How Much to Charge for Longarm Quilting: Lessons from Karna Lackey’s High-Volume Shop

0:00 Okay, well, we're going to go ahead and get started here on Quilting Business Success.

0:29 We have with us today, Karna Lackey. Karna, thank you for joining us today.

0:37 Yeah, we're just going to kind of go through some questions and ask you a little bit about

0:42 your journey with your quilting business. And let's start out by, can you tell us where are

0:49 you located, Karna? I actually live in Beeler, Kansas, but my quilt shop is located in Hutchinson,

0:56 Kansas, so it's about 15 minutes between the two. Okay, doesn't everywhere in Kansas look

1:01 about the same anyway? Kind of, yeah. I've driven across Kansas and it just never ends.

1:11 Well, started here, stayed here, been here, so yeah. Gotcha, gotcha. Well, Karna, we're glad to

1:17 have you. Can you tell us, how long have you been long-arming, and yeah, how did you start out with

1:26 learning about long-arming? Well, I started quilting, I was teaching classes at our Bernina

1:33 dealer, and I would teach machine quilting, and it just, you know, it came apparent, pretty obvious,

1:38 if you get a very big quilt, it just wasn't fun wrestling that on a domestic machine. And so,

1:43 I started looking at long-arms. My friend, I kind of had GAML on the brain, and then my friend got

1:49 one, which is always, you know, the catalyst to say, I really like it. What really pulled the

1:56 trigger for me was, we went to the Houston Quilt Show, and the year that they came out with the

2:00 purple machine, then I said it had to come home with me. So, I called my husband and I said,

2:06 it's now purple. And so, I really feel like I need it, and he was like, oh, he's like, you know,

2:13 that's a big purchase. And I said, I know, but I said, it'll work. And I didn't start out with

2:18 a Statler, I just started with a plus machine. I've got an Optimum 30-inch. So, you had a plus,

2:25 the size of it was the Optimum machine. Yeah, plus machine, okay. And so, got that paid off in

2:33 about less than four years with doing quilts for people, and then I retrofitted to the Statler,

2:39 and that was in 2007 when I started, and I had a full-time job. So, I just quilted in the evenings

2:47 and on weekends for people. A lot of people had connections through our Bernina dealer. I started

2:52 doing a lot of their quilts. And then, in 2018, our local quilt shop, the lady retired,

3:00 and everybody's like, you should buy the quilt shop. It'll be fun. So, I said, okay,

3:08 we finished the deal in early 2019. So, we opened up the quilt shop in April of 2019. I was still

3:13 working full-time. And then, of course, 2020 came with COVID, and we got shut down and made it

3:20 through that. And about two and a half years of having the quilt shop, I retired from the other

3:25 job and I'm here full-time. When we got the quilt shop, I bought a second Statler. I found one on

3:33 eBay. And the question I failed to ask was, where is it located? And it was in a basement.

3:41 So, if you're ever looking to buy a used machine from an individual, that's an important question

3:47 to ask. We went and made it ourselves. It was in Colorado. So, we took the trailer out there

3:54 and brought it back. I thought, I can do this because I have one to look at, figure out how

3:58 to put it back together. So, anyway, we have two. They're basically identical other than the used

4:03 one I bought. It's the controller's a mod older than the one I got in 07. So. Okay. So, what do

4:12 you have, a mod G and a mod E? My one, I was able to upgrade to the Ascend. So, whatever that one is.

4:24 And then the other one was too old to do that. So, I've upgraded one of them to the Ascend.

4:31 Okay. So, let me get this clear. You were working at a quilt shop and you decided to buy a

4:42 Gamel. You found a, you got a plus machine, one of the larger plus machines.

4:48 Was this at your house that you started? Actually, I wasn't working at the quilt shop. I was working

4:54 at another business. We did bank data processing for banks all across the US.

5:00 Okay. I managed the debit card department. So, totally not a quilting related job.

5:07 But yeah, when I just kind of went into business and was doing it in the evenings and on the

5:13 weekends and the first year that I actually quilted a hundred quilts, I thought that was like

5:18 a really big milestone for me. I'm like, I did a hundred quilts this year. Yeah. Yeah. So, you got

5:26 your machine specifically for doing a business. Is that right? Okay. So, you started right off the bat

5:35 and were you doing any quilting prior to that? Not as a business, not for others. I was just

5:46 quilting basically my own things on my domestic machine. Okay. Okay. I got you. I got you.

5:54 So, you got your plus machine. You started going into business and you say it took you

6:03 about four years to pay that first machine off? Yeah. Okay. So, how did you end up going with a

6:12 gamel at that time? Well, I had just done research and I just felt like they've been around a long

6:20 time, tried and true. And then, like I said, my friend got one and so I got to play on hers. And

6:28 I've looked at other machines. I just felt like the quality was there

6:31 and that, you know, one of the things that's important to me was if I needed help, somebody

6:38 would come to me because, you know, I had some friends with some long arms and if theirs broke,

6:45 they literally had to dismantle it and take it back to where their dealer was. And, you know,

6:50 it's not like your sewing machine, you just pick it up, throw it in your car and go. So,

6:55 that was a big thing for me that I was able to get service on site. Yeah. And we, yeah,

7:03 if somebody has something that's beyond what we can walk them through fixing by a tech support,

7:12 they'll generally set up a tech visit where somebody will come there to the house. And we

7:18 found that that is a lot better because working on the machine on its own table and its native

7:25 environment per se, that it eliminates so many variables, you know, that can happen, you know,

7:33 trying to fix something, just throwing it in the back of a car and bringing it somewhere. So,

7:38 yeah, so that's good. So, you have the same, you still have the same machine, but you had it

7:44 retrofitted to a Statler, is that right? Or? Yep, I did the Statler retrofit in 2011. And then,

7:54 probably about a year ago in August, I had it upgraded to the Ascend, that one. So. Okay,

8:00 so you've had that one upgraded twice. Okay, okay. How do you like the Ascend? I love it.

