How Much to Charge for Longarm Quilting: Lessons from Charlene Smith’s 13 Years

0:00 My name is Bobby here at GAML.

0:25 I work in tech support,

0:26 and I'm one of the guys that usually tries

0:30 to help host this podcast.

0:33 Today with us, we have Charlene Smith.

0:37 And Charlene, we're really glad to have you here.

0:40 And just from the get-go,

0:42 I'll just go ahead and ask you,

0:44 start asking you some questions about your quilting business

0:48 and how things are going.

0:49 First of all, Charlene, where are you located?

0:53 I'm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

0:56 Baton, down South.

0:57 Down South.

0:59 So are you one of the native Cajuns or anything like that?

1:03 No, I originally born and raised in Oklahoma,

1:06 North Central.

1:07 Okay, okay.

1:09 And so how long have you,

1:12 well, how long have you been down there

1:14 and how long have you been doing long arming?

1:17 I have been down here for 17 years

1:20 and I have been long arming for a little over 13.

1:24 Okay, so 13 years you've been doing this.

1:28 And so how did you first get into long arming?

1:34 What made you decide to do this?

1:37 So the job that I had,

1:39 had required me to travel a lot

1:41 and I was on the road a lot.

1:43 And on one of my jobs in North Carolina,

1:48 I had been dropping my quilts off

1:50 to be quilted at a local quilt shop.

1:54 And it turns out that the girl that was quilting my stuff

1:57 just lived down the road

1:58 and we were both traveling 30 minutes into this quilt shop

2:01 to drop off and pick up.

2:03 And so she invited me to start coming to her home

2:06 and then it grew into stay, have a cup of coffee,

2:10 watch me quilt.

2:11 And then it was, hey, why don't you try this?

2:14 And so that started the bug.

2:18 Then when I moved back down to Baton Rouge,

2:21 I didn't know any long armors,

2:23 didn't know what to do and said to my husband,

2:26 I wish I just had my own.

2:28 And he said, well, go get one.

2:30 And I said, well, it's not that easy.

2:32 It's expensive startup.

2:34 You've got to have a big room to put it in.

2:36 And he's like, we'll figure it out, just do it.

2:39 And so he was my biggest supporter.

2:41 I think that I probably would have overthought it

2:46 and so anyway, I quit my job

2:50 and bought a long arm and took off.

2:54 You just quit your job and bought a long arm and started?

2:57 Yes, never.

2:58 Oh, never long armed before,

3:03 took classes and just jumped right in.

3:09 Okay, so that's kind of, so you had no buffer time.

3:13 You just, you quit your job and started long arming.

3:18 I quit my job and probably within,

3:21 I mean, within a couple of months, bought my machine.

3:25 Wow.

3:26 Yeah.

3:27 Okay, and so you obviously got your long arm

3:32 specifically to run a business, right?

3:35 Yes, somewhat.

3:38 It was started out to just be a hobby

3:43 that paid for itself.

3:45 And that's what I was going to do.

3:47 Just do enough quilts for a local quilt shop,

3:50 just to kind of pay for everything,

3:53 get my money back out of it.

3:55 And within a year I was divorced

4:00 and had to make the decision, do I go back to work

4:03 or do I make a living out of this?

4:07 And my old boss called me because my husband,

4:10 my ex-husband and I worked for the same company.

4:13 And he said, I heard through the grapevine.

4:15 And I said, absolutely.

4:16 And he said, your job's here if you want it.

4:18 And I said, just so happens,

4:20 I have this machine that I spent a lot of money on

4:23 and I think I really want to give it a go.

4:26 And so I had him in my back pocket.

4:29 He said, if you fail at that, you're welcome anytime.

4:32 And I've never looked back.

4:34 I've never had to call him and ask for my job back.

4:37 You had a little insurance there, but-

4:38 I did, which was wonderful to have, never needed it.

4:44 Okay.

4:45 Yeah.

4:46 So you, the time that you started your business,

4:49 you just had a whole bunch of changes going on

4:53 in your life and everything.

4:54 Yeah, I think, so the first year that I was quilting,

4:57 I was just doing maybe 10, 15, 20 quilts a month.

5:03 I wasn't trying to earn a living.

5:07 My husband, you know, was handling that part for us.

5:11 And that's where the word got out.

5:14 You know, I was quilting for a little quilt shop,

5:16 local quilt shop, and had joined all the guilds

5:20 and was going and doing all the show and tells.

5:22 And so I had already started getting a little busier.

5:26 And then once, and that actually at that time,

5:29 I lived in Prairieville, which is a suburb of Baton Rouge,

5:33 kind of out in the country.

5:34 People consider it out in the country.

5:36 And when I divorced, I bought a house in town

5:39 in Baton Rouge and boy, the doors just blew open.

5:43 I mean, I was closer, people, you know,

5:47 it just opened more windows for me.

5:50 And they just started piling in.

5:52 And I have not been slow since.

5:55 I can't, like, we had a major flood down here in 2016.

6:01 And I would say, oh gosh, at least half the residents

6:05 in our area flooded.

6:06 And I thought, oh, this is the end of me.

