How Deborah Jenkins Built a Longarm Quilting Business in Remote Powell River

0:00 Okay, well, everybody, welcome to Walt Wilting Business Success.

0:29 We are going to, as we normally do at the very beginning, just give a couple of minutes

0:34 for the people to file on in from the hallway outside and to join the program.

0:40 But for those of you just joining, my name is Bobby Ware, and I am a member of tech support

0:46 here at GAML.

0:47 And most of you know this guy, Andrew Weaver, machine whisperer here at GAML.

0:54 We are blessed to have Deborah Jenkins with us today.

0:58 She is one of our business owners, quilting business owners, with a really interesting

1:08 history and journey in her business.

1:12 And we can't wait to interview Deborah tonight and get all the details for you.

1:18 Deborah, I want to jump right in before I put my foot in my mouth anymore.

1:23 I think your story is going to be neat, and it's going to be inspiring to people who might

1:29 be wanting, you know, considering the journey themselves of getting a machine and quilting

1:35 for customers.

1:36 First, let's start off with where you live.

1:40 Where is home for you?

1:42 So home is a little community called Powell River, which is in British Columbia in Canada.

1:49 I'm on the West Coast.

1:51 You can't go any further unless you go to Vancouver Island.

1:54 We're an isolated community of 13,000 people in our community, and 20,000 people including

2:01 our outlying areas.

2:02 We have lots of islands around us.

2:04 It's the most beautiful place, I'm going to say, almost in the world.

2:10 I've lived here since I was nine years old.

2:13 I've been coming here since before I was born.

2:15 I think I came, my mother was pregnant with me when she came here because her sister lived

2:19 here, and I wouldn't consider living anywhere else.

2:24 It's a beautiful community.

2:26 That being said, small communities, of course, have their advantages, and they also have

2:30 their disadvantages.

2:31 So, yes.

2:32 You have a Walmart.

2:35 Yes, we have a Walmart.

2:39 It's funny you say that because the Lower Sunshine Coast does not have a Walmart, and

2:44 we're in between Vancouver, or they're in between Vancouver and us.

2:49 So, we're just about 100 miles north of Vancouver, but we, yes, we do have a Walmart.

2:54 Yes.

2:55 And how many quilt shops would you say?

2:57 Now, I don't want to, if somebody gets left out of your count, it's not on purpose, but...

3:04 So at the moment, we have a very small quilt shop.

3:10 I've owned a quilt shop twice now in Powell River.

3:13 I owned one in 1999 to 2000, and then I opened again in 2015 and just sold it, oh, a year

3:22 and a half ago.

3:24 And she unfortunately had to close down, and so at the moment, I say I still have a quilt

3:30 shop because I still get people, lots of people phoning, and I still sell lots of things.

3:35 So I get things for people when I can.

3:38 So I'm still, yeah, I'm still into it, but I'm not opening a quilt shop again.

3:43 Right.

3:44 Well, the quilters have to keep their stash, you know, pumped.

3:47 Yes.

3:48 Yeah.

3:49 So unfortunately...

3:50 You're in that community, you say 13,000?

3:53 Yes.

3:54 Well, that's close to the size of West Plains here, where the GAML headquarters is located.

3:59 So, yes, it's a relatively medium, small town, but big enough to have a Walmart, so that's...

4:06 Right.

4:07 But I bet you can drive to somewhere.

4:12 Yes.

4:13 Well, Powell River, you, well, you can't.

4:17 No.

4:18 Ferry or plane are the only ways in and out.

4:22 And our ferry, the last one goes at 8.45 at night, and that's just to Vancouver Island,

4:27 that's not even to Vancouver.

4:29 And the last plane, I think, leaves at 4.45.

4:33 And that's it.

4:34 We're done.

4:35 So for those who feel like they can't run a quilting business because they live in a

4:40 I think Debra has a story for you.

4:43 So, how long have you been longarm quilting, Debra?

4:47 I bought my first longarm in 2003.

4:51 Uh-huh.

4:52 And what was that machine?

4:53 Tell us about it.

4:54 It was a GAML Classic, it was a real workhorse.

4:57 And I purchased it from, you might know, Shannon Hicks, who lived in Pateras, Washington.

5:04 And I had gone down to a longarm seminar, longarm university, I believe it was, the

5:13 place that we went to in Tacoma.

5:16 And I went with a friend, I had a friend on Vancouver Island who owned a GAML.

5:19 And I'd gone over to visit her, tried hers out, and then I said, okay, let's go.

5:23 And that's what we did.

5:24 We went down there and I ended up buying my first GAML from her.

5:28 And when you got that first GAML, what was it with, at that time, the purpose of starting

5:34 a business or personal use?

5:36 What was the thought behind it?

5:38 It was to start a business.