8:10 I mean, as you know, for somebody that, you know, I'm not paid till the quilt leaves,

8:14 you know, out the door, the quicker I can get them in and out, you know, the better the day is. So,

8:20 and, you know, there's still a few patterns that I will slow it back down for because it,

8:25 it just may have a little weird direction to it and it wobbles. So, I'll slow it back down. But,

8:31 you know, there's a lot of patterns, I can run a lot faster than I can on my other machine.

8:35 Yeah, yeah. In general, the Ascend, it has beefier motors and belts. And for that reason,

8:43 it can, it can operate at a higher speed with, with better accuracy, even than the previous

8:54 Ascend. And, but yeah, there's some patterns on there that, you know, when you're doing a whole

9:00 bunch of dog legs, you can't go full speed, you know, because, yeah, it's, it'll, it'll, it'll,

9:08 it'll mess the pattern up a little bit, even at that top speed. So, so 2011, you upgraded to

9:17 Statler. When did you have the Ascend done? Just last year. Okay, okay. And somewhere in between

9:25 that time, you got another machine, is that right? Right. When we bought the quilt shop in 20,

9:31 we opened in 2019 is when I bought the second Statler, because in my mind, I was going to have,

9:37 I was going to leave my original one at home at my studio. And I would do, you know, some custom

9:42 quilts there and things. And then I would just run the edge to edge, because that's mostly what we

9:46 get requests for at the shop. And it probably wasn't, you know, I mean, the other problem we

9:55 had when I bought the used one, the other question I probably should ask was, did you ever use this

10:00 machine? Because when we got it, I'm not sure that that lady ever even quilted hardly any quilts on

10:08 And that was not good on it. And when we got it, the needle up needle down, like it, like it would

10:16 be needle in the fabric, and it was trying to move it just wasn't right. And so they're like, well,

10:20 it probably just hasn't been oiled in us. So we ran oil routines, and we did all sorts of stuff.

10:26 And it still just wasn't quite right. So I actually ended up taking it up to an MQS show.

10:32 And then I think maybe Cindy and Larry had actually sent it back to the mothership. But

10:38 when it came back, it has run perfectly ever since. So you know, I always tell people the

10:44 worst thing for that machine is not using it. But you know, once we got it going,

10:50 and then it probably wasn't a year into it. And I'm like, we were just getting inundated with

10:54 edge to edge. So we moved the other machine down to the quilt shop. So I have two statlers at the

11:01 quilt shop, and they pretty much run full speed every day, six days a week.

11:06 Okay, so you say you stay quite busy.

11:10 Yeah, having two keeps me really busy. You know, just keeping them going and rolling and

11:16 changing bobbins and things.

11:17 Are you are you the are you the only one that operates the machines pretty much?

11:22 Or?

11:22 My husband will help me. If the quilts are pretty flat, he's really good. He can roll it,

11:28 he can change it, he can, you know, do all those things. Not when you quilt for the public,

11:33 not every quilt you get is perfectly flat. So

11:38 Surely not.

11:40 That was probably the biggest rude awakening I had in quilting for the public. So you know,

11:47 he'll get it rolled. And then he's like, it needs you. So then I'll go over and, you know,

11:53 try to get the full, mostly it's fullness and borders that we see. So, you know, I get it

11:59 tamed down, and then it's good to go. And he measures he if he can get the quilts measured

12:04 for me and get the bobbins wound, like and, you know, we press the wide backs.

12:11 It's just a continuous nonstop motion. So

12:15 I got you. So y'all have kind of learned to do the ballet of the two machines.

12:20 Yeah. Yeah, he's here at the quilt shop. He retired from his job and came to the quilt shop

12:25 a couple years ago. And so when it's when it's stopped, you know, when whoever can get to it,

12:32 can get to it while we're not, you know, not waiting on customers, it just patiently waits

12:37 for it. So you're welcome to pull him on screen with if you want to. Oh, shoot. It's at 530.

12:43 Oh, he's gone. Okay. Okay. I wanted to revisit one thing. I don't remember if we talked about

12:51 this prior before the show started. One of those machines that you purchased from somebody,

12:58 it was like located in the basement of the person. And so you had that kind of that's

13:06 what you mentioned that that's one thing that you probably if you're buying one from somebody,

13:11 you should. Yeah, you should ask where the thing is located. Yeah. And, you know, I mean,

13:18 yeah, it was in the basement. So we had to take it down a lot further than what I'd planned on

13:24 taking it down because we had a trailer big enough that I could disassemble it more than

13:28 yeah, more than I thought. So and, you know, I've I've had a lady call me and she was a friend was

13:34 going to sell her one. And she said, I called Gamel and they gave me a price to move it. And I

13:39 said, whatever it is, it's worth it. Because that I mean, that was a lot bigger chore than what I

13:47 really anticipated. So yeah, it also had the hydraulics. So that was something else,

13:53 you know, we were, you know, making sure we kept all that from getting having any problems or.

