How Claire Marks Prices Longarm Quilting—and Finds the Right Customers

0:00 Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Quilting Business Success.

0:27 This is the first time, and do you know how long it's been since the last time me and

0:31 you have been together?

0:32 Well, the last time we were together, we were in that undisclosed location, underground

0:37 bunker.

0:38 It was a really cool room, actually.

0:40 It was set up as a home movie theater, and it was a really cool room, but what you couldn't

0:48 see when we were recording that was that there was cables everywhere, and if anybody had

0:52 walked in, they would have tripped.

0:54 It was an OSHA violation.

0:56 Yes.

0:58 So we had to put up a little sign, do not come in.

1:01 So that was fun.

1:02 That was, I don't know, maybe six weeks ago.

1:05 Okay.

1:06 It seemed like six months ago.

1:07 I'm not sure.

1:08 Yeah.

1:09 Anyway, are we going to do this show here?

1:10 Well, we've got a whole stack of people in here now.

1:13 Let's get going.

1:14 Yeah.

1:15 So we have Claire Marks with us.

1:18 Is that right?

1:19 Yes, that's right.

1:20 All right, Claire.

1:21 So Claire, we're glad to have you with us.

1:26 Thank you.

1:27 You look like you're a little younger than some of the people that have been on this

1:30 show before.

1:31 Just a little tiny bit.

1:32 Yeah, that's great.

1:33 I'm old at heart.

1:34 I'm an old person at heart.

1:37 You're an old soul.

1:38 Yes.

1:39 We've had people that we've interviewed who were not old enough to drink.

1:41 Yes, we have.

1:42 There you go.

1:43 See, not the youngest, but 50 by 40.

1:47 Yes.

1:48 Well, so Claire, what part of the country are you in?

1:52 I live in Exeter, California, which is east an hour from Fresno at the base of the Sequoia

2:01 National Park.

2:02 Oh, awesome.

2:03 It's very hot today.

2:04 Oh, yeah.

2:05 Well, it sounds beautiful.

2:06 The whole nation has been hot today.

2:10 It's been like almost 100 here in Missouri.

2:13 Yeah, that's 199 with the humidity.

2:17 Yes.

2:18 So Claire, how long have you been long arming?

2:22 Well, I have been long arming for seven years, and I've had my Gammill for four years.

2:30 And I've been quilting, quilting for 12 years.

2:34 So you started out with quilting, who got you into that?

2:37 You know, I really wanted, I had been told that we would only have one child, and I was

2:44 pregnant, and I knew that I wanted to have the most beautiful quilt for him.

2:49 And I just couldn't find one that spoke all the things I wanted to say in my heart.

2:54 So I went online and watched YouTube, and I taught myself.

2:59 Well, that's cool.

3:01 You started this whole thing to make the perfect quilt for your newborn.

3:05 Yeah, and he didn't even like it.

3:10 But I had so much fun making that one quilt that I just kept going and going.

3:16 And even though they were ugly in the beginning, they just kept getting more and more fun.

3:22 What can I do?

3:23 What can I make?

3:24 And it just became more and more and more until people started saying, hey, do you have

3:29 a pattern for that?

3:30 And I'd say, no, it came out of my brain.

3:33 And then I just started making patterns.

3:35 And then after a while, I got a long arm, because that's the next step.

3:40 Right.

3:41 So what made you decide to get a long arm?

3:43 I was so tired of trying to stuff it through one of those little tiny domestic machines.

3:48 So my very first one was a 16 mid arm.

3:53 And I ran that thing into the ground within a couple years.

3:57 And then I always dreamed of having something bigger, something stronger that I could just

4:04 do forever and never have to worry that it would be not enough.

4:12 We met your husband.

4:14 Did he have anything to say about getting a better machine?

4:18 So he did.

4:20 I said, this is the top of the line.

4:22 This is what I want.

4:24 And he said, I would like a Ford F-350 diesel big truck.

4:29 And I was like, no.

4:30 And he said, no.

4:32 And then he went on deployment, because he's in the Navy.

4:36 And so he went on deployment, and it was Thanksgiving, and his ship pulled into California.

4:43 And so he took a car to go have Thanksgiving with his family.

4:46 And he sent me a picture, without any words, of him shaking the hand of a dealer right

4:51 next to this hugely expensive car.

4:54 And I was like, oh my gosh, no way.

