-R-A-V, the number six at gmail.com. F-T-R-A-V, six at gmail.com.

41:31 All right, cool. Well, it may be that people hear this interview and they have a question

41:37 for you. Thank you for sharing your email address. So awesome. All right, well, we will

41:42 go ahead and wrap it up and then we will see you all back here next week for another

41:47 episode. We've got the next several weeks. I know who the, who the interviewees are and

41:54 they're looking to be an excellent set of interviews. So thank you so much. And we'll

42:00 see you guys next week.

42:12 Transcribed by https://otter.ai