13:59 Right, right. And I will say that nowadays, Gamel, we, we don't, quote, move machines,

14:07 but we do have the ability. We can tear them down, put them if somebody has a truck or something,

14:15 and we can set them up at the new location. So you can and they can call us or contact us anytime

14:22 on Gamel dot com. Just just contact us if you have a machine that needs

14:27 needs to be moved or whatever. We can tell you what what we have available there.

14:32 OK, so. You, you, you've got these two machines. Tell me what year you got the second machine again.

14:42 2019. OK, OK. So. All right. When you first started out this business, did you

14:52 did you know if there was enough business in your area to support what you were wanting to do or

15:00 what with that? I won't say I researched that heavily because I just really wanted one really

15:07 bad. So I was I knew I knew a lot of the people like like I said, I taught at the

15:12 Bernina dealership and I knew a lot of them had quotes, you know, some of them were taking them

15:18 out of town. So I thought, well, you know, for me, it'll be closer. Yeah. And I think, you know,

15:24 when I first started, there was more people maybe that did it. And then what I found like locally,

15:30 it seems like a lot of the people that would do it for customers, once they got their machine

15:35 paid off, they're like, it's I don't have to I don't have to do it for a business anymore.

15:41 I can just put my quilts on it. So we saw a lot of people that did do it. And then they kind of

15:47 they're like not taking customer quilts anymore. So gotcha. So in your first few years, you

15:55 you were doing only hand guided. Is that right? Yeah. Panagraphs, basically. Yeah.

16:02 Okay. And when that when I first got the machine, you know, and they came out and set it up,

16:07 and I was I felt like I was pretty confident on my domestic machine, like this is going to be a

16:12 cakewalk in the park for me, this is no big deal. And the pantograph he picked for us to start with

16:18 is it was an extremely symmetrical one, you know, like had loops, and it was very symmetrical.

16:23 And so he waltzes across there, and it looks great. And then I waltzed across there. And I was

16:29 like, holy cow, what did I just do? Because I've never seen anything look so bad my entire life.

16:35 So you know, it wasn't just like a straight transfer, it was basically relearning,

16:41 you know, that skill and the muscle movement, you're moving the machine and not the fabric. So

16:46 I know, it just takes practice. We had a lot of people that do donation quilts, and they were

16:52 willing to let me do them, you know, for free or at a really reduced rate when I first started to

16:58 get my feet kind of underneath me. Yeah, you had a little bit of a learning curve there.

17:05 Yeah, more than I thought I was going to have. Gotcha. And I will tell people that are watching

17:11 the podcast, if you purchase a Gamel machine from us, whether it be a pre-loved machine or a new

17:19 one, it does come with new owner training videos. And you know, there's all of that is available to

17:28 you. So I think that's a lot easier now than when I started, because when I got it, you know,

17:34 I had my Linda Taylor DVD and my notes, and there wasn't YouTube, there wasn't Facebook. And so we

17:41 went to MQS or Sugar and got training. And then other than that, you were, you didn't really have

17:47 the knowledge that you have out there now that can help you basically 24 hours a day in some cases.

17:53 Yeah, yeah, it's at your fingers. It's a totally different world now, isn't it?

17:58 Yeah, absolutely. All right. So 2011, you had your, is that when you had the Statler?

18:05 Yep. Okay. So tell us a little bit about that. Tell us about switching from,

18:16 did you go completely from doing hand guided to all edge to edge and tell us what that was like

18:24 for you. And just kind of tell us a little bit about that period when you changed to the Statler.

18:29 Well, it was kind of life changing. I mean, I pretty much switched, you know,

18:35 to do in the computerized edge to edge or, you know, custom quilting. I like custom quilting,

18:41 but I'm the OCD person that likes everything to be exactly symmetrical. And having that Statler

18:47 allowed me to do that. So, you know, other than like, a lot of times, like if I'm background

18:54 filling, or things like that, I'll just do it hand guided, because I think that's faster for me than

18:59 doing fills and trims and things like that. But I didn't look back. I just, I hit that computer and

19:06 hit it pretty hard. The one thing I always find interesting is, you know, you always think you're

19:11 a pretty good piecer, right? And so you've got all these shapes on a, you know, a quilt. And then

19:17 you set your pattern to it. And you think, well, it's going to fit the next 12 shapes. And then

19:21 you're like, well, not quite. But that's what's so awesome about Creative Studio is, you know,

19:27 you can just tweak that pattern just to fit right in that pattern. You know, so it looks like,

19:33 makes you look like you are a perfect piecer. Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. So yeah, so you've got,

19:40 you've got kind of the best of both worlds. You started out doing nothing but hand guided.

19:48 And then you got a Statler. And there's, there's different schools of thought out there. There's

19:53 some of the old timers that, you know, if you're doing computerized, you ain't doing real quilting.

20:00 you know, there's both sides.

20:02 But let me ask you,

20:06 so the job that you had before,

20:09 that's, you're not doing anything else right now,

20:12 is that right?

20:13 Right, no, just the quilt shop.

20:14 I retired from, after 38 years in the corporate world,

20:18 I retired and just came to the quilt shop, so.