4:56 And he wouldn't answer the phone.

4:58 And then when he did, he was laughing, he was teasing me about having sent this photo,

5:03 right?

5:04 So then my mom said, you should tease him back.

5:06 And I was like, yeah, that's a good idea.

5:08 I'm like, where should we go?

5:09 He said, oh, we can't go to a jewelry place, because he knows I don't wear that much jewelry.

5:13 And I was like, oh, let's go check out the Gamelan.

5:15 I've never seen one.

5:16 And we'll take a picture, just like his, and shake the arm of the dealer, and be like.

5:23 So we drove all the way down to see a dealer that was near us.

5:27 And I did that.

5:28 I took a picture.

5:29 It was shaking in front of an expensive machine.

5:32 And then I told her that I wanted to hand free motion quilt.

5:36 And she was like, oh, you don't need one of those big machines.

5:40 You just need a vision.

5:42 And I was like, really?

5:43 How much is that?

5:44 And she told me.

5:45 And I was like, so the joke was on him.

5:46 I actually did get a Gamelan.

5:47 Right.

5:48 Right.

5:49 So his picture was fake.

5:50 But yours ended up being real.

5:51 Yeah, his picture was fake.

5:52 Mine was supposed to be fake.

5:53 But it turns out they're a lot more affordable and a lot more awesome than I thought.

5:59 So I want to say, so how did that conversation work out when he found out that you-

6:04 It came out in my favor.

6:05 I know.

6:06 Well, he was gone.

6:07 And so he didn't have a lot of internet.

6:09 So then he came back a month later, and I was like, hey, you know that picture?

6:12 And he was like, ha ha, that was funny.

6:14 Not so funny, funny.

6:15 And I was like, well, it's coming in a month.

6:18 And he said, ah, well, I said not to get one until we retire.

6:23 I'm like, didn't you put your orders in to retire like a week ago?

6:26 And he's like, but we don't retire for a year.

6:28 I'm like, ah, it's fine.

6:30 It's fine.

6:31 Yeah.

6:32 Plus or minus a year.

6:33 But he's really good about supporting me, and he didn't really mind, not in general.

6:39 So is that machine still the one that you have to this day?

6:42 Yes, I do all my show quilting and my hand quilting on that one.

6:47 And then only lately have I been thinking about getting a computerized one, and I just

6:53 picked one up a week ago.

6:54 So I haven't really had time to get to know it or name it or anything.

6:58 Oh, so you have two right now.

7:00 I do.

7:01 I have one at my house that's in the living room right next to the TV.

7:04 And then I have one that I have at a shop that I share with the shop owner.

7:10 Ah, okay.

7:11 Is there room at that shop for the other machine or not?

7:14 Yeah, we made room.

7:15 We made room.

7:16 We moved all the fabric away and made room.

7:19 So when you got your first one that was the 16-inch machine, did you get that one with

7:30 the eye towards doing quilts for other people?

7:32 Or was it only when you got the Gammill that your focus was more on that?

7:37 It was only really when I got the Gammill that I started doing customer quilts.

7:42 I do custom quilting for people, but the little one gave me the start, the desire to really

7:49 want to go.

7:50 And it did make some beautiful show quilts.

7:53 And then I felt like I was just running it into the ground.

7:59 It was just going and going and going.

8:01 So I need something more industrial, something that will stand up for 40 hours of quilting.

8:08 So you didn't actually start business per se until you had your Gammill?

8:14 Is that right?

8:15 I started selling patterns.

8:17 I would make patterns of my quilts.

8:19 And then I didn't start sewing for other people until I had my Gammill.

8:24 And by that time, I was really quite good at it.

8:27 And I just knew that there would be people who would want that.

8:31 So I felt like the Gammill gave me that confidence to do that.

8:35 And what's your general...

8:37 You like the Gammill?

8:39 Tell us how you like that Gammill.

8:41 I do.

8:42 I really do like it.

8:43 When I would go over seams in my old machine, it would be like...

8:46 And you're like, oh, is it going to fall apart?

8:49 And I like that it's just really smooth and it's very quiet.

8:56 My other one, I would wear my Bose headset on and turn on the sound canceling and I could still hear over that.

9:03 And this one, I don't hear it.

9:07 It's just you put on those Bose canceling and you just go for it and you listen to music and it's awesome.

9:14 So with all the different ones that were on the market, you know, you didn't have to get a Gammill.

