How Don Sutcliffe Built a Longarm Quilting Business from Scratch

0:00 And we're live.

0:26 Okay, well, we'll give, uh, looks like there's some people trickling in already and we will, uh, we'll give the people a chance to come in. But this is our, this is our 1st, uh, quilting with confidence. Um, I think it's wait, wait, wait, quilting. I mean, but it's the 1st 1 in 2025.

0:46 Yeah, 1st, it seems like it's been almost 2 months. I think since we've had 1, do you think that long?

0:53 I've had 2 months worth of dessert. If you count Christmas desserts.

0:57 Yes, I can relate. I can relate. Unfortunately.

1:03 Um, yeah, it's, it's, uh, it has been a while since we have, um, recorded an episode and I'm, I'm really excited today, uh, that we have, uh, Don Sutcliffe with us.

1:15 Um, Don and I know each other. We have, uh, we've, uh, well, let's see before I just go in and tell the story. Why don't I start with our 1st question, which is where's home for you?

1:29 I'm in Peculiar, Missouri, which is about 30 minutes south of Kansas City.

1:33 So, you are like us, you're enjoying the cold snap right now. Yeah, it was negative 7 when I got up this morning. It's it was just wonderful.

1:45 Wonderful. This weather has actually been extending all throughout the whole country or, you know, our, our half of the country, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana snow in the southern parts of the day.

1:58 They never get that anyway. So, Don, you know, Don, a little bit better than I do because you've had more time with him, but Don, um, so how long have you been long arming?

2:16 Um, I've had a long arm for a little over 20 years now.

2:20 And can you tell us a little bit about your story? Um, what, what made you decide to long arm? How did you start out? Just tell us how that started.

2:30 Well, my wife and I had had made about 4 quilt tops and, and we, you know, like many do, we tried the disastrous idea of quilting them on a domestic machine and learned that that really wasn't a viable option for us anyway.

2:48 And, um, so we started doing some research and, um, we went to, uh, to Springfield, Illinois to a machine quilter showcase and we knew we were going to buy a machine while we were there. And so we went just radically ignorant of all things long arm and.

3:08 Um, some really great people educated us the day we spent there and we walked away with a machine.

3:15 Now, uh, that wasn't a gamble machine, was it?

3:20 That was not a gamble machine. It was another brand. Um, we were, we were very thrilled with, with the other brand. It was just a, a stitch regulated machine. It wasn't a computer driven machine. Um, but we were, we were very happy with it, um, until January of last year.

3:40 And I, I can't say that we were unhappy with it at that point. We just knew there was a better option.

3:46 Um, so before you get into that, uh, let me just ask you when you bought that machine, um, a lot of people buy it specifically with the idea of starting a business. Was that the case for you or was it just for your, your own quilts that you were doing?

4:03 Yeah, we, we had decided that, that it was going to be a business because those four or five quilt tops we had, my wife wanted them custom quilted. And we found out, you know, even at that point we were looking at three, four, 500 bucks a piece. And we were like, well, that's a really good down payment on a machine. And if people can get paid that to do it, why can't we? So we, we intended to start a business from the get go.

4:30 And I, I have a question with you and your wife, uh, who is the primary quilter?

4:37 Um, it would be me now exclusively.

4:41 Okay. So, you know, you know, you're in the minority.

4:45 That is true. Not a lot of men out there, but there's a few of us.

4:51 There definitely are.

4:53 So, um, for those who might be watching on video, I actually have a picture I wanted to share. Uh, this is, this is, uh, what Don, uh, does when he's at work now.

5:07 So somewhere after he had had his quilting machine and his quilting business for, I guess, maybe 18 years, uh, he, uh, he came to work here at Gammill as a technician and he wanted to know if it was a disqualifying factor that he owned a different brand machine.

5:26 And we said, no, no, it's fine. I mean, you're, you have the mechanical ability, you're the right kind of team player to be on our team and, uh, all the rest of the stuff that we, uh, need our technicians to be.