20:21 Nice, nice.

20:22 And about how many hours a week do you spend quilting

20:26 for other people these days?

20:29 A lot.

20:31 Literally, I mean, literally I get,

20:33 we're open 10 to 5.30 Monday through Friday

20:35 and 10 to four on Saturdays,

20:36 but I'm usually here by nine

20:38 and those machines are fired up.

20:41 And, you know, if we get behind, I don't like it.

20:45 So, because we have about a three to five day turnaround

20:49 on quilts.

20:50 Three to five days?

20:51 Yep.

20:52 Wow.

20:53 They bring them in and, you know,

20:55 sometimes they're getting a call the next day,

20:57 but if I get too far behind,

20:59 then I'm working in the evenings,

21:01 or, you know, if it's really bad, I'll work on a Sunday,

21:04 but I just, I mean, for us,

21:06 I think quality and turnaround time

21:08 is what's really increased our business.

21:11 Just, you know.

21:12 Wow, that's pretty impressive.

21:13 So, someone brings a quilt to you

21:16 and within three to five days,

21:17 they're coming to pick it up.

21:21 Wow.

21:21 Yep, and we, I mean, a lot of people that bring in quilts,

21:24 they don't necessarily have a timeframe.

21:26 You know, they're like, I'm not in any hurry for it.

21:28 So, if we, you know, we've had some people call us and say,

21:30 I'm coming to Hutchinson on this day.

21:34 If I bring it, can I have it the same day?

21:36 So, you know, if it's not a ginormous quilt,

21:39 I usually will say yes.

21:41 Gotcha.

21:43 So, do you still do any custom quilting,

21:46 or is it all edge to edge now?

21:48 Our edge to edge is just so crazy.

21:52 I just don't have time for that.

21:54 I mean, that quilt stays on that frame a long time,

21:58 you know, a week or two weeks.

22:00 And yeah, the machine's doing those things,

22:03 but you're programming each individual section.

22:05 And I'm a stitch in the ditcher.

22:07 I believe in that.

22:08 On a custom quilt, that takes time.

22:11 And the amount of edge to edge quilts

22:13 I can send through here in that timeframe,

22:16 you know, what I need for square inch on a custom,

22:19 people just won't pay it.

22:22 Gotcha, gotcha.

22:23 Well, what do you charge for,

22:27 do you charge by the square inch or how much?

22:29 Two cents is kind of the going rate in our area.

22:33 Okay, okay.

22:36 So, if you, do you have a price if you did custom quilting,

22:42 or is that just following by the way?

22:44 I don't even remember what my last price was,

22:47 but it, I just, I really just, I just tell people no.

22:51 It's not a word I use very often around here,

22:54 but I have learned to say it when it comes to this.

22:57 They say the word custom, you say, get out.

22:59 No, I just, and we don't have a lot of people around here

23:03 who do, you know, even do that for the, you know,

23:07 the custom quilting just because of the intensity of it.

23:10 Yeah, yeah, I got you.

23:12 Okay, okay.

23:15 So, so it's pretty much you and your husband that,

23:20 pretty much you that runs the machine

23:22 and the husband helps out some, right?

23:24 Yep.

23:26 So, how many, how many quilts a year do you, do you do?

23:33 Do you know about how many quilts?

23:35 Last year we did 855 for customers.

23:38 That's not counting our store models that we've built.

23:41 So, I'd say we were over 900 last year.

23:44 Wow.

23:46 Was that your, was that the, your biggest year

23:50 or is it being?

23:51 Yep.

23:52 Do you find yourself still growing?

23:55 Yep.

23:57 Okay.

23:58 Is it, is that a good thing?

24:00 Yeah, it's.

24:02 Are you getting overwhelmed yet?

24:03 As long as I can keep the machines running, you know,

24:06 that's the biggest thing.

24:07 I also have other people that, you know,

24:09 work in the other staff that work in the quilt shop

24:11 to help customers with other things.

24:13 So, you know, they try to take care of the customers

24:17 and I try to keep the machines going, so.

24:19 Okay, okay.

24:21 So, and do you, do you provide,

24:25 do you sell like batting, wide back fabrics,

24:27 things like that?

24:29 Yeah, we have, I have Hobbs 8020.

24:33 That's mostly what we use here.

24:35 I've also got Quilter's Dream that we use,

24:36 that we sell on, you know, we just cut it off the roll

24:38 and charge them however much we need.

24:41 And then our wide backs,

24:42 we have a little, probably a little over 200 bolts

24:45 of wide backs to pick from, so.

24:47 Nice, nice.

24:48 Because I like them.

24:51 Do you do, do you do t-shirt quilts?

24:54 Yes, yes.

24:56 We, we do them for-

24:57 Do you hate them or like them?

24:59 Oh, we love them.

25:01 Okay, okay.

25:02 We love them.

25:02 We do the collage style.

25:05 So they're kind of, you know,

25:06 not just stashed and everything's the same size.

25:09 We do them for customers if they bring shirts in

25:12 and we also quilt a lot of t-shirt quilts

25:14 that our customers have pieced.

25:16 But we love, we love t-shirt quilts here.

25:20 Everybody calls us the t-shirt capital, but.

25:23 Okay.

25:24 Do you, do you have any special procedures

25:28 or anything that helps you do that,

25:30 to do t-shirt quilts better?