9:20 There's a couple others that you could have looked at.

9:23 What was the thing that made you decide to get the Gammill?

9:27 I had heard that it had a really good reputation for being industrial.

9:32 And I talked to a lady, like, you know, you go to the guilds and you talk to ladies who have them.

9:37 What's your preference?

9:39 And I met this one lady and she said that she had been quilting for like 35 years.

9:45 And I asked her, what machine?

9:47 And she's like, oh, I've had the same machine since day one.

9:51 And she's like, I've had a Gammill and it is the most awesome machine and I've never, ever had a problem with it.

9:56 And she's like, and that just kind of sold me just talking to people about their machines.

10:01 There was a lot of awesome machines on the market.

10:04 But for me, that for some reason, it stuck in my heart.

10:08 I just wanted something that I didn't have to worry about that was just going to go for 35 years.

10:15 So when you first started, did you know when you first started, you know, doing it as a business,

10:24 did you know that there was enough customers that you'd be able to have enough customers?

10:30 Tell us a little bit about that.

10:32 I am not one of those ladies who plan everything out.

10:36 I kind of wing it.

10:38 And I just winged it.

10:43 I knew that in the area that I lived in, that people were asking for custom quilting.

10:48 And they were coming up to me and saying, I like your stuff.

10:52 They were seeing it at shows.

10:56 And I thought, oh, I could do that.

10:59 And custom show quilting is very small, little tiny category.

11:04 I don't get all the people.

11:07 I get only a small amount of people.

11:10 And I'm willing to pay for it being worked on for a long time.

11:13 Because sometimes it's on the long arm for like three or four months.

11:16 And so you don't have that many people.

11:20 But you have enough to keep you going.

11:22 And that's what I wanted.

11:24 I wanted to have customers here and there.

11:26 And then have enough money to enter competitions.

11:29 To buy the things that I want to buy.

11:31 To be able to spend the money and not have to ask for money.

11:36 Even though you would have given it to me.

11:38 But it's nice to not have to ask.

11:40 It makes it worthwhile for having the machine there.

11:43 And the space dedicated to it.

11:45 Doesn't it?

11:46 It feels good to be able to say, I can support myself, this little tiny hobby.

11:51 By having a few custom quilters.

11:54 And so on my best times, I would do like six customers a year.

11:59 And that's not that much.

12:01 But it's enough for me to keep going.

12:04 At eight cents per square inch.

12:06 It makes a big difference to me.

12:08 And then when I moved from that area.

12:12 And my husband retired.

12:14 We moved to a place that didn't want custom quilting.

12:17 Which was really hard on me.

12:19 I had to change everything.

12:21 And I still custom quilt for myself.

12:23 And compete my quilts.

12:25 And do the designs.

12:27 But now people are asking, can I have just all over pattern?

12:32 And for me, doing that on the hand-guided is very boring.

12:35 You're just.

12:37 I want it to be exciting.

12:39 I like to have all the new things.

12:41 Like the hand-guided stuff is exciting to me.

12:45 But doing pantographs is really boring.

12:47 So that's why I purchased computerized.

12:51 And people are just lining up out the door for me to do that.

12:54 So I think I'm going to do both.

12:56 I'm going to run the computerized at her shop.

12:59 And we're going to do it for customers.

13:01 And then I'll just do my own stuff at home.

13:03 And for special customers that want it.

13:05 So you just got the computerized?

13:09 I did it like two weeks ago.

13:11 Okay.

13:13 Have you done any stitching on it yet?

13:15 I've stitched one quilt.

13:17 And I was super happy.

13:19 Awesome.

13:21 I think that you will find that it's life-changing.

13:23 The Statler.

13:25 I'm excited.

13:27 She said the customers are lining up out the door for her.

13:30 I'm like, lady, you have to come back in a month.

13:32 I have to get used to the program.

13:34 You haven't made anything yet.

13:36 And they're already lining up.

13:38 I want to be on the list.

13:40 All right.

13:42 I don't know.

13:44 I should have asked you this.

13:46 But I didn't know to ask you this before.

13:48 Do you know about our new owner training program?

13:50 Have you looked into that at all?

13:52 I have seen that.

13:54 It's pretty awesome.

13:56 I've seen the confidence tour.

13:59 I think it's called.

14:01 It's pretty neat.