5:40 I wanted to start a business.

5:42 I'd already had my quilt shop when I left in 2000.

5:45 I had wanted to do a longarm in the quilt shop because I thought it was a good fit.

5:49 But unfortunately, my partner wasn't interested in doing that.

5:53 So I left the quilt shop, I sold my share, and I went home then to start the longarm

5:58 business.

5:59 So we had to add on to our house.

6:01 We had to add 20 feet onto our house to put the machine in it.

6:04 Wow, that's a big leap of faith, really, to do that.

6:10 It was something I knew that I wanted to do.

6:13 I love quilting.

6:15 Sewing, cooking, and gardening are my three greatest loves in that order.

6:21 I've been sewing since I was nine years old.

6:23 Quilting, I started in probably 1987, I would say.

6:29 Then from there, I knew I wanted to...

6:33 It was too hard to do quilting on a domestic.

6:36 So I knew I wanted to do longarming.

6:39 So I thought, okay, I'll start a business doing that.

6:43 When you got that first machine, you say that first machine, you got a GAML?

6:48 Yes.

6:49 And why did you choose to go with a GAML at that time?

6:52 So I had researched, and that said I went down to longarm university and saw all the machines,

6:57 and speaking to my friend who already had a GAML,

7:00 and I knew they were the most expensive, the most whatever,

7:04 but I also knew that they were the best.

7:07 There was two that I was looking into, one besides the GAML I was looking into,

7:14 but it was GAML that had the ergonomics.

7:18 So I have rheumatoid arthritis, I have scoliosis, I have ankylosing spondylitis,

7:23 I have a lot of that kind of stuff,

7:25 and GAML was the only one that was ergonomically correct for that kind of thing.

7:30 So that's why I went with the GAML.

7:33 Do you still have that machine today?

7:37 No, I sold it to another lady on Vancouver Island, she was so excited about getting it,

7:41 and I still haven't talked to her lately to see if she's even got it

7:44 because they were building a house and she was building a room,

7:48 and doing all that, but she was still nursing at that time,

7:50 so I'm not sure if she has it still, but yeah, whether it's up and running.

7:56 Tell us about the journey from your first one to where you're at today,

8:00 as far as your machines go, and then we'll go into some other topics.

8:04 So, because I was so busy with everything,

8:08 I don't even remember why, I think I just decided one day,

8:11 I'm going to look into upgrading, to upgrade,

8:16 and I think you and I had the conversations.

8:18 Regulated.

8:19 Pardon?

8:20 That first one had no stitch regulation, it just had a speed dial and a start-stop button, right?

8:26 No, it had the Intel stitch,

8:30 which is what Brian Hicks, which was Shannon's husband, was putting on machines.

8:36 So I did have a stitch regular, and that was my biggest thing,

8:39 that I wanted a stitch regular, because I've been quilting with domestic machines,

8:43 and you know what that's like, trying to get your stitch regulated,

8:46 and that kind of thing.

8:48 So I knew I wanted a stitch regulator, and it had Intel stitch.

8:51 Okay.

8:52 Yes.

8:53 All right, so then, tell us about your next machine.

8:56 So the next machine was the Vision 2.

8:59 That was with the iPad, and I loved that machine, it was great.

9:03 It worked great, again, still hand-guided, I was doing lots of hand-guided,

9:08 and custom, whatever, whatever, and I loved it.

9:12 And again, I liked it so much that I bought a second one,

9:15 and that's when I wanted to teach people how to quilt and to rent it out,

9:20 so that I could still do mine, and then, you know, do that as well.

9:24 So tell us a little bit more about that renting out,

9:27 because not a lot of the people that we interview have done that or tried that.

9:33 Tell me about how it went, and also tell me about the experience

9:38 of having a second person there in your studio as you're working.

9:43 Can you kind of paint the picture there?

9:46 So my first machine, I want to mention that we added 20 feet

9:52 onto the front of our house to put this machine.

9:55 My husband didn't want anybody touching it, he was very fussy about that.

9:58 He's an automotive technician, so he doesn't want anybody touching it.

10:01 And we had had to have it in my mother and father-in-law's basement

10:05 for a year and a half while we were adding onto the house.

10:08 So he would go over and find coats hanging on it,

10:11 and find his mother folding laundry on it.

10:14 So he said, I don't want that in,

10:17 because we were adding onto the classroom as well for another quilt shop,

10:21 but that's another story.

10:22 So it was upstairs on the top of my house, so nobody ever saw my machine,

10:26 nobody ever saw me quilting, which was good,

10:30 because I needed to focus on that.

10:34 So when I got this idea, and I think it was probably when I was at Quilt Canada,

10:40 the idea to purchase a second machine,

10:45 because we had purchased our house next door and I was doing an Airbnb,

10:48 and the basement was completely empty, and it was completely separate from the house.