6:09 You know, people are not gonna have the money to quilt.

6:12 They're rebuilding their homes.

6:14 They've lost everything.

6:16 And I'll be darned, I was just as busy, if not busier.

6:20 Wow.

6:21 And then the pandemic hit.

6:22 And I thought the same thing.

6:24 I thought, oh, this is the end of me.

6:26 And it got busier.

6:31 So you started quilting.

6:33 You started your quilting business in what year was it?

6:37 Oh gosh, don't ask me years.

6:39 I had to look up when I bought my machine.

6:42 I think 2011.

6:44 Okay, okay.

6:45 You've been doing it for a while now.

6:48 And when you first started,

6:49 did you start out with a Gamel

6:51 or did you have another machine?

6:53 I started out with a Gamel.

6:54 The lady in North Carolina that I would go to her house

6:58 and visit and watch her quilt did not have a Gamel.

7:01 So I learned really quickly

7:04 when I was out searching what I wanted

7:07 and I knew Gamel was it.

7:10 And how did you, where do you get your information?

7:13 How did you decide?

7:14 I did a lot of online searching.

7:17 And then there is a quilt shop in Abita Springs.

7:24 And she was kind of like a rep or something,

7:28 a sales, what do you call them?

7:30 And she wasn't a dealer

7:31 because I actually got my machine through Mark and Kay.

7:36 They were my dealer.

7:37 But Abita Springs was kind of like a little

7:41 sales representative type thing.

7:44 And I went to her shop and played around

7:47 and looked at it real good.

7:48 And she was wonderful.

7:50 Yeah.

7:51 Okay.

7:52 So you get in and what model of Gamel did you get?

8:00 What did you start out with?

8:00 I bought the optimum with the 14 foot table.

8:04 Okay.

8:05 And was it the hand guided or computerized?

8:09 Computerized.

8:10 Okay.

8:11 So you just started right off the bat with a computerized.

8:14 Yes.

8:15 I'm no good.

8:16 If I had to hand guide,

8:17 I would be living under an underpass somewhere.

8:21 So, yeah, you know,

8:25 and there's different schools of thought with that.

8:27 Some people say hand guided is the only way to go,

8:30 but many, many-

8:32 Computerized is the only way to go.

8:36 You're in that school of thought.

8:37 I'm in that school.

8:38 I'm the president of that little club.

8:41 Well, and you can probably testify

8:44 that you can produce a whole lot more

8:48 with computerized also, you know.

8:50 And it's, to me, it's consistent quilting.

8:54 So my feathers here look the same as the feathers here.

8:58 And I don't, yeah.

9:01 And Charlene, do you still have that same machine today or?

9:05 I do.

9:06 I do.

9:07 Okay.

9:08 And so have you added any or done any upgrade

9:15 with your machine or anything?

9:16 I did the Ascend upgrade when it first came out.

9:20 So that was wonderful.

9:22 Yes.

9:23 Was that about 2020 maybe?

9:26 Right in there, 2021, something right in there.

9:29 I don't remember.

9:30 I'm terrible with the dates.

9:32 I got you.

9:32 And so, all right, on that point,

9:37 how would you, have you seen a difference

9:40 between the regular Statler that you started with

9:43 and the upgrade to the Ascend?

9:45 Absolutely.

9:49 I know for a while people kept saying,

9:51 oh, you need to get a second machine.

9:53 Well, one, I use a room in my house.

9:56 I've converted the den to keep overhead down.

10:01 And I really want my studio room to be inviting

10:06 and feel homey and not feel like a workshop.

10:10 So putting two in just didn't do it for me aesthetically.

10:15 And so I just kept saying no,

10:17 and I'd have a couple of chances to buy them.

10:19 And I'd just say no.

10:20 Then the Ascend came out.

10:21 Well, it's like running two machines.

10:23 I can get twice as much done in a day on the one machine.

10:27 So it has improved everything.

10:31 And by the way, the room that I'm looking at

10:34 does look inviting and homey.

10:35 Yes, it's nice, you know, and people love coming.

10:39 I've got it decorated real nice.

10:40 Oh, nice.

10:46 Okay, well, let's go.

10:48 And our target audience for this show,

10:51 people that are either starting a business themselves

10:55 or thinking about going in that direction.

10:58 And so let's talk a little bit about

11:02 the kind of the path that you have followed.

11:05 And I want you to feel free to share any,

11:10 the good, the bad, and the ugly.

11:14 Now, when you first started,

11:15 I wanted to ask you,

11:18 did you know that there was enough long arm business

11:23 available in your area?

11:25 Or how did that start out?

11:28 Yes, so before I jumped off that cliff,

11:32 I traveled around.

11:34 You did jump off a cliff.

11:35 Yeah, it was.

11:36 Well, you know, it's a big investment.

11:38 I mean, it's well worth it, but it's a big,

11:41 I mean, it's the price of a new car.

11:43 So I went around to the local quilt shops

11:46 and just asked them if they had a need for another quilter,

11:50 for another long arm quilter.

11:51 And I was getting back,

11:53 the feedback was absolutely, absolutely.