14:03 You can take classes and learn all about the Statler.

14:05 It will be really awesome.

14:07 Yeah.

14:09 He's referring to a couple of different things.

14:11 The quilting with confidence.

14:13 You're more the pro on that.

14:15 Yeah.

14:17 Well, the quilting with confidence, that's the tour.

14:19 This year is 42 cities.

14:21 We're more than halfway through the year tour.

14:23 But we still have a lot of locations left.

14:25 And those are great.

14:27 You can come to the confidence essentials part,

14:29 which is a one-day free class.

14:31 Or you can come to the quilting with confidence

14:33 and take the hand-guided track.

14:35 Or you can take the basic computerized

14:37 or the advanced computerized.

14:39 But those really don't.

14:41 They're incredible.

14:43 And we've been doing those since 2019.

14:45 But it doesn't really take the place

14:47 of the new owner training.

14:49 Because the new owner training,

14:51 since we've been doing it,

14:53 we've had a lot of people

14:56 and some of it is stuff

14:58 you've already learned and or figured out.

15:00 But it actually...

15:02 You would like the new owner training, you personally.

15:04 Yeah.

15:06 It assumes nothing.

15:08 And so, like, if you're...

15:10 Well, I'll pick on your husband

15:12 because I know that quilting is not his career.

15:14 Like if a machine dropped into his lap

15:16 and he's never wound a bobbin before,

15:18 doesn't know how to put it in the bobbin case,

15:20 much less how to properly

15:22 put the bobbin case into the machine.

15:25 You know, he doesn't know any of the things.

15:27 A person...

15:29 The new owner training doesn't assume anything.

15:31 There is training

15:33 on every single thing

15:35 that you need to know how to do.

15:37 So, obviously, a lot of it is things

15:39 you know. But I've had people

15:41 who've bought their second or third machine

15:43 and the first purchase

15:45 didn't include...

15:47 You know, it had like one day of training

15:49 and then it was like, okay, go have fun.

15:51 And so then they get a new machine

15:53 and it comes with the new owner training

15:55 and they go back over that stuff

15:57 and they're like, you know, I thought I knew all this stuff

15:59 but there were some important details

16:01 that I had never learned.

16:03 So that program is

16:05 available for anyone on Gammill.com.

16:07 It comes for free when you make

16:09 a purchase of a new or used

16:11 machine through Gammill.

16:13 But if you get one private party,

16:15 you can...

16:17 I believe there's even an easy-squeezing monthly

16:19 payment option so that you can

16:21 get $49 a month

16:23 or something like that.

16:25 Working in tech support, I talk to people

16:27 all the time and I recommend

16:29 the new owner training

16:31 for them.

16:33 Even myself, if there's something with the quilting

16:35 I need to refresh myself on, I'll look

16:37 in the new owner training. Let's see, how do you do that?

16:39 You know, and refresh my memory.

16:41 By the way, let me tell you

16:43 that screen is on your side.

16:45 If anybody wants to ask

16:47 a question, we forgot to mention

16:49 that at the beginning of the program. If anybody wants

16:51 to ask a question for Claire or make

16:53 a comment, feel free to go on the bottom

16:55 of your screen. It's called

16:57 Q&A. You just put your question

16:59 in there and then we'll read it.

17:01 People are watching this live.

17:03 Let's get back to business.

17:05 So I'm curious,

17:07 you've found customers

17:09 now twice for your business.

17:11 Once in your last home.

17:13 And how did you find those

17:15 customers? You mentioned the ladies you knew

17:17 in your guild?

17:19 Guilds are always a good place

17:21 to find somebody.

17:23 They're always looking for people

17:25 to quilt their stuff.

17:27 I usually join the biggest

17:29 guild I can find in my area.

17:31 And then, I'm a

17:33 little bit different. I like

17:35 to show quilt.

17:37 So that gets my name out

17:39 there. If you're winning awards

17:41 and you're entering competitions

17:43 and it's going all over the United States,

17:45 people are going to go, oh my gosh, look at that

17:47 quilting. And then they're going to look

17:49 up my name. And then they're going to find my

17:51 website or my Facebook. And then they can

17:53 get a hold of me. And that's how

17:55 I get a lot of my customers.

17:57 Is this one of your show quilts

17:59 behind you? This is a

18:01 show quilt from a couple years ago.

18:03 Very nice. That's beautiful.