25:34 Well, when we do the collage style,

25:36 there's kind of a math to it.

25:38 Like all of the blocks are finished four inch grid.

25:41 And then we use stabilizer.

25:42 I know some people are anti that,

25:44 but we, our stabilizer is really lightweight

25:47 and some people feel the shirts

25:48 and they can't even tell it's on there.

25:50 And then we always sew them

25:52 with a half inch seam pressed open,

25:54 which, you know, it lays and quilts

25:56 just awesome on the machine.

25:59 Okay.

26:00 And then we have, you know,

26:01 some people that put weird things on their t-shirt quilts,

26:03 like cheerleader uniforms and hair bows and stuff.

26:09 Gotcha, gotcha.

26:10 Yeah.

26:11 All right.

26:13 So you've been doing this for a while.

26:18 Have you, do you have any,

26:21 any like times that you've had to deal

26:25 with difficult customers or,

26:29 or difficult situations that like pieces of advice

26:33 you might be able to give the people that are watching?

26:36 Oh, well, I mean, for the most part,

26:38 people are so super excited when they get their quilts.

26:42 You know, the biggest thing,

26:44 and, you know, I have no idea why it happened,

26:46 probably in all the years that I've quilted,

26:48 I've had a needle break on me twice.

26:51 And, you know, that pokes a hole in a quilt.

26:53 I mean, it, it doesn't matter

26:55 whether you are sitting on top of that machine,

26:58 you can't, you know,

26:59 it typically stops before I can even get it stopped.

27:01 So those are difficult conversations I have with customers.

27:05 And we basically, you know,

27:07 depending on what, you know,

27:09 what the quilt looks like or whatever,

27:11 I've either reduced it or I've said,

27:13 I just didn't charge them for the quilting.

27:14 So, you know, most everybody pretty much understands,

27:20 you know, I mean, it's a machine and things can happen.

27:23 So.

27:24 Yeah, yeah.

27:25 Most people know that everybody is a, is human,

27:29 but you, once in a while you have somebody

27:31 that just seems to not realize that.

27:35 So I had another question I was going to ask,

27:41 but I can't remember what it was.

27:46 Now, it sounds like from talking with you

27:49 that you probably have avoided a lot of those difficult

27:55 things by just taking care of the customer

27:58 from the get-go, from the get-go.

28:02 Would you say that that is probably true?

28:05 Well, yeah, we've tried.

28:06 I mean, we have a, you know,

28:07 like our intake process and things,

28:09 we have a form and they, you know,

28:12 we work with them on picking thread and patterns

28:16 and things like that.

28:17 We have a few people who they don't, you know,

28:19 they just bring the quilt in and they say,

28:20 you pick the design, which always makes me nervous.

28:23 Yeah.

28:24 You know, I'm like, okay, if you're not going to pick,

28:26 at least tell me if there's things you don't like,

28:28 you know, like, do you not like flowers?

28:30 Do you not like hearts or who's, you know,

28:33 does the quilt have a home?

28:35 Is it going to a guy?

28:36 Is it going to a girl?

28:37 Is it, you know, where's it going?

28:38 Because sometimes that steers me

28:40 in the direction I need to go.

28:42 And, you know, every customer's different.

28:44 We have some that, you know,

28:46 we'll bring out lots of threads

28:47 and kind of lay them on the quilt and audition them.

28:49 And some people want to see the thread.

28:51 And then some people are like, I want it to blend.

28:56 We had a lady, she brought us a red and white quilt.

28:59 Then she said, well, you can pick the thread.

29:01 It just needs to blend.

29:02 And I said, I don't think you understand here.

29:04 I have red and I have white.

29:05 There is no blend.

29:06 It's not a show on one or the other.

29:10 So we need to make a decision

29:11 whether you want red on white or white on red.

29:13 So that's the hardest part.

29:18 Have you ever had to turn anybody away

29:21 and say, I'm not doing that?

29:23 We have not ever done that.

29:27 Some quilts, I've, when we have full borders and things,

29:31 I have like a Panasonic 360 steam iron

29:34 and that's my magic tool.

29:38 With the Statler, I'm able to deal

29:41 with a lot of that fullness.

29:42 When I was hand guiding,

29:44 you're on the backside of that machine

29:46 and all you can do is look across the table

29:48 and see what's happening.

29:49 But with the Statler driving it,

29:52 I can be right there with both hands

29:54 kind of working that fabric in

29:55 so that I'm not getting tucks

29:57 and I'm not getting problems with that.

30:01 So that's been the biggest savior

30:03 for quilts that are not really flat

30:05 is being able to have both hands on the quilt.

30:09 Gotcha.

30:11 Well, Karna, your business is growing.

30:18 Can you, what would you say

30:19 has been the hardest part of growing your business?

30:24 Oh gosh, I don't know.

30:25 Just keeping up for me.

30:27 Because like I said,

30:28 I don't like having a ton of quilts stacked up here.

30:33 I just worry about people's quilts

30:35 like if something happened.

30:36 And so the hardest part for me

30:38 has just been keeping up.

30:40 And if I have them quilted and I call them

30:43 and they choose not to come get them,

30:45 then that's kind of on their side.

30:47 But when I quilted at home,

30:50 we would go camping a lot on the weekends

30:53 and I was always paranoid in the middle of Kansas.