11:57 And one quilt shop

12:01 was just gave my name out exclusively, which was awesome.

12:06 So I did quilts for her,

12:08 like maybe my first four or five paid for quilts

12:12 I did for her and she hung up in her shop

12:14 and she gave out my name exclusively.

12:16 And then, you know, traveling,

12:18 going to the guilds and doing show and tell,

12:21 people saw my work and it just kind of spread.

12:24 I do not advertise.

12:26 I try not to advertise

12:29 because I'm already busier than I can take,

12:32 you know, than I can stand.

12:33 You got more than you can take right now, huh?

12:35 Yeah, yeah.

12:36 I mean, I'm working six and seven days a week sometimes.

12:41 We've had this extreme heat right now.

12:44 And so everybody's inside sewing quilts.

12:46 And so I'm running full-fledged.

12:50 Wow.

12:51 So how many hours a day would you say you average?

12:56 10, maybe.

12:58 Man.

12:59 Maybe a little more.

13:00 It's kind of, so, you know,

13:02 I get up first thing in the morning, I get up about six.

13:05 Well, I load a quilt before I go to bed

13:07 so that when I get up in the morning, it's loaded,

13:09 it's basted down.

13:10 All I got to do is get up and turn everything on

13:13 and get it going.

13:16 And I have my coffee and I might quilt a row or two

13:20 and then I take a break and I run out into my garden

13:23 and I'll do work out there.

13:24 And depending, you know, then I come in,

13:26 I start seeing clients at 10.

13:29 And so some days I might only see two or three people

13:35 and I get a lot of quilting done in the day.

13:38 Some days I've got somebody coming every hour on the hour

13:41 and I might have five minutes in between people,

13:44 you know, to catch my breath or whatever.

13:47 And so it just kind of depends, but I'm probably 10 hours.

13:52 And that's not all,

13:54 that's not like run time for my long arm.

13:58 Right.

13:59 Because it takes me an average,

14:01 anywhere from two, three, four hours for a quilt,

14:03 depending on how big it is

14:06 and the density of the quilting.

14:09 Getting everything loaded.

14:10 A lot of it's, you know, dealing with people.

14:13 They're dropping off their quilt

14:14 and they're picking their thread, they're picking their,

14:17 you know, we have thousands,

14:18 I mean, it's unlimited on the patterns that we can do

14:21 when we're computerized.

14:23 Yeah.

14:23 And then of course, you know,

14:24 they like to tell the story behind their quilt.

14:29 So speaking of that, what would you say,

14:34 how much time do you spend with the customer

14:37 versus quilting, running the machine?

14:42 So for me personally, it actually, I don't know,

14:45 I really can't remember how I did it prior to the pandemic.

14:48 I think I tried to spread people out,

14:50 but I wasn't too worried about it

14:51 because quilters like to gather.

14:55 And so if people landed on, if their appointments,

14:58 you know, kind of landed on top of each other,

15:00 they enjoyed talking to each other

15:02 and looking at each other's quilts,

15:04 when the pandemic hit,

15:05 I started spacing people an hour apart.

15:08 So for the most part, most people,

15:12 I'm spending maybe 15, 20 to 30 minutes with.

15:17 It depends on how many quilts they're bringing me.

15:20 Okay.

15:20 But then I do have some ladies that are here,

15:23 they know they have, they know I schedule on the hour

15:26 and they use up every minute of that hour.

15:29 You know, they want my ear

15:31 and they want my attention for that.

15:33 And so that can kind of halt things.

15:35 I will run it and let it run while they're here,

15:40 but I don't like to stop and step away from them

15:44 and roll it and do all that.

15:46 I wait till they're gone.

15:48 So, and do you find the face-to-face,

15:52 person-to-person communication pretty key

15:57 or an important part of it?

15:59 I think it is.

16:01 I think, I mean,

16:06 I know other quilters that they don't want you

16:10 coming to their home.

16:11 So they want to meet you at a quilt shop.

16:13 You know, I think that people enjoy coming here.

16:17 It's an experience and I try to make it an experience.

16:22 They like coming and they come and they get inspired

16:25 and I'll drag them into my sewing room if I need to,

16:28 showing things and it's just, you know,

16:31 it's a little trip for them.

16:33 And it's not just walking in,

16:35 doing the transaction and then leaving.

16:40 And I think they like knowing and seeing

16:42 where their quilt lives and how I care for their quilt.

16:47 Yeah, and you know, and Charlene talking to,

16:51 we've talked to a lot of people on here

16:53 and it seems like some of the people

16:56 who have the most success that person-to-person contact

17:03 and communication is a really important part of it.

17:07 So yeah, so what you're saying, I bear witness with that.

17:12 I have a question here.

17:14 Sandy is asking,

17:16 Charlene, do you do custom edge-to-edge

17:19 or a combination thereof?

17:21 So I used to do combination.

17:25 I used to do both and about eight years ago, I remarried.

17:31 And so right off the bat had less time,

17:36 but no, custom takes so much longer

17:39 and I only have one machine.

17:41 We obviously don't make as much custom quilting.