18:05 Actually, that was the first quilt

18:07 I ever quilted on my gamel.

18:09 So I didn't practice or anything.

18:11 Just set my gamel up with my dealer

18:13 and he was like, all right, this is this button,

18:15 this is this button. And then he left.

18:17 And then I was like, I could put a practice

18:19 on. And then I thought, you know what?

18:21 I probably won't try very hard

18:23 to master it

18:25 if I don't try really hard.

18:27 So I put something I really cared about

18:29 and then I went from there. And it was

18:31 stressful and I sweated a lot.

18:33 And there

18:35 might have been some swearing, but

18:37 it turned out really nice.

18:40 Blood, sweat, tears,

18:42 and cussing. There's a lot of

18:44 truth in what you just said.

18:47 There's a lot of truth in what you just

18:49 said.

18:51 So then

18:53 when you moved, you said

18:55 that you found that in this new

18:57 are you in a kind of

18:59 more of a metro area or is it more

19:01 of a like

19:03 a suburb or is

19:05 it rural where you are now?

19:07 It's very rural.

19:09 And I live

19:11 next to cows and horses

19:13 and everybody in my neighborhood

19:15 has goats and it's

19:17 not a lot of quilting. And where

19:19 I did live before was in Washington

19:21 where it rained and

19:23 there wasn't anything else to do. So people

19:25 love to quilt and it was cold. So they

19:27 make quilts. Here they're like, you

19:29 make what? I'm like quilts. And

19:31 they're like, you know, it's 106. And you're

19:33 like, I know.

19:35 Yeah.

19:37 But there's obviously a quilt shop in

19:39 town.

19:41 There is one and she was

19:43 really, really awesome to give me

19:45 a chance, which is rare.

19:47 It's hard to find somebody that will be like,

19:49 look, I want to come

19:51 here and do stuff with you. And she's like,

19:53 all right, sure.

19:55 That's awesome.

19:57 Do you have another job too

19:59 or is this what you do?

20:00 I just do this, that's it, and I'm a mom and I used to be a Navy wife, which was a job on its own,

20:09 but now he's retired, so we get to just have fun.

20:13 And do you know about how many hours a week that you put into quilting? Can you estimate?

20:20 Well, on my long arm, it keeps a track of the hours and the stitches, and I usually do about

20:29 12 run time hours on my long arm in my house, and then I usually do about two hours down at the shop

20:38 to figure out the new machine, and then I usually have an Etsy store, so I have to make patterns for

20:45 that and send that out, so basically all my life is surrounded by quilting. Yeah, and it's about

20:51 to get busier. Yes, very much so. Yeah, so you are now just kind of making the transition to

21:03 adding edge to edge, because you're right, pantographs are super boring,

21:06 they're very practical. They are, they're beautiful, and lots of people like them,

21:11 but they were really boring to do on your own. So you had mentioned that a lot of your custom

21:17 had been at eight cents per inch. How are you pricing your edge to edge quilting? Well, here

21:25 we're gonna do two inches per square inch. I know if you're by, like, San Francisco, it's like 2.5,

21:33 but for here, because it's out in the country, I'm gonna do two inches per square inch,

21:39 and then two cents per square inch, and then I will be charging a little fee for thread, and

21:49 then at the shop, she'll be selling, my friend will be selling batting, so I don't have to carry

21:55 the batting or the wide backs, but it will be in the shop. That's nice. Yeah, that makes it very

22:00 convenient. Right, right. So, let's see, the next question, I'm struggling with it a little bit,

22:11 because it's, the question is, what was the hardest part of growing your business,

22:15 but you've, you're almost in a second, like you're doing it all over again.

22:20 Do you want to take a crack at that question anyway? What was the hardest part?