10:52 And I said to my husband, my lovely husband,

10:55 I think it's a good idea, maybe we should buy another quilting machine.

11:00 And I can teach people and all that kind of stuff.

11:02 He said, well, why would you want to do that?

11:03 Because that's just going to take away from your business.

11:04 I said, no, it's not.

11:06 It's going to teach them and it's going to be more,

11:08 because it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea,

11:11 but they'll be able to try it and see whether they like to do it or not.

11:15 And I had a really good, there was a good group,

11:19 because you teach them first and then they come back.

11:21 And the machine was in the house next door,

11:24 so it wasn't like we were in each other's place.

11:29 I was there for them.

11:30 They could text me or run over if they had a problem or whatever.

11:33 So it worked out really well.

11:34 It worked out so well.

11:36 But then we had an opportunity to buy another piece of property

11:40 to build another house on.

11:42 And so we did that, which means I had to sell.

11:45 And I had to sell that machine, which I sold to a good friend,

11:48 and she loves it.

11:49 Sorry.

11:50 That is a community.

11:52 Same community.

11:53 Yes.

11:54 We see each other all the time and share stuff back and forth.

11:57 And yes, she's still here and she loves her machine,

11:59 absolutely loves her machine.

12:03 I wanted to ask, in your isolated community,

12:10 both when you started out and as time has gone on,

12:15 first of all, when you started out,

12:17 did you have an idea that there was enough business

12:23 for what you were wanting to do?

12:25 And how has that panned out as time has gone on?

12:28 Yes.

12:29 There's a lot of quilters in Palo Verde.

12:32 It's a very, what's the word, creative community.

12:38 We have very cultural, there's quilters, sewers.

12:44 I mean, we have everything.

12:46 We have probably 70 in our guild.

12:49 Plus there's another guild on Texada Island.

12:52 We have fibre arts.

12:54 There's the fine arts.

12:56 So there's a whole group of people that quilt and sew

13:01 and are creative.

13:03 So I knew that there was going to be opportunity to do this.

13:08 And again, it was because it was something that I love.

13:11 But I've been listening and I belong to our guild.

13:13 And I've been listening to people.

13:15 And then, as I say, a friend, a good friend,

13:17 had a really good business over on Vancouver Island.

13:20 And she gave me some pointers and things.

13:22 And I went over and spent a weekend with her.

13:24 And she says, Deb, you're a natural.

13:26 You need to do this.

13:27 So I said, OK, well, there you go.

13:29 I got my permission.

13:30 And we talked again.

13:31 She was one of the first on Vancouver Island.

13:33 So we had some business ideas together and that.

13:37 So I knew I would be able to do it.

13:42 Was I going to make millions at it?

13:44 Probably not.

13:46 But then I also wanted to do my own things too.

13:48 So I had to do, I wanted to do that too.

13:50 So that was another reason.

13:52 I couldn't do it on domestic machines anymore.

13:55 I have Berninas.

13:56 I love my Berninas.

13:57 And I actually wore out one, if you can believe it,

13:59 with freehand motion quilting.

14:01 And that was one of the reasons why

14:03 I decided I needed a longer, because I was doing so much quilting

14:06 that I wore it out, which is almost impossible to do.

14:12 For the people watching, if you can maybe paint a picture of,

14:19 there's a lot of the way your location that you live in

14:25 affects your business.

14:27 You're in a rather isolated place.

14:30 A lot of the people that are watching us on this program right now

14:35 might live in a really super populous area.

14:40 Some people live in, you know, Podunk, Kentucky or something.

14:46 So can you speak to that just a little bit

14:49 about your particular community?

14:53 And maybe also how you found customers.

14:56 Yes.

14:58 Well, most of my customers are word of mouth,

15:00 and I have a lot of repeat customers.

15:03 I've never marketed to out of here because, of course,

15:07 it's expensive to mail and things.

15:09 And I know there's a lot of people that do that.

15:12 That's a lot of their businesses mail in and out.

15:17 I haven't felt the need to do that because I do have enough,

15:21 and I have a very busy life here.

15:24 We also have an automotive shop.

15:26 My husband has an automotive shop, so we're busy with that.

15:30 And like I say, I love to garden.

15:32 I like to do other things too.

15:34 It's not my, say, end all and be all, but that being said,

15:40 it's my therapy.

15:42 So when I'm done with people and everybody else,

15:45 and I shut the door and I lock the door,

15:48 and unless you're bringing me a glass of wine or a cup of tea,

15:51 don't come to that door because that's what I'm doing for me now

15:56 because I love to do that.

15:58 This weekend I'm going away on a retreat over to Texas Island,

16:00 and that'll be personal quilting for me,

16:02 just actual sewing.