17:44 We make more, our bread and butter is the edge-to-edge.

17:48 And so I quit doing custom, yeah.

17:55 There are a few little ladies that,

17:58 like I have one little lady

17:59 that has a new great grandchild every so many years

18:03 and I've always custom quilted her baby quilts.

18:06 And so she gets special treatment and I slip her in.

18:10 Yeah, so I have a couple of people that I do,

18:13 but I try not to because I just,

18:16 I can't tie up my machine that long.

18:19 I got you, I got you.

18:20 Well, Charlene, I wanna come back in just a minute

18:24 to the beginning of your starting your business.

18:28 And it seems like you started out with a boom,

18:31 but while we're still on that topic of Sandy was asking,

18:38 can you tell us, do you charge by the hour

18:43 or by the square inch or how do you charge for yours?

18:46 I charge by the square inch.

18:49 Okay, and what does it run where you are?

18:53 Here, we're doing 2 cents a square inch.

18:57 Okay.

18:59 And I will tell you that there are other quilters

19:02 in the area, quite a few actually.

19:05 And we were all doing 1 1⁄2 cents for years.

19:09 And going to different conferences

19:15 and classes and things, I was finding out,

19:18 people were charging more in other areas

19:20 and people were charging less in other areas.

19:22 And I decided that we needed to go up.

19:25 I contacted all the other quilters in my area

19:28 and I said, I'm going up to 2 cents.

19:30 And they're like, you'll lose business.

19:32 And I'm like, I'm doing it.

19:34 And you guys should follow me.

19:36 And actually all of them, but one followed me

19:40 and we all raised our prices, but the one,

19:43 and the one said, no, I can't afford to lose business.

19:46 And then she figured out that none of us

19:48 were losing business.

19:50 And so then she raised her price to 2 cents.

19:52 So I think that's been, gosh, six years ago,

19:59 it's been a long time.

20:00 time so I'm thinking it's about time for me to rally again. Yeah well and you know the prices

20:06 are different in different parts of the country and you know I've talked to a lot of people you

20:12 know I've talked to three and four cents in certain parts of the country and yeah Louisiana

20:19 the south the deep south where you are you know it is a little bit less but but yeah yeah you

20:29 know it's it's what you what you can what you can afford to you know as far as the business

20:38 that you have you know you can you can charge what you're worth so so yeah that was that shows

20:46 a lot of stepping out on your own doing that and I it sounds like it was a it was a valuable thing

20:55 for you so but I want to I want to go back to the the beginning there Charlene because a lot

21:02 of the people watching this they I don't know if they'll have the same experience as you but

21:08 when you first started you you were talking like they're everybody the people that you talked to

21:14 said there there was plenty of business in it in your area there's a big quilting community here

21:20 there we have we have four guilds just here in the little Baton Rouge area so it's a it's a big

21:27 quilting community so you know not every not every area is going to be as quilty as we are

21:35 you know there's right but you from the get-go you you you pretty much had a lot of business from

21:43 the get-go yes I mean well of course now when I first started I knew I mean I was married and I

21:48 knew that my husband had agreed that I could quit my job and that I could do this and I just needed

21:54 to be able for it to pay for itself and so I started out slow so you know I wasn't making

22:02 enough to earn a living on my own the first year but that first year gave me an opportunity

22:10 to meet everyone you know and get and get out there and get my name seen and get my quilt seen

22:16 and and that sort of thing and then when I did have to ramp up I ramped up you know I mean it's

22:23 not it wasn't all just handed to me on a platter you've got to go out and beat the bushes and you've

22:27 got to go to all the meetings and you've got to you know and it was just you know people spread

22:35 the word for you actually if you do a good job for them and they enjoy you and they're happy with

22:41 you they're I've got I've got clients that live in other states because well my sister quilts with

22:48 you and I'm like I can find you a gamble quilter close to you I've got resources I'll find somebody

22:54 close to you and they're going to be just as good if not better and no my sister said you're the best

23:02 and I'm not it's the machine I mean the machine's doing all the the hard work all the heavy lifting

23:11 and you have to know how to run it well and that's easy I mean the software is easy

23:18 um I wanted to ask you when you first started uh did you uh immediately was it was it always

23:25 through the guilds um did you get involved with guilds right off the bat um yes I got involved

23:33 with as many guilds as I could I was going to meetings all the time and I did a lot of charity

23:38 work a lot of charity work you know especially in that first six months you know you're still

23:44 learning um so I was buying cheater cloth and panels and you know just quilting everything I

23:53 could get my hands on and donating it did uh did you find that the charity work uh seemed to get

24:00 your name out there also it did it um now there were two types of charity work there's one type

24:07 of charity work where I was making quilts and donating them and they were being uh like quilts

24:13 put in the back of police cars and they were given out to the kids when they would go on calls

24:19 uh donated to um rescue centers for the cats and the dogs to sleep on and then that was just for

24:30 practice and then I would do people were having fundraisers a local volunteer fire department has

24:37 a um and I still do charity quilts you know I do two a month I at some point you have to decide you