22:25 Yeah, constantly moving is what my husband's whispering in the background,

22:29 but yes, moving was, oh, he's giving you the answers as we're talking,

22:33 he's over there, the one who has to sweat and put it in the truck. Yeah, he had, oh, he didn't tell

22:40 you that I was so worried about the head and the Gammill machine itself, that I made him drive it

22:46 from Washington all the way to California, and ride with it in the car, and I'm like, don't slam

22:53 on the brakes, just be gentle, and he's like, you care about the machine more than me, but moving

22:59 is hard, and then finding people to be your customers is hard, and building that up, and

23:06 finding space to put it, like, it's a big machine, and when you move houses, you know, you go from

23:12 one really nice big place where it had a nice little den that I had, and now I'm like, do you

23:18 want the TV or a couch, because one of them's got to go, and he's like, TV, so then he gets to keep

23:23 the TV, and then I put the long arm in the back, and I got him a little chair from Costco, it's

23:29 fine, but yeah, moving is hard, you know, and it just, it was difficult for the long, for hand

23:40 guided, it was difficult training yourself, like learning how to do all the things that you want

23:46 to do, it's like drawing, except moving the machine instead of your arm, and so that took a

23:52 lot of practice, practice, practice, practice, and then I think that once I get to the computerized one,

23:59 it will be learning all the different designs, and where to find them, and how to set it up,

24:03 and I like to control so much stuff that, like, giving that control over to the machine is a

24:09 little difficult. Yeah, I didn't catch, what, what is the size of your, your hand guided machine, and,

24:16 and, and, and your staff? It's a Vision 2.0, and I think it's 20 inches, and then my frame is 10 feet

24:25 long, because I figured I didn't know which house I was going to be in, and then my other one is 30

24:31 inches, and it's a 14 foot table, that's huge, it's finding the space is a big deal. The Vision

24:40 will probably be, probably either a 22 or a 26. 22 then, 22. Got you. Is the table very similar between

24:49 the two machines? Yes, very similar. I could, it was easy to transfer my thoughts to the other one,

24:57 because it was almost exactly the same. Easy learning curve. Well, I thought we had a question

25:02 from the crowd, but it's actually, Joan was kind enough to put up a note, she says that

25:08 she was sorry she couldn't stay for the full show, but she will look you up online, thanks for sharing

25:14 your story and enthusiasm. So that was cool. We'll be sure and get your information before we end the

25:21 show. Okay. People can get in touch with you and all that, so. Awesome. So, can you think of any

25:30 change in technology or whatever that has, you know, because the world keeps changing on us,

25:37 something that's made it easier for you now to run your business and to do the quilting than when

25:43 you, when you first started? Well, when I first started, I was relying on people in my neighborhood

25:50 that wanted custom quilting, and that's a little bit hard. You kind of tap out those ladies, because

25:55 you know, you can only afford so much, and custom is expensive. But the big change came when I got

26:04 all my social media and websites up, and then people could contact me from all over. And so,

26:10 once I started showing, and then people were like, oh my goodness, then I started getting people

26:14 calling me from, not my neighborhood, from far away, which made a big difference, because there's

26:21 so many people out there, and they have so many beautiful things I would love to stitch on, so

26:27 that made a big difference. There are a lot of people who, if there is someone in their area

26:33 that offers custom, they don't know who, you know. That's also hard, yeah. Yeah. So, what all,

26:41 what have you done for advertisement? Has it been word of mouth primarily, or? I've been going to

26:48 guilds in my, in areas, both in Washington and in San, in California, and you go, I go to them,

26:56 and I ask to be a lecturer, and so one, one month they'll let me come, and their guild meeting is

27:04 usually like on a Thursday, or something of that, the first Tuesday of the month, and then I get to

27:11 do a little like trunk show, where I bring all my quilts, and I get to show them, and talk about

27:16 them, which is really fun, because it's like all the things that you've already made, that you love,

27:21 that you get to talk about. I mean, it seems almost like a crime, that they pay you, right, and then

27:26 people get to see what you've made. I think that's the thing, especially with custom quilting, they

27:32 don't know what you do, until they see it, and so I take my stuff, all my stuff, and schlep it to the

27:38 guilds, and do a little lecture, and people get to see it, and touch it. That's the other thing,

27:44 touching it, they get to see what it looks like, and how it feels, and whether or not it might look

27:49 good on theirs, and so I try to go to as many guilds as I can. Please let me come, and I'll

27:55 promise I'll bring beautiful things. So that has made a big difference, because there's only, you

28:02 know, so many people in one guild, but there's many guilds around you. That's a fantastic tip.