30:56 The tornado comes at your house and you're not there.

30:59 So if there was any threat of bad weather,

31:04 I would, any quilts I had,

31:05 I had them in, we have them in,

31:07 we send them out in garment bags,

31:09 basically a clear garment bag.

31:10 So I would put them in the garment bag

31:12 and I would kind of fold them up

31:13 and I would put them in my washer and dryer

31:14 in the basement of our house

31:16 till I got back home from camping.

31:17 Because I thought if the tornado hit my house,

31:19 maybe the washer and dryer might save the quilt.

31:22 Your washer and dryer was like your quilt tornado.

31:26 Yeah, it's like my little quilt vault.

31:27 Hopefully, I don't know.

31:28 But I thought even if it got wet,

31:30 maybe they'd stay dry inside of there.

31:32 But luckily we've never had any disasters like that, so.

31:36 Well, from your turnaround rate,

31:39 it doesn't sound,

31:41 you probably don't have like 20 or 30 quilts

31:45 stacked up waiting all the time, do you?

31:47 No.

31:49 Wow.

31:50 No, we had-

31:51 Possibly a couple of people have 20, 30, 40, 50 quilts

31:54 stacked up waiting.

31:55 Yeah, that would make me nervous.

31:57 We had, I think, 29.

32:00 So this, in January when we had super cold weather

32:04 and it was really dry and staticky,

32:07 I did not get myself grounded before I touched my machine

32:12 and I zapped it and I zapped the board in the controller.

32:16 So I was down, you know,

32:18 until they were able to come service that.

32:20 We still had one machine, but we didn't have two.

32:23 And I think we were down like 30 quilts

32:25 and that just about sent me over the edge.

32:28 You just about lost your mind during that time, huh?

32:30 I was like, we gotta get quilting here, so.

32:34 Okay.

32:38 So how do you stay,

32:39 how do you keep that quick of a turnaround going?

32:43 I mean, I know there's a lot of people watching right now

32:46 that have businesses and say,

32:51 I don't, I can't keep up with that.

32:54 How do you keep such a quick turnaround?

32:58 Well, like I said,

33:00 with two of us keeping those machines running

33:02 during the day, and then, you know,

33:04 I mean, the quilt shop's my life.

33:06 It's my business now.

33:07 So, you know, we don't have, you know, kids at home,

33:12 no grandkids yet here.

33:14 So, you know, basically I'm, this is my life for right now.

33:19 And just being able to keep that machine,

33:22 both machines going, you know,

33:24 soon as the bobbin runs out, needs rolled, you know,

33:27 you can get through a lot in, you know,

33:31 a quick amount of time.

33:33 Do you find that it's been a big change,

33:38 a big benefit to you to have two machines?

33:42 Absolutely.

33:43 Yeah, because when we were back down to one, you know,

33:46 in January and February, it was not good.

33:49 I always joke about, I need another one,

33:52 but I don't know that that would really benefit me

33:55 because I don't know that I,

33:57 the one or two of us can really keep three

33:59 of them going efficiently.

34:01 You know, there's no point in having three

34:03 if one's sitting there waiting on things.

34:05 So we have them,

34:08 both of our machines are up front in the quilt shop.

34:10 So, you know, they're not in the back room

34:13 when customers come in, they're right there

34:15 and they see them running, so.

34:17 Awesome, awesome.

34:19 And I probably don't need to ask this,

34:21 but who's been your biggest cheerleader and support?

34:26 Well, my husband, because he was like,

34:27 we got to figure out how to get this paid for.

34:32 So it's not so much that he's a cheerleader,

34:35 he just says, we got to get this thing paid for.

34:38 No, he's always very supportive of me.

34:40 I mean, you know, like I said,

34:41 when I made the phone call and I said, it's purple

34:43 and I really want to bring it home,

34:46 and he's like, okay, so.

34:49 So, but, and between the two of you,

34:52 who is the, how shall I say this?

34:55 Who's the biggest slave driver?

34:57 Who's the biggest boss?

34:59 Oh, by far I am.

35:01 Oh, okay.

35:03 Yeah, I'm always like the machines, you know,

35:05 like if, and I don't know if it's just like a sense thing,

35:08 like no matter where I am, I can hear,

35:11 you know, when we got to, it took me a while,

35:13 but you can just, you just hear,

35:14 like you hear that machine stop

35:17 and then I'm already over there and he's like, what?

35:19 And I'm like, the machine stopped.

35:21 And they always laugh at me because like,

35:23 if for some reason, if it breaks a thread,

35:25 like I'm like, even before the machine stops,

35:29 sometimes I've just, I've just grown to listen

35:32 to them that much.

35:33 Yeah, yeah, you know those machines.

35:39 I have a quick, oh, Ruth is asking a question here, Karna.

35:44 Says, do you have a limit on the number of quilt tops

35:49 that a customer can bring in at one time?

35:52 No.

35:55 We have, so we're kind of in the middle of Kansas

35:59 and we, you know, get some traffic from a ways away.

36:02 So they have to drive a ways and, you know,

36:05 they'll be, you know, I have one gal sometimes

36:07 she'll bring me five at a time.

36:09 So I, as long as, you know, your credit card

36:12 or your checkbook can pay for them,

36:14 I don't really care how many you bring me.

36:16 Gotcha, gotcha.