24:45 got to put a limit on it but um then I started doing them for fundraisers and I would say I just

24:51 asked that you put my card there and I got calls off of that as well wow yeah Charlene um

25:03 how many how many quilts a year would you say you you do oh I'm bad at math but I'm I'm doing

25:11 roughly 50 60 quilts a month so whatever that is times 12 a month yes okay so yeah so you're

25:20 talking 1200 yeah I'm doing two sometimes now so today I did two quilts for clients and then

25:30 I've got one on of my own to do tonight and it's actually three quarters of the way done and I

25:36 stopped for this um and then maybe on a Sunday I may only do one quilt but an average 50 60 a month

25:46 okay so that's like 600 a year I think or more um which is which is a pretty good chunk um

25:55 and is this kind of do you think that's about the rate that you've been doing all these years or

26:02 has it gone up and down on different years like make and before

26:10 I would say I don't really see a down per se every year I make a little more

26:17 I get a little busier and steadily going up steadily going up yeah like when I look at my

26:25 taxes at the end of the year my you know my accountant I'm earning more money every year

26:30 now there was a couple of years where I made about the same you know two or three years in a

26:35 row I made about the same okay um so do you uh do you provide or sell other supplies like batting or

26:48 yeah fabrics yes so um I buy my batting wholesale I rent a little u-haul trailer and I go to Texas

26:57 and I pick up 30 rolls at a time so I only have to go over about maybe once a year um so I sell

27:03 that um and I also sell and I just started this during the pandemic notions you know thread for

27:11 them okay you know uh you know best press stuff like that and then two years ago I started selling

27:21 fabric and I don't have a lot I have probably about 400 volts but and I'm not open to the

27:27 public for that I'm just it's for my clients and so they will come with their quilt top and

27:37 they'll try to pick out their backing here and if they buy their backing fabric from me I sew

27:42 their seam together for them and they love it okay um do you do t-shirt quilts I quilt them

27:52 all the time and I make them on occasion when um I've got a couple of fundraisers that I make one

28:02 for every year and then um my family you know when the when the nieces and nephews are graduating

28:10 you know we do a t-shirt quilt for them but I don't make uh t-shirts for sale

28:17 if that's what you're asking right right okay so uh making or quilting a t-shirt quilt uh

28:25 love it hate it or same as other quilts same as any other quilt okay yeah to me

28:31 people absolutely hate them oh no I know now

28:38 they could be rougher if people don't press their seams well or if they don't press you know

28:43 but basically when I take a quilt in if I see problems with it I give them a dollar amount

28:48 for me to fix it and I make that a high amount or I tell them they can have the happy quilter

28:54 homework and they can take it home and do this and bring it back to me and they won't lose their

28:59 spot in line and so I'm about 50 50 half the people will take it home fix it and bring it

29:08 back and half the people will just pay that exorbitant amount that I've asked for to have me

29:12 do it but they and then they do better the next time yeah yeah well you're training your customers

29:22 absolutely you do have to train your customers so um and speaking of training your customers um

29:31 can you think of uh what what has been the hardest part of uh running or growing your business

29:41 what what has been difficult about it I don't know um or has it just been an easy path

29:49 the whole way for you no it's not been easy let me tell you the first month I had this

29:57 I probably was in the fetal position underneath it 50 percent of the time going oh my god what

30:03 have I done um but it was just because it was new and you know there wasn't anyone in my area

30:14 at the time that had a computerized gamble I did have a lady that had a gamble but she was

30:20 hand guided so she was absolutely no help to me um and so I really you know had to pull my boots on

30:30 and just you know um I think the hardest thing now I would say like in the last the first couple

30:40 years you know are rough because you just don't know and then you kind of get into the groove of

30:44 it I think now it's trying to cut back you know I've I've I want to work less I'm getting older

30:54 and I want to you know my grandkids live six hours from me I want to I want to travel more

31:01 and go see them more and um so the struggle is how do you how do you cut back when you're following

31:11 you've got followers you know I've got followers I've got people I've been quilting for since day

31:16 one and um and then they've you know it's hard to tell people how do you cut back like if you

31:25 want to go visit the grandkids what what do you do I just schedule that time and people understand

31:33 I mean people are very understanding um and I usually ramp up I will usually work maybe 12-14

31:40 hours a day for a couple days leading up to me being gone and then when I get back I work really

31:45 hard for a couple days and it kind of makes up for being gone but most people understand and they

31:50 know I mean the ladies that I'm quilting for I've been quilting for most of them for a very long

31:57 time I quit putting my cards out um because I don't you know I really don't want new business

32:05 I'm staying busy enough with what I have and then I do have to if I have a client that's I've had

32:12 for quite a while and they have a friend that's getting into quilting well I can't tell that

32:18 person though so I'm still getting some newbies in I'm just not I'm not beating the bushes

32:25 wow I quit going to the guild meetings I don't I just I don't advertise and I don't care if they

32:32 put my name on a quilt when I do a fundraiser quilt anymore it's like the less people know

32:37 the better off I am so that's that's for me you're anti-advertising I'm anti-advertising and you know