28:08 Yeah, so Claire, who's been your biggest cheerleader? Who's been your support system

28:14 through this? Well, of course, it's my husband. He's awesome, and he'll support me. Wait a minute,

28:21 I thought he didn't want you to have one. That's an excellent point. Yeah, so I'm talking out of

28:28 both sides of your mouth. He was like, wait, what, how much is it? And I thought I had to have one of

28:34 the big fancy ones. I was like, oh, that's a lot of money, and then he was like, no, that's too much

28:38 money. Well, not until after we retire, but he didn't say no, hard no. He never said a hard no,

28:45 but the one. I have one question. Did he ever get the Ford, the F-350? He got a Chevy big diesel

28:53 truck. He did a Chevy. Well, yeah, it's a, it's a company vehicle. So I was, I was about to say

29:03 a man can be allowed to make a mistake every now and then.

29:07 So usually it's a truck. It might not have been something I bought, but he got a truck.

29:13 Usually Ford people don't cross the line to Chevy and Chevy people.

29:16 There's some lines you just don't cross.

29:21 Besides him, because he's awesome. My mom has always been my biggest supporter. She's not,

29:29 I don't have any quilters in my family, but she's a, she's an artist. She likes to paint and she's

29:35 really, really awesome at it. And she's always taught me how to do my quilting, like putting

29:42 colors together. And she's always been the biggest person to push me. Like I would say,

29:47 when I want this, I think it'll make my quilting better. And she'll be like, let's do it.

29:54 She's the one that took me down to Gamble. Cause I was like, no, they won't let me take a picture

29:58 in front of the machine. She's like, you never know Claire. And so she took me and then we got

30:04 the picture and she's like, talk to her, talk to her, ask her about the machine. And I was like,

30:08 I don't know. And so I did and it was awesome. So that's the reason why I got it. It was because

30:13 my mom pushed me. Your mom believed in you. She, she's the biggest believer. She,

30:19 she always believes in me and she goes with me to shows and she's always there

30:24 patting my back and pushing me forward. So. Yeah. So Claire, what, what would you say,

30:30 what kind of impact has this path that you've chosen, the, the money, the control of your

30:40 personal schedule, what, what kind of impact do you think this has this made on your life?

30:46 It's made a huge impact on my life. I never thought about it until I knew that this question

30:51 might come up and I thought about it and I was like, oh my gosh, it has made a huge difference.

30:59 It's not, I don't, I know that there's ladies out there that hustle and do it really, really well

31:05 and make a lot of money, but I don't, I don't want to do that. I just want to have fun money,

31:10 but the amount of money that I've made has been, has led me to do such fun things. Like I use my

31:17 money for me and my mom to go to shows that I'm in and we get to walk around and see all these

31:22 beautiful quilts. We can buy things at the show that we wouldn't normally be able to buy because

31:28 I have money in my quilting account. I can go down and see my friend at her shop and hang out

31:34 with her and do whatever I want to do. And I still have extras so that when my husband's like,

31:40 oh, the windows, we need new windows. They whistle when the wind blows. I can be like,

31:46 I can buy quilting windows. There you go. And I can use my money to buy windows for our house,

31:52 which is really good because he works hard at his job. I'd like to be able to submit some of it.

31:58 What is your husband's name?

32:00 His name is Jeremy.

32:02 Okay. Jeremy, man. You're the man.

32:09 He's listening in the corner.

32:11 I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a good adventure.

32:15 He's also my manager and he doesn't do that great of a job.

32:19 I haven't updated the website in a couple months.

32:23 He's a horrible manager. Don't hire him.

32:28 These guys have a unique relationship.

32:30 I'm leaving that alone right there. I'm not even touching that. What is something...

32:37 You know what? I'll just make a comment before the next question. I was reflecting on what you

32:44 said about your mom and how she's been your cheerleader and pushing you to find out what

32:52 you can do. I just wanted to say that that is probably something that you turn around and you

32:59 do that for your kids to be that cheerleader. That's usually something that you don't even

33:06 know how to do unless somebody's shown you how to do it.

33:09 Right. I hope so. I hope when he grows... He's 11, going on to 12, going on to 25 right now,

33:17 but I hope that one day he'll say the same thing about me. I hope so.

33:22 Yeah. Somebody has to believe in you before you can believe in yourself, I think sometimes.

33:27 What's something that you wish somebody would have told you when you first started?

33:37 I really wish that I had had that beginner instructive video because when I got my machine,

33:46 the dealer that I bought it from, he sold exclusively computerized. I even asked him,

33:52 how many of these hand-guided have you sold? He's like, one other before you. I was like, oh.

33:59 I didn't know about the coast button. I didn't know about that. Somebody taught me that four

34:05 years later. I was like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. What?