16:04 I don't take my long arm with me.

16:06 But I just finished a quilt.

16:08 I had to finish a quilt today.

16:09 Tomorrow I've got to do another one.

16:10 I've got to get going because I've got to – I have a deadline.

16:14 So I have lots of deadlines lots of times, and I get them done.

16:17 I don't know how I do it, but I do get it done.

16:19 But I do have other things going on.

16:21 I have three grandchildren now that I look after.

16:25 I take them to school, you know, that kind of thing.

16:29 So I do have other things going on, but I know that you can definitely

16:33 make a living out of this, and I could do that here

16:37 if I promoted it even more than I do.

16:39 So, yeah.

16:42 So thinking back to that first machine,

16:47 I think I want to ask this question in reference to the first machine,

16:51 but it might be in reference to your current machine

16:54 because you had told me before we went live with our viewers

16:58 that you now have a Statler machine.

17:00 Yes.

17:01 You upgraded that – you went from having the two Vision machines

17:05 with one of them available to rent to now you have a Statler machine.

17:08 And how long have you had that one for?

17:12 The Statler I've had maybe for two years, two years.

17:16 Okay.

17:17 Yeah.

17:18 So the question that I have might better relate to the first one

17:22 than the last one, but you can answer it how you want

17:24 because this question is how did you come up with the funds –

17:27 the funds, the money to purchase your machine?

17:30 And this is an important thing for people

17:32 who are looking to start a quilting business.

17:34 They – you know, we obviously – we can help them find financing

17:39 and there's – we've got a list of different options for people.

17:42 But for you, how did your family approach the financing problem?

17:50 Well, I didn't ever have to go and get financing

17:57 and I don't want to sound smug, but I had – I've worked all my life.

18:03 I've also had – you know, I've had other jobs besides this one.

18:06 So –

18:07 Not as expensive as the one you have now.

18:10 Pardon?

18:11 The first machine is not nearly as expensive as the one you have today.

18:15 So in a way, you kind of worked your way up to it.

18:18 So – exactly.

18:19 So the first machine I had just sold, I was owner in a restaurant.

18:24 So I sold my share of my restaurant

18:26 and that's when I went to the quilt shop

18:28 and then I sold my share in the quilt shop

18:30 and then I went home.

18:32 So that was the span of 2000 to 2003.

18:34 So that's when I was studying machines and figuring out what I wanted to do.

18:39 And so I had the money for that.

18:43 Then I – when I upgraded to the Vision 2 –

18:46 or I didn't upgrade, I bought the Vision 2

18:48 because you couldn't upgrade the Classic.

18:49 I sold that and bought that.

18:51 Then I upgraded my Vision 2 to the Statler.

18:55 So it has been a progression.

18:56 I didn't have to go and buy the Statler on its own.

19:01 That being said, yes, then I would probably go

19:03 and get financing or a credit line and then pay it back.

19:08 So I know one of the questions that was in my little kit before we started

19:15 was – what was that question about finding the money?

19:20 Or about paying it off.

19:22 So I don't think I'll ever pay it off.

19:27 But that's – I mean it's paid off, but you know what I mean?

19:30 Like when people say, well, Deb, do you make enough money for that?

19:34 And I said, I pay enough money to pay for my Statler.

19:36 Yes, I do.

19:37 But again, I'm not going to be becoming rich on this

19:40 or becoming a millionaire on this.

19:41 No, it's a job and yes.

19:44 I also have fun with it.

19:45 Yeah, you already told us from the very beginning

19:47 that right now you're in your happy place.

19:49 You've got this beautiful studio.

19:51 And you can see it's lime green.

19:54 Yes.

19:55 It's nice.

19:56 Yes, nice and big.

19:58 When we first started talking –

20:00 to you, I got the impression that you were a motivated and busy person. With the quilting,

20:09 do you do, is the quilting a full-time thing with you, and how many hours a week would you say that

20:14 you do on quilting days, and also compared now with the Statler, compared to the handguiding

20:22 you did before? So because this has been four years we've been doing this house, so my life

20:28 has been involved in this house for the last four years, and the last year has been, we've really

20:34 been moving and getting my studio set up. So we've had the studio set up now for probably six months

20:41 it's been set up here in the basement while the rest of the house was being finished. So I've been

20:45 back and forth between my old house and my new house. Now it's probably only a mile and a half,

20:50 it's not that far, but still it's like okay I've got to go to work, you know, this was my thing.