36:19 Well, Karna, you've been,

36:23 you had a whole career in a professional life

36:28 and you've been doing this.

36:30 You've got a good cross section.

36:32 You've done this for a number of years now.

36:37 How would you compare the, you know,

36:44 that working for somebody else

36:46 with the career that you had before

36:48 compared to what you have now?

36:50 Schedule wise, control of your own money and time.

36:57 Tell us a little bit about that.

37:00 Well, for me, I mean, there isn't a comparison

37:05 because I can make decisions.

37:08 I can affect change.

37:09 You know, if something needs to get done,

37:11 I can do what it needs.

37:12 I can do whatever to get it done.

37:14 You know, when you're in the corporate world

37:15 and you're taking phone calls

37:17 from your customers with problems

37:20 and, you know, you go to your management

37:22 and they're like, you know,

37:23 they either don't get an answer for you

37:25 or, you know, like you can't do that.

37:27 And I'm like, but this customer needs help.

37:30 I mean, that's frustrating when you're the middleman

37:33 and, you know, you wanna help your customer

37:35 and you can't.

37:36 And at the quilt shop, you know, I mean,

37:38 I'm in control of the destiny.

37:41 And so it's awesome.

37:43 It's always funny because people will leave the shop

37:45 and they'll like say, you know, have a nice day.

37:48 And I'm like, every day is a great day at the quilt shop.

37:51 Yeah.

37:52 And they're like, yeah, you're right.

37:55 Awesome, awesome.

37:57 Renee is asking, I think we answered this earlier

38:01 in the program, but what do you charge?

38:06 I guess they're referring to your-

38:08 Yeah, we do two cents a square inch

38:11 and I have a minimum charge of $40.

38:15 So people will say, you know,

38:16 will you quilt this itty bitty quilt?

38:18 And I'm like, absolutely, $40.

38:22 Gotcha, gotcha.

38:24 Okay.

38:27 Can you think of anything that you wish

38:31 that you would have known

38:32 or that somebody would have told you

38:33 when you first started this back many years ago?

38:38 Mostly that not all quilters are created equal.

38:42 Not all-

38:43 What does that mean?

38:44 What's behind that statement?

38:45 Not all quarter inch seams are quarter inch seams.

38:50 Okay.

38:51 I just, you know, when you quilt for the public,

38:55 it's just a different, you know,

38:58 when I first started it, you know,

39:01 I just didn't have the variety of people that we have now,

39:04 but you know, some of our quilters,

39:06 and we also see a lot of new quilters, which is awesome.

39:09 We've got a lot of younger quilters.

39:12 A lot of them are self-taught from YouTube

39:15 and things like that.

39:19 And some people are happy, you know,

39:20 they're like so excited they made this quilt.

39:22 And I'm like, okay, but one side's, you know,

39:26 83 inches and the other side's 73 inches.

39:29 So no, it's not that bad.

39:30 But I think that that's the hardest thing

39:33 is trying to figure out.

39:35 And, you know, I always,

39:36 people are always worried they bring their quilt in

39:38 and they're like, well, don't look at this.

39:40 Or I did this.

39:41 And I said, I'm not the quilt police.

39:43 I'm here to quilt your quilt.

39:44 You know, I'm not a judge.

39:46 This isn't a show.

39:47 My job is to get your quilt quilted for you.

39:50 So I think, you know, that's, you know,

39:54 probably the hardest thing is just reassuring,

39:57 especially newer quilters that it's.

40:00 okay. You know your quilt doesn't have to be perfect. I'm not going to tell you don't.

40:04 So yeah that's that's fantastic that's fantastic. I have uh Grace is asking

40:13 do you have a thread charge or a setup charge?

40:17 Nope. The thread's included in that two cents. Obviously batting is not. We have a few people

40:26 who ask about binding. It's not a business that I want to be in by any means so it's priced

40:32 accordingly. We still have a few people that you know have us do the binding but it's not

40:40 something I really want to do. Got you, got you. Marnie is asking um I guess she was listening to

40:49 the 83 inches on one side and 73 said if you receive a quilt uh which seam the seams are

40:57 not consistent or joined together uh do you talk with them and tell them the quilt will be

41:05 quilted as the seams are? Do you understand what she's asking there? Well like when we

41:13 when we take in a quilt we don't I don't measure it measure it you know like if

41:18 we'll we'll kind of rough measure it or fold it in quarters so that I know how much I need like

41:22 for a wide back or things like that. I don't ever measure quilts in front of customers because I

41:27 think that makes them feel like you know if it's not square then that makes them feel bad.

41:32 We just deal with it on the back side. Um if like a lot of times we'll have to press that top

41:39 because I'm not sure it ever got to visit an iron in the process of creation but if I find an open

41:45 seam or something like that before I load it on my machine I'll just try to fix it the best I can.

41:52 You know I'll just take it to my machine and seam it or whatever and I don't charge people for that.

41:57 Um if if I don't find it until it's on the machine and it's halfway quilted I will try to

42:06 you know fold it over as best I can and make sure that you know I get through the stitching and then

42:11 I pin a note on it and I just say a little arrow and says open seam you'll need to hand sew this

42:15 shut. So that's I like it better when I find it before the machine finds it because sometimes

42:23 it's not as gentle. The spoon foot has helped that a lot. You know um before I got the spoon foot

42:32 it it had a tendency to want to get in any open seams more so that's helped.