34:08 It's like the best thing. Yeah.

34:10 I was like, why did I not know? This has changed my life. Why did I not know that? But he didn't

34:14 know that. He just set it up and was like, it's fine. It'll be fine. You'll figure it out. I

34:21 figured it out, but I didn't figure it out perfectly. I wish I had known about that.

34:26 Also, he set it up really low and I didn't realize that I needed it higher. If you're

34:31 going to be doing that with your elbows all day long for hours and hours, that hurts. I

34:37 actually hurt my elbow. Then my dad's like, you should put it up. He went and got a jack and put

34:43 it up. It made a huge difference. I wish I had known that. What the heck? I guess I wish I could

34:49 go back and not damage my elbows. I didn't realize you're supposed to have it at the right height.

34:57 Claire, I've talked to so many people. I work in tech support. I've talked to so many people that

35:04 kind of like you, they started out. You learn how to do the basics and you can make the thing

35:10 function. I cannot tell you how many people I've talked to that did not know. They were

35:18 just totally ignorant of how much that their machine can do. For that reason, I agree with

35:24 you. I recommend people new owner training just to educate yourself as much as you can because

35:33 in all likelihood, if you're self-trained, there's probably so much more that you don't

35:38 even know about. Yes. I'm super stubborn. I like to do it my own way. I like to teach myself,

35:44 but I should have watched the video. You can still get it. Get that new owner training.

35:49 That's my advice to you. Speaking of advice, what advice would you give? We've got people

35:58 watching right now. Let me double check that there aren't any new questions here. Hang on.

36:03 No, no new ones. With the people that are watching and then the people who will watch

36:09 the recording later, what's a piece of advice that you would want to give to somebody who

36:17 hears what you've done and maybe she kind of sees, wait, that's what I want to do

36:24 too. What does she need to know? To not be scared of your machine, to just go for it,

36:31 do whatever you want. It can do a lot of things. It won't break. I am currently stitching on top

36:40 of spandex and it is amazing. It does a million awesome things. It's sparkly. It's gorgeous.

36:47 I've already won a couple of awards for it. No one would say, oh my gosh, stitch on spandex.

36:53 They're like, isn't it going to break your machine? No, that thing is industrial. It'll

36:57 be fine. Go for it. Do the fun things. Make beautiful things. Go for it. Don't be scared.

37:03 Just do what makes you happy. Don't do anything that doesn't make you happy because then it's

37:09 just work. Don't do anything that doesn't make you happy. Yeah. I love that. If you have a short life,

37:17 might as well do fun things. Yeah, that's fantastic. Are we through with all the questions?

37:25 Yep, yep. Well, Claire, I tell you, it's been a pleasure talking to you and that guy that

37:32 peeks his head in the screen once in a while, the manager, Jeremy. Yeah. No, we appreciate his

37:40 input. No, seriously, it's been a pleasure talking to you and we thank you so much for joining us.

37:48 Before we go, can you tell the people watching, how can they get in touch with you?

37:56 I have a website that is Claire Marks Quilting and it's spelled C-L-A-I-R-E-M-A-R-K-S and it's

38:06 just quilting, all one word. And then I have a Facebook page under the same name and I have

38:12 an Etsy store where I sell all my patterns that I come up with in my head on there.

38:18 And an Instagram, he says. That website is what, just Claire Marks?

38:25 ClaireMarksQuilting.com. ClaireMarksQuilting.com. Okay. Yeah. And if you would like to see my quilt,

38:32 it is on the cover of Quilt Art Castle on the calendar. That's me. Oh, cool. Oh, wow. Yeah,

38:40 so that's pretty awesome. It was an honor. She's doing some name dropping. Yeah. I know. Well,

38:46 Claire, I fully believe because I've heard, I've had people tell me about the stories that they've

38:54 heard on this program and how they've helped. And so I fully believe that there will be people

39:00 who either tonight or in the future who listen to your story and your boldness in grabbing a hold

39:09 of what you want to do is going to inspire them to find that same strength within themselves to

39:16 do what you've done. And I really appreciate you sharing your story. Well, thank you for

39:22 inviting me on. I was so awesome and a big honor. Well, thank you so much. All right. Well, until

39:30 next week, well, this is Quilting Business Success and this was a great program. Thank you so much.

39:37 Thank you, Claire. Thank you. All right. Bye-bye.