20:56 So right now I'm probably only doing 12 to 15 hours a week on quilting, maybe a little bit more,

21:04 you know, it depends on what I've got to do. So, but I know that I could be doing it every day

21:09 if I wanted to, I could be doing it every day. So yes, and I am a very motivated, very busy person,

21:18 I think I have a very low attention span, that's one of the problems. I also have a husband who

21:22 likes me to work. So he thinks I'm working down here, though he says you always have a smile on

21:27 your face when you're in that room. And again, unless you're bringing me a glass of wine or a

21:31 cup of tea, then don't come in this room. So he knows not to come. I don't go to his shop, he

21:36 doesn't come to mine. Good arrangement there. Yes, yes, it's a very good arrangement, yes. So tell us

21:47 about the quilting that you do for customers. Do you do custom as well as edge-to-edge?

21:54 I do, but being in a small community, isolated community, most of the time I get big quilts

22:03 and most of them want them done just fast and they want them inexpensive. They don't want to

22:10 pay a lot of money because these are huge quilts. I have had a few that say no, I want you to do

22:15 what you want on it and they've absolutely loved it. But again, it comes down to the cost for them.

22:23 Now I understand that with most people being in the U.S., they're not going to be able to

22:29 quickly understand that you're pricing. In Canadian pesos, what is a typical,

22:39 I don't know if it's a queen or a king, are we talking a few hundred dollars Canadian?

22:43 So probably an 80 by 80, which could be a queen. I would charge probably $170 for that

22:52 and that's a basic quilting pattern, so that's not custom.

23:00 Do you charge by the square inch? Yes, two and a half cents a square inch and I'm probably the

23:06 least expensive around. That's a really low price compared to the U.S. rates because

23:13 I just did the conversion, that's only 122 U.S. dollars. Yes. So U.S. dollar

23:23 is worth a little more than the Canadian dollar right? Oh yes, 1.4 if you times it by 1.4.

23:31 That's our U.S. exchange rate right now. So you're right, you're doing, so you're doing

23:38 kind of a not dense, it's more of a loose in general so that you get done quicker

23:45 on these big quilts and yeah, okay. Yeah, well if that's what your market is in the market for,

23:55 then that's what you give them. Yes and I know, as I say, I've had conversations with

24:00 Sharon Blackmore and things when we've gone to Quilt Canada and other, you know, teachers,

24:05 Deb, people will pay you, you know, what they think you're valued at and she said they will

24:09 pay a lot more and I said I know but that's not what I'm into. I, again, I'm into making people

24:14 happy and it's fun for me to do that if I have to be stressed out about trying to get a quilt done,

24:22 you know, that they're very, I do have, I do have customers who are, I mean, they're good

24:27 customers and they do want nice things, they want them done properly and nicely and I get comments

24:32 all the time about how nice they are but there's still people that think and living in a small town

24:37 that, you know, that you're overpriced even though I'm not overpriced but they don't,

24:44 they don't see what other people do is what it is, they don't check out other people or

24:48 see whatever, you know, they'll go to somebody else before in our in town so, yes.

24:55 So, tell us a little bit about the other things you mentioned that, that there's been a succession

25:01 of quilt shops in town, some of which you've been involved in. Tell us about the other things that

25:07 people can get from you, things like batting or, you know, wide backs or what other things

25:14 you have there for people. Yes, I, I sell everything that, that is involved in long

25:19 army. So, when they come they can get their battings here, all different kinds, they can

25:23 get their wide backs, I carry fireside flannels, cottons, I also carry notions still if they, I

25:32 just, I bring in notions for them and I just went to the guild today and had, you know, three bags

25:37 full of things and one of them said, did you bring me my blades? And I said, did you remind me to

25:43 bring you my, your blades? And she said, she started to laugh, she says, no, I forgot. I said, well, there you go,

25:48 I forgot your blades. So, well, and, and for, for anybody who's, you know, obviously for context, I

25:55 guess I'll throw in that in a remote community to have these things ordered from, you know, three

26:02 different websites and to come right to your home, by the time these ladies pay shipping, it would be,

26:10 it would be astoundingly too expensive, you know. Exactly, yes.

26:16 For them that way. You, have you ever gotten into things like binding the quilts for them or,

26:23 or piecing a t-shirt quilt for someone who doesn't know how to make a quilt?

26:27 Oh yes, I've done it all. I do bindings for people. I quite often have to piece people's backs

26:35 because they bring them in, they don't know what to do with them. Or they'll, they want,

26:42 fabric that I have here that isn't 108 inch, it's only 80 inch or 60 inch or even 45 inch. And then

26:48 I'll say, leave it here, I'll wash it, I'll piece it for you, it's not a big deal. So, just making

26:55 the customers happy, that's what I'm about. A lot of times they don't know how to do it. It

27:00 might be their first one or whatever. Yes, or even, or even some of them just pretend they

27:05 don't know how to do it because they know that Debra will do it, that's why.

27:11 And all this stuff she's talking, I will remind the people that are listening to this that

27:15 the, Debra told us earlier that the only access into her community is either by plane or by ferry,

27:23 is that right? Yes, that's right. You can't get out. You come in, you can't get out.