32:44 you really don't need to that first year I had a website and I would put um I think I was paying

32:53 fifty dollars a month but it was taking me forever to load the pictures I'd have to take a picture of

32:59 the quilt load the pictures of the quilts I was doing and all this and and try to put new stuff

33:04 on so it was fresh turns out the only people looking at it were the people looking at their

33:11 quilt because they wanted to see their quilt on a website because that was like cool to them and my

33:17 family and so I was spending all this time and money and it really wasn't generating anything

33:24 what generated was the charity work the guilds the and put you know word of mouth

33:33 um sandy is asking uh what is what is your turnaround time on a making a quilt um for

33:41 quilting a quilt two to three weeks and that just depends on how busy I am or do I have you know do

33:48 I have garden club one day and I want to take one day off so it might be two weeks it might be three

33:54 weeks but when when someone drops off they know they can expect it back in two to three weeks

33:58 so from the time they bring it till the time they pick it up two to three weeks yes okay and I do

34:04 that and that's self-inflicted um I know I have people that say oh you don't have to worry about

34:09 it but when I was quilting and dropping my quilts off at a quilter it was three four five six months

34:17 before I'd get my quilt back and by then the excitement's gone heck I can't even remember

34:23 what I left them you know it just wasn't and so I thought if I ever do this I'm going to get them

34:29 back faster and I noticed that the faster I get them back the faster they bring me another one

34:35 good point yep I wanted to ask you um when you when you first started um

34:43 uh how did you how did you learn how to do the quilting and run run your statler

34:50 so my at the time we had dealers and I paid my dealer for a day I think he I I think it was a

34:58 I think it was a day maybe it was a day and a half but he gave me some things to do um and I

35:04 was already slightly I'm not computer literate I'm software literate like I can work software

35:11 I've worked software my whole life different software applications I'm not um behind the

35:18 scenes and a computer smart but software I pick up on pretty easy so I learned from him and then

35:24 I started going to um Southern Bell Joanne Knight started that and that was amazing like that I

35:34 learned so much and got the connections with other quilters there and then um she also does

35:43 little month to month um um I get I don't know what you call it a quilting class her and Joyce

35:52 Lundrigan so you get you get some patterns and then you get step by step on how to do

35:57 different techniques and I did that for several years okay and I I will uh tell the for the people

36:07 watching I I would encourage anyone who is able to uh to attend uh quilting with confidence

36:14 yes being held all over have you ever been to one of those no yet no every time they're in my area

36:22 I'm gone like I've got something else planned and I actually signed up to I had originally kind of

36:28 signed up to go this time and it turns out I've got to be out of town I've got a wedding to go to

36:33 so oh so I just can't be over to to do that and and it's it's in many different uh places in the

36:40 country and it's even worth traveling so for the people that are watching I would encourage you to

36:47 go on to gamble.com and uh check out um quilting with confidence and uh every everybody that I

36:58 have talked to that has gone has has loved it not only is it educational there's uh there's

37:04 a camaraderie with the other quilters uh there so avail yourself of that and also on the website

37:12 gamble.com um there there are there there's tons of free resources of of learning how to do things

37:19 with your machine in addition there are uh entire courses video courses that you can purchase

37:27 uh whether you're a beginner or advanced and also you can purchase uh one hour at a time

37:34 uh like zoom meetings like we're doing here with with uh one of our educators and uh we've had

37:41 great uh feedback from that too that helps a lot of people so if I just throw in a little commercial

37:47 there um all right Charlene who would you say has been your biggest cheerleader or support during

37:55 during this whole path that you have uh been on um this is going to sound horrible my husband's

38:03 plural so my that sounds horrible my ex-husband Bruce was the one that encouraged me to buy it

38:12 he was my biggest cheerleader because he's like you can do this and he just told me not to worry

38:16 about it I kept saying but it costs so much you know and we need we need a big room because I'll

38:22 knock out a wall he was my biggest supporter my biggest fan and and just really you know

38:29 was behind me on that um Vince my my my uh my current husband he's just as a big of a cheerleader

38:39 is I mean I guess I've been lucky I don't know how people are like lucky you know like yeah

38:46 I've had two you know I've got two good husbands one's okay that's good I like you to be real on

38:53 here so that's good um and I wanted to ask you so the life that you have now related to your

39:04 quilting what what kind of impact has the uh the both the money and the control of your personal

39:11 time and schedule what kind of impact does that have on your life okay let's see well I clearly

39:17 do not make as much money doing this as I did with my job um and that's fine it's a quality

39:25 of life type thing I love working from home because it's a ponytail I can do it in my pajamas on days

39:34 when I'm not seeing clients and as a matter of fact I have a few clients that don't care if I'm

39:38 in my pajamas so if it's a rainy day or a cold day or whatever um and I can stop at 10 o'clock

39:49 and decide to go do something and come back so I have total flexibility if I want to take the day

39:56 off and go do something with my friends or uh

40:00 I'm, you know, go to a garden club meeting or something.

40:04 I can come back and do my job at eight o'clock at night.

40:07 So the flexibility is awesome.