42:38 Got you. Okay you sound like you you sound like you enjoy your career that you have. I do I do you

42:47 know it's like everybody every that comes in the quilt shop they're usually happy to be here

42:52 and I mean it's it's fun. We've we had to kind of make a turnaround because the shop prior maybe had

43:00 you know not as friendly a reputation as it probably should have which I didn't really

43:05 have which I didn't really realize but um we have a great bunch of people that work here and

43:11 you know that's I always people are appreciative of the help they receive and I always just say

43:15 well you can buy fabric in a lot of places but you can't always buy service so that's our goal

43:20 here is to try to provide you know excellent customer service to those people. How uh how big

43:28 a deal and how important do you think it is uh the the interaction that you have the one-on-one

43:34 interaction that you have with your customers? Oh it's extremely important yeah and you know like

43:43 I'm I'm the kind of person like when I'm shopping I don't necessarily want help

43:47 and so you know we'll you know when people come in we obviously greet them and try to help them

43:51 and say is there anything we can help you find and you know some customers are like nope I'm

43:56 looking on my own and so you know we kind of let them go but you know we have other customers

44:02 Jeff kind of really hasn't spoiled my husband because they'll bring the quilt in or they'll

44:07 bring the panel in and then they just stand at the counter and he goes and brings bolts up to

44:12 them they don't even have to walk the shop. It wasn't too sure when he first started he's like

44:19 nobody's gonna want to talk to a guy in a quilt shop I'm like yes they will it'll be fine I said

44:23 you're probably less intimidating than you know some of us that are have quilted for a longer

44:28 time especially for you know newer quilters and yeah he's kind of got his own following

44:33 there's people that just come in and they ask for him now so the rest of us are just okay we're here

44:37 to help. What's your husband's name? Jeff. Jeff okay so they can they can ask for Jeff when they

44:46 come up there. Oh yeah he's kind of got his own set of groupies just because you know he like I

44:52 said I feel like it's um you know in the big fashion stores in New York you just sit there

44:58 and they bring you all the clothes and garments and you can just sit there and that's kind of

45:02 the way he does for them. He brings all you know bolts of fabric up and what do you think about

45:07 this and he's pretty he's really good with color and I think that you know I've had some people say

45:13 they walk in and they're like I hope he doesn't wait on me but then you know because they're just

45:18 not used to a guy at a quilt shop and when once he helps them they're like you know a fan for life

45:24 so it's awesome. That's awesome, that's awesome. I feel like you're giving us a good little

45:31 snapshot into your shop there and I appreciate that. Well listen we're about to we're getting

45:39 close to closing time of this program. Karna, so you started 2007 maybe 2006 with your machine I

45:51 bet you I bet you didn't envision what what it would look like now today in 2024 but yeah my

46:00 the question I always ask at the end is what advice would you give somebody who is

46:08 thinking about or has started or is in the beginning stages of doing wanting to follow

46:16 some of the path that you're doing and do you think that in this day and age in 2024 that

46:22 it is possible? Give us some. Well I just I mean don't ever give up you know just keep

46:30 keep giving up if you're just starting and you're like I'm not I don't feel comfortable doing

46:38 you know quilts for others there's a lot of groups in town that do donation quilts and you

46:44 know I'm sure they you know they would love to have people quilt for them you know and if you're

46:49 willing to do it at a reduced price or a lower price just to get your feet wet and get under

46:53 you know kind of get the hang of things I think that's an awesome place to go. We see a ton of

46:59 new quilters I mean it's our business hasn't slowed down as far as fabric so I think there's

47:04 a need out there for people people love to piece but you know quilting at home on your domestic

47:10 it's fine if you get little projects but if you get a very big project even with even with the

47:15 bigger domestic machines you're still wrestling you know you got a lot to wrestle and I teach

47:21 free motion classes here you know on your domestic and people take the class and they're like

47:28 well I'm just going to keep bringing them to you because that's you know it's a skill

47:34 you know you yes your machine will do it but it's a skill you have to learn as well.

47:40 Well and it sounds like you have a good balance between the interpersonal

47:46 relationship building and communication with people and the quality of doing the work

47:52 and it sounds like from everything that you've been telling me today that that that is

48:00 that probably fits right in with your philosophy.

48:03 Quality and turnaround time that's the thing that you have that is amazing.

48:09 Karna before we go the people that are watching if somebody either wants to

48:15 get in touch with you or see about becoming a Jeff Groupie

48:22 is there a place they can get in touch with you or find you?

48:27 Yeah I mean we're online sewintoquilts.com is and it's S-E-W-I-N the number two quilts.com

48:36 we're online we're on Facebook and we have a brick and mortar store in Hutchinson Kansas

48:42 at 126 North Main in the historic Houston Whiteside building.

48:47 Okay sewintoquilts.com that's S-E-W-I-N the number two quilts.com right?

48:58 All right tell us your address one more time.

49:02 We're at 126 North Main in Hutchinson Kansas.

49:07 All right okay well all you Jeff Groupie wannabes you pay attention to that

49:15 Jeff's there waiting for you and Karna it's been a pleasure talking to you thank you so

49:22 much for joining us tonight. You bet thanks for having me. All right well I guess that wraps up

49:28 another episode of a quilting business success. Karna you have a good evening and happy quilting

49:35 and to all of our viewers we will see you next week. Thank you very much.