27:30 So, this question is my second favorite of the whole group and we're, our favorite question

27:38 still coming up. But what for you has been the hardest part of growing your business?

27:45 What was the hardest part, the place where you felt stuck or you didn't know what to do?

27:52 I don't, I don't think, Andrew, to be honest, I don't think I've ever felt that way because

27:57 I've been doing it for so long, it just becomes as part of my, I mean, this is just part of my

28:03 whatever. And if I don't have a quilt to do today, oh well, I got 16 more of my own to do,

28:08 you know, to get caught up. Or like right now, I've just made two quilts for my grandchildren that,

28:14 the, the Ghost That Was A Quilt. Have you heard of that book? No. It's a fabulous book

28:23 and it's about a ghost that was a quilt. And so, now I've made these quilts, two quilts,

28:28 so I got to quickly get them quilted because I've already given them to them but they're only

28:31 flimsies. So, that's what my family laughs about because I always give an unfinished gift at

28:36 Christmas. Oh, what's she giving now? Because I always give flimsies. It's okay, it's a promise

28:40 and I'll get it done, I promise, when I'm not doing somebody else's. Gotcha. Yes.

28:47 What is one change in technology that makes it easier today than when you first started?

28:56 Well, upgrading to a Statler was, you know, you say I should have done this 20 years ago and I

29:04 said when we had Division 2 and it's computer, you know, it's computerized because it's,

29:08 you're using the, the iPad. And I said to my husband, you know, I'd really like to,

29:15 really like to, to try the Statler. I mean, I've been to see them and tried them and looked at

29:20 them and, and I said, you know, I'm getting older and if I'm gonna do it, I better do it now while

29:26 I can still think about how to run a computer, right? But it has been, they're great. And even

29:32 when we moved, I mean, I have pictures which I probably shouldn't send you but anyway,

29:39 when we moved out of my house, we had to get a high up to get it out of the house. And when the

29:47 fellow came who he knows my husband, he says, you didn't tell me, Deb, that we were going to be

29:51 doing a challenging thing today. And I said, well, your wife was supposed to tell you that, Pat. So

29:57 he says, I don't know how I'm going to get it out of here because we took it out with the table and

30:02 it was hanging upside down. And I'm, I didn't know if I wanted to be there. And I said, I shouldn't

30:08 be here, but I shouldn't be here. So that's how we, we did it. So, you know, we have a community

30:13 that knows about what I do. They just think I'm, I think they think I'm crazy most of the time.

30:19 But it took a lot of people to get this over here. And yeah, so I should, should send the

30:26 pictures to show you what it, what it looks like. But anyway. Not the way I would have done it if I

30:32 had been there. No, you would have taken it apart piece by piece, but my husband knew he could do

30:36 it. So I went, okay, fine. You noticed the difference between the Vision 2 and the Statler?

30:45 Well, yes, of course, there's a big difference between the Vision 2 and the Statler. The Vision

30:49 2, you're still doing your, you're still doing your own free motion, but it was a great machine

30:58 too. I love the Vision 2 and I still would like to get another Vision 2 to do that again. But

31:06 I have to wait and see because, you know, with just moving and whatever, I have to find more

31:12 room again. But I would definitely do that again. That's, that's, that, that's not a problem. Any,

31:16 any part of it. I mean, it was a learning curve. So it was a learning curve when I bought my first

31:23 Gamel Classic because I didn't have anybody here to teach me. This time I've been able to go to

31:28 Canmore or to Cochrane, or then I've been, I've done a Quilting with Confidence

31:35 seminar. And I've also been on the Gamel Quilting Cruise. And if you ladies haven't done one, you

31:40 need to do one. And we were considering going again this year. And there are two of our ladies

31:44 that are going, but I opted out. I said, I have to behave myself. So I'm not going to go. I'd like

31:50 to, but... You can get both tea and wine on the Gamel Cruise. What? I get what? You can get both

31:58 tea and wine. Oh yes. Oh, most certainly. And champagne too. Oh yes. You bet, you betcha. No,

32:05 we had, I went on the, um, the last Gamel Cruise I went on, my girlfriend and I, I dragged her

32:11 along. She's a quilter, but she's not a longarmer. So she says, I'll come with you. So she came with

32:16 me. This time there are, say there's two other ladies that are going to go. So they have sit

32:20 down machines. They don't have Gamels. And I said, well, you go and look and see, and listen to all

32:25 the Gamel and see, they already listened to me. They go, I know you want us to buy a Gamel. And

32:31 I said, yeah, you should buy a Gamel. Bigger life than they could ever imagine. Yes, for sure. Oh,

32:37 I know. Sorry. With all the moving, that's what I was going to tell you. I knew there was going to

32:42 be a problem when we moved because it's computerized. So when we moved here, we have

32:48 three wifis. And so we hooked up to the wifi and my husband had to put everything back together.