40:11 Gosh, wear and tear in my car is next to nothing anymore.

40:14 I have, my car expenses are down.

40:16 You know, I used to have to spend,

40:20 I used to spend a lot of money on my wardrobe

40:23 because I was in a professional setting.

40:25 Don't need that anymore.

40:27 Eating out, you know, I get to eat from home

40:29 and I get to go out into my garden.

40:32 You know, I'll start my machine up

40:34 and my machine actually is in front

40:37 of some really big windows that overlook my garden.

40:40 So I can see my garden while I'm quilting.

40:43 And while that's running, I'll run out that door real quick

40:45 and go pick something and bring it in.

40:47 So it's a quality of life.

40:50 I mean, I know it sounds like I'm working a lot of hours

40:53 but really are they working?

40:55 Not really.

40:56 You're visiting with all kinds of ladies

40:59 that come in with all these wonderful stories.

41:01 And so it's kind of, I mean, I'm having fun.

41:05 I don't really consider it a job.

41:08 That's awesome.

41:09 That just, that in itself is such a cool thing.

41:13 So I was divorced for almost eight years

41:17 and I made enough money.

41:19 I did not get alimony.

41:21 My child was grown, so I didn't get child support.

41:25 I paid my own way in life.

41:27 I had a nice house.

41:28 I had a nice car.

41:29 I lived a nice life.

41:31 I didn't, you know, I didn't buy Gucci stuff.

41:36 You know, I didn't have, I wasn't rich

41:38 but I made a good solid living off of quilting.

41:44 So I've been blessed.

41:48 God blessed me with finding the gamble

41:50 and I'll tell that to a million people

41:53 that it was probably the best decision I ever made.

41:55 I was really worn out from traveling with my job

41:58 and it was just the stress, the travel,

42:05 the way things, you know, HR,

42:07 the way things were just going.

42:09 When I first started working,

42:13 you were expected to have a good work ethic

42:17 and it was just a different environment.

42:19 And then the longer I went on, it was,

42:22 well, you can't expect her to do her job

42:25 because her uncle is so-and-so.

42:27 You know, you couldn't, it was just, it got messy.

42:31 Wow.

42:32 Yeah.

42:32 You know, they wanted to play on their phones

42:36 and they, or they wanted to,

42:38 they came to work and they expected a paycheck

42:41 but didn't expect to do the work for it.

42:43 I was in supervision, so,

42:46 and I'm a bit of a workaholic,

42:48 so it didn't go well with me.

42:51 So it sounds like your current career is-

42:55 Stress-free.

42:56 Yeah, I was going to say, a little bit less stressful.

42:59 I was going to say, yeah, my little work partners,

43:03 I've got two puppies.

43:05 Oh, okay.

43:06 What kind are they?

43:07 They are Shih Tzus.

43:09 They're 14 and 15.

43:10 They're napping right now

43:11 because they're little old men.

43:13 They're 14 and 15?

43:14 Yes.

43:15 Oh, they're pretty far along in dog year.

43:17 Yeah, they are.

43:19 Well, great.

43:20 I did want to, I got from some of my coworkers here,

43:25 they, back to that quilting with confidence,

43:28 I just want to tell the people watching,

43:29 you can go to yaml.com forward slash qwc2024,

43:38 yaml.com forward slash qwc2024

43:44 for quilting with confidence.

43:45 Anyway.

43:47 So, all right, Charlene,

43:52 there's a lot of people watching this right now.

43:53 A lot of people watching right now

43:55 and a lot of people that are going to be watching it,

43:57 the recordings of it.

43:59 And with your path that you,

44:03 you say it's been 17 years ago you started?

44:06 Is that right?

44:06 No, 13.

44:07 13.

44:08 I'm so, okay, sorry.

44:09 Not trying to make you older than you are.

44:12 But yeah, you started 13 years ago

44:15 and somebody that is watching this

44:19 that is either thinking about starting

44:21 or is already going into the process,

44:26 do you think that in this day and age

44:28 that it would still be possible for somebody

44:31 to do what you've done?

44:34 Absolutely.

44:36 I mean, I think the biggest thing

44:39 is just to be smart about it.

44:41 Obviously, I try to keep several months of savings back

44:47 so that if something goes wrong

44:49 or there's some sort of impact

44:53 that if my business does drop for a while

44:56 that I have reserved to work off of.

45:00 But absolutely, I would definitely go around

45:02 and ask the quilt shops

45:07 and find out what the turnaround time is.

45:09 I'll tell you, turnaround time is important to people.

45:13 And if someone's coming in

45:16 and they're looking for a quilter

45:17 and they're asking the quilt shop,

45:18 okay, I made this quilt, I need a quilter.

45:21 And you have a choice and you call somebody

45:23 and they have the same price,

45:24 but this person can do it in two to three weeks

45:26 or this person can do it in three months.

45:28 Who are you gonna take it to?

45:31 And if you're gonna do this as a business,

45:33 you just need to know

45:34 you're gonna have to put some hours in.

45:35 I mean, it's just the way it is.

45:37 It gets easier though.