32:54 And of course we took pictures of everything and I said, okay, you put it back together. I'm not

32:58 touching it. You put it back together. I knew how to do some of the things I've been taking it apart

33:02 and doing stuff, but I said, you do it. So 10 o'clock at night, he finished and he says, let's

33:07 turn it on. And I said, oh no, we are not turning it on until I have a tech available when I can

33:13 phone. So anyway, at the morning he left for work and I came down and I turned it on and it turned

33:19 on and I couldn't hear it. And I said, what is going on? Well, well, we had it before it was on

33:23 a wood floor. Now it's on a concrete floor. So it was a little, it was, I could hear it this time.

33:29 I couldn't hear it. So I turned the button on and I turned it, turned it off. I turned it on and

33:33 it went, oh, it is going well. Then of course it popped up and it wanted, it said, we don't

33:39 recognize. And it was because I changed the wifi. So I phoned and he phoned back. It was great.

33:44 It wasn't too long and we fixed it. It was great. I didn't have any problems. Knock on wood. No

33:51 problems. It's all good. Yeah. All right. Now we got to my final question. You want to ask me about

33:58 which one?

34:01 Okay. Deborah, we answered all the questions. Who would you say has been your biggest cheerleader

34:08 or support group? Well, I already said that that's my husband because he's the one. Yeah. That has

34:17 agreed with all this and told me I need to do this. And yes, you can. And why don't I hear that

34:22 machine running? Well, that's his question. Why don't I hear that machine running? I said,

34:27 there's a quilt sitting right there. I just finished. Could you just let me get another one

34:31 on? But that's yes, he is. He likes me to work. He doesn't like me to do nothing.

34:37 Like that'll ever happen. It sounds like you have one of those unique relationships where you kind

34:41 of poke at each other a little bit. He is seven years younger. Oh, you robbed him. No, I didn't.

34:51 Yes. No, he's been my biggest cheerleader all along. He loves my quilting. And he gets upset

35:01 when I tell him things. There's always something going on or whatever. And I'll say, that's not

35:06 right. That's not right. But we both have customer stories. We both have good customer stories. And

35:12 we both have not so good customer stories. So everybody has stories to tell. But he has always

35:18 been my best cheerleader. Yes. Even when I say some days, oh, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore.

35:24 Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You're going to continue to do this. So that's why he's always said,

35:29 OK, let's upgrade. Let's upgrade. And it wasn't that hard, actually, when I said,

35:33 can I upgrade to a Statler? Because, of course, the cost of it, it is. It's like buying a car.

35:40 But a car you can quilt with. That's right. And I can make money with it. So as long as I say that,

35:49 that I can make money with it, he's OK. Yeah. Well, you obviously have. Oh, yes. Yes. Oh,

35:56 for sure. For sure. Yes. Speaking of that, what what sort of I know your your community doesn't

36:05 allow you to charge rates similar to other places, metro areas where people are getting

36:11 three cents an inch. Mm hmm. What sort of impact have you seen in your family budget

36:19 with having the the longer machine and the quilting customers and all of that?

36:26 Well, I can certainly buy the fabric that I want. I mean, I had fabric shops, so I that's what I've

36:33 done with that. I've gone on the quilting cruise. I've gone on to quilting with confidence. I've

36:40 gone to other seminars because everywhere I go, I mean, it costs me to get out of here. So I can't

36:46 just drive out. I have to wait for the ferry. So, yeah, I mean, I've been able to do what I want and

36:54 say this is my therapy. This is what I do.

36:56 When you I know you said that you didn't really have any hard times in this business, but is there

37:10 anything that you can think of that you think would have been beneficial that someone had told

37:16 you when you first started out on this journey? Well, I should have gone at the very beginning.

37:23 I should have gone to classes because I taught myself and things like threads were important.

37:28 So being in Canada, it was all big about cotton threads. Well, that didn't work. So now that I

37:37 have found and even Master Quilter is our Canadian make, but I use Glide. There's been a complete

37:44 that's just helped immensely, you know, and you get the little tips about things and why things

37:49 aren't working right. I don't spend a lot of time on social media doing things, which I should do

37:58 because there's so much information out there. And Gamble website is fabulous. So anytime I need

38:02 anything, I can go there and I can find it. So it's yeah, it's good. And the same when I phone,

38:10 if I phone and I say I need to talk to somebody ASAP, they phone me back. So it's good. It's good.

38:16 So what advice would you give to somebody who wants to tackle doing what you've done? What

38:24 what does she need to know? What's your advice to her? Well, first off, do what I did and research

38:29 and go and try the other machines and you'll see the difference. And when I see other people and

38:34 what they're fighting with and what they're doing, I mean, I'm I'm a big supporter of Gamble,

38:39 but I'm also a big supporter of Bernina too. So, you know, as a domestic machine. So people know

38:45 I like good things. I like things that are going to work. I don't want to waste a lot of time

38:51 learning how to do something or that it's not going to work. It doesn't work. I get frustrated.

38:55 So I need things that are going to work. And Gamble, for me, has been has been the best

39:00 to say. And I have other people around me who have other machines. There's nobody else in town

39:05 that has a Gamble. I'm the only one that has a Gamble. There were people in Vancouver Island

39:09 that had Gamble. So, you know, other shop owners and things too. So I pick on those brand names,

39:17 but I know you've probably seen it. You've seen them struggling with those other machines and

39:22 it's too bad they didn't pick a Gamble. No, all the time. They struggle all the time and I just go,

39:28 OK, I just smile. Yeah. Yeah. So, Deborah, do you think that in today's world,

39:39 even though you're isolated on Fantasy Island there,

39:44 do you think that it's still possible for someone to be successful at this lifestyle? Oh, yes,

39:52 you can definitely make a living at it. You know, if I was doing quilts every day,

39:56 I'd be making a living at it. So for me, I'm making what?

40:00 I need to make because I have to keep a husband happy, a dog happy, the grandchildren happy too.

40:06 So but you can definitely make a living at it for sure for sure. Yeah especially if it's what you

40:11 love to do. So uh that's interesting you know all throughout our conversation today it's been

40:24 crystal clear very obvious to me that you absolutely love what you do. You've said it a

40:28 dozen times in 20 different ways that you know this room when you go into the room with your

40:34 machine that is your happy place. And and did you have like a glimmer of that before you got

40:47 your first machine? When was it that you realized wow this is I mean because today it's crystal

40:52 clear to you uh if you're having a bad day you know where you need to go.

40:58 Uh when how soon did you know that this was your preferred method of therapy?

41:07 Well like I said I've been quilting since 1987. Um I've been sewing all my life and this is just

41:16 one more part of the journey. So this is something I knew I needed when I when I was quilting

41:22 on a domestic machine and just doing you know stitch in the ditch or you know straight lines

41:28 or you know you start to do the freehand motion and I started wearing out the freehand motion

41:34 on my machine. And I went okay I need to do this I need to do something more because I love

41:39 everything about quilting. I like right from the cutting right to the end to the binding. I love

41:44 all of it. Lots of people don't like to quilt and that's the big thing. I don't I don't want to

41:47 finish these quilts. I said then bring them over to me and I will finish them for you. And so that's

41:52 what they do. So um yeah I'm that's what I do. Awesome. My business is called Crazy Quilt Cottage.

42:05 Crazy Quilt Cottage. Now you said you're not big on social media. Do you have a website or a

42:12 Facebook or if you'd like if people wanted to uh if they've been inspired and they want to

42:19 check up on you where can they find you? So I do have a Facebook page. I had a website

42:25 but it was so expensive and I wasn't getting much out of it. Again I was just mostly

42:36 doing in town. I didn't need to go out of town to to be successful. I could stay in town and do it.

42:44 So my Facebook page is what I do. And I haven't even had time to go and put anything on there

42:47 because of course with moving I didn't want to you know I get phone calls all the time. Deborah are

42:52 you still quilting? Yes of course I'm still quilting. My my answer machine says I'm still

42:57 quilting. Yes I'm still quilting. So people can find you on Facebook. It's Powell River uh it's

43:04 Crazy Quilt Cottage. Uh-huh Crazy Quilt Cottage. There's probably 30 of those. So then you've got

43:10 to look and make sure you've got the one in Powell River. In Powell River. Yep it's there. You can

43:15 google me or Deborah Jenkins. Google Deborah Jenkins. I think that comes up that way too.

43:20 Yep. Well Deborah I know that this is uh this is something that you don't see the back end of this

43:28 interview like we do here. But I can tell you that over the next several years there will be a

43:35 number of people whose life will change because of hearing your story and seeing okay okay the

43:42 life that Deborah has that's that's my life too. That's what I want to do. And so I want to thank

43:48 you so much for being so open and sharing your story with people to help encourage them to chase

43:56 their dreams and to follow their passion. Yes Deborah thank you so much for joining us. I know

44:03 you've been an inspiration to a lot of people watching tonight. Thank you and thank you for

44:09 inviting me to do this because this is this is amazing. And yes you can do you can do anything

44:15 you want as long as you want to do it. All right well thank you so much and I'll say goodbye to

44:22 everyone in the audience and and we'll see you probably in two more weeks. Yes all right okay

44:29 great thank you. Bye now.