45:39 In the beginning,

45:42 there's a lot more bush beating,

45:44 but word of mouth, be honest.

45:48 If you make a mistake,

45:50 I find that my integrity or my word

45:56 is more important to me

45:58 than the little paycheck they're gonna give me.

46:00 And so if I do have a little snafu, which they happen,

46:04 and I'll tell them that.

46:05 I'm like, I'm darn good, but I'm not perfect.

46:10 And things happen.

46:11 And they pretty much know that

46:13 because they're sewing and a needle breaks

46:15 or things happen in life.

46:17 And I just remind them things happen in life

46:19 and they happen to me too.

46:22 And I'm upfront with them

46:23 and I do the best I can to make,

46:25 if I have to give them that quilt,

46:27 I give them that quilt.

46:29 It's a hundred dollars.

46:31 So if I'm at a half a day's work,

46:36 I give them a hundred dollars on a quilt,

46:38 but they leave happy because they know I've done my best

46:41 and I'm not gonna charge them for this little snafu.

46:46 I've got, they're telling their friends,

46:48 well, at least if she makes a mistake,

46:50 she honors, you know, she owns up to it

46:52 and she does right by you.

46:54 And that's been one of the things I'll tell you

46:57 that I've had comments, you know,

46:59 cause I do, everybody makes a mistake at least.

47:03 Once a year, something really wrong goes on,

47:05 you know, like a needle will break and it'll,

47:07 you know, I won't be right there.

47:09 And so it'll tear up their fabric

47:11 and I do what it takes to make it right with them.

47:15 And if it is a matter of just not taking payment,

47:19 I don't take payment.

47:20 I don't worry about that stuff

47:22 because that little bit of negative is worse

47:27 than maybe that hundred dollars that you might be earning.

47:31 So you're talking about integrity.

47:35 I just want them to know that

47:37 when they bring something to me,

47:39 I'm gonna treat it like my own.

47:41 And I understand how much money goes into it.

47:44 I understand how much time goes into it.

47:46 I understand how much love and expectation goes into it

47:49 because they're typically making it for someone

47:52 for an event, a birthday, a moving or, you know,

47:56 Christmas or something, and it's important.

47:58 And it's gonna be handed down

48:00 for years and years and years.

48:03 And so I don't treat it lightly.

48:04 I don't, I do know of, there is a person in our area that,

48:14 let, I guess when she was rolling it,

48:17 she got a big fleet across the back

48:20 and she didn't even bother trying to fix it.

48:22 She just gave it to him and said,

48:23 well, you know, things happen.

48:25 And charged her.

48:28 I about fell out of my chair when I heard that

48:30 because the other thing is I won't steal customers.

48:33 So if somebody comes to me

48:35 and I know they're a quilter and they've been quilting,

48:38 I'll say, you know, hey, don't you quilt with so-and-so?

48:42 And, you know, I want permission from that person.

48:45 Sometimes they'll say, well, she's really busy right now

48:48 and I need it for a certain time.

48:51 And so I'll confirm that with that person.

48:54 And if that's, you know,

48:55 cause I am not about stealing and I'll tell them that.

48:58 I don't steal customers.

48:59 If you're happy with that person

49:01 and you're just out shopping around to be shopping around,

49:04 you need to stay with your quilter.

49:06 It's more important to have that relationship

49:08 with your quilter than to just be, you know,

49:14 someone out there, so.

49:16 Got you.

49:17 Yeah.

49:18 And that goes back to that face-to-face thing

49:19 that you were talking about.

49:21 Yeah.

49:22 Was the beginning.

49:24 Well, Charlene, I think we're going to wrap it up here.

49:27 I wanted to ask you, is there,

49:31 if some of the people watching this,

49:33 is there any way that they could get in touch with you

49:36 or find you or send you a message or anything like that?

49:42 Or are you?

49:44 Yeah.

49:45 So they could email me, I guess.

49:47 I do have a Facebook account and a Instagram account,

49:51 but it's full of puppies and gardens

49:54 and not even that often.

49:56 Cause I really just don't, I just don't do a lot of that.

50:00 Okay.

50:01 Well, if somebody wants to communicate with you,

50:03 what would you want your email?

50:06 They could do my email.

50:08 Absolutely.

50:09 It's CharleneJSmith at Outlook.com.

50:13 I guess type it in the message thing here, right?

50:17 All right.

50:18 CharleneJSmith at Outlook.com.

50:24 Right.

50:25 Okay.

50:27 Well, Charlene, it's been a pleasure talking to you

50:29 and I sure appreciate you sharing this time with us

50:33 and you've had your own unique, extraordinary journey.

50:37 And I know that you've blessed a lot of the people

50:42 watching this.

50:43 So thank you so much.

50:44 Yeah.

50:46 You've made this a great version.

50:49 I say jump, jump off that cliff.

50:52 Jump off the cliff.

50:53 Yeah. Half faith, half faith.

50:56 Yeah.

50:58 All right.

50:58 Well, Charlene, thank you so much.

51:00 And on that note, we will say goodbye to everybody

51:03 and thank you for joining.

51:05 You guys take care.

51:15 Thank you.