5:38 And so this is, uh, one of the customers that left him a glowing Google review of which there are many. Uh, she put this, uh, photo on her Google review showing, looks like you're putting a new, uh, cross track harness on her 10 plus year old machine is what it looks like in this photo.

5:55 So, um, click us back to normal. I, that was a great photo actually. And I will tell you, I, I hear from our customers all the time. Uh, I work in tech support and, uh, I'm always hearing glowing reviews of Don the technician. So, so, so tell me, uh, you, uh, you had a perfectly functional machine at home that you'd had for a long time.

6:22 And, uh, we were going through the technician training and you were learning everything about the machines you're going to be fixing in people's homes. Um, I don't know if I ever asked you before, uh, what, what, where, where did that, uh, fire start building where you wanted to buy the Statler and get it.

6:42 Well, before I, before I got to training, I, um, was already interested in the idea of switching to a computer driven machine. And, um, I honestly hadn't done any research on it at all. Um, but when I, when I got to training and, and got my hands on the gamble machines, I mean, they're just built to be repaired and they're, you know, I would call a gamble machine, uh, a multi-generational machine, because I mean, they're going to outlive most people.

7:11 They're going to outlive most quilters and be passed on. And, um, I was just, I was just sold with the quality.

7:20 I was surprised when you said you wanted to get one ordered because like I, you hadn't, you hadn't been demonstrated like the software very much. You hardly knew anything about the machines and you were like, man, I got to have one of these.

7:37 You know, you watch a Statler move for about 10 minutes and you know, if you've got any quilting experience, you're, you're drawn in.

7:45 So when you started your business, I'm sorry for breaking it.

7:48 Yeah. Okay.

7:50 When you started your business 20 years ago, um, how did you know that there was going to be enough market in your local area for another longarm quilter?

8:02 Well, when we started calling about getting those four or five quilts done, the, the wait time with most places was six months to two years.

8:12 So, you know, I knew there, I knew there was opportunity there.

8:16 So.

8:18 And so when you started out going back, we wanted to move ahead and then go back a little bit to get some of your background so people know where you're coming from. But when you, the primary target audience, I guess that you would say for our podcast here is people who are, you know, either doing quilting for a business or thinking about going in that direction with their machine.

8:44 Um, when you first started, did you already have some customers lined up or how did you, how did you, how did you deal with that aspect of it?

8:55 Not at all. Um, at that time, I, I'm a retired teacher now, but at that time I was teaching full-time and my, my wife started attending quilt guild meetings and passing out business cards.

9:07 And, you know, we, we dropped business cards at quilt shops and, and within a short time we were, you know, we were backlogged six to eight weeks and before long it was six months.

9:22 Who did most of the quilting early on?

9:26 Um, I did most of it early on and then kind of in the middle, my wife did quite a bit and then now I'm doing all of it.

9:34 Hmm.

9:36 That's interesting. D did you notice any customers expressing a preference? Like, I want to make sure that Don does this one or you're going to get him. I'm just curious.

9:48 Cause honestly, um, my, my wife didn't, they assumed I was going to do it.

9:55 And, um, we didn't particularly tell them otherwise, you know, the ones she did were mostly pantographs and she did do quite a bit of custom too. But, um, I mean, it's not like you sign, we let them assume that, you know, they were bringing it to the last stitch and the last stitch was going to do their quilting.

10:13 There you go. And when you first started, were you still teaching at the time that you first started?

10:19 I was. Yeah.

10:21 What, what kind of teacher, uh, are you?

10:24 Advanced quilting. I was, I was a high school math teacher. Um, I taught a lot of, of geometry and then toward the end, mostly algebra too.

10:37 Okay. So, and, and at that time when you first started, um, have you been doing, uh, hand guided all this time or did you have computerized?

10:49 Yeah. Until, until I got my machine in March, I was all hand guided. Yes.

10:55 So, um, what would you say time-wise, you know, because when you have a full-time job being a teacher and then also you're doing quilting, what, what do you think, was it like another 20 hours a week or something in quilting or what do you think?

11:13 Probably 15 to 20 a week in quilting.

11:17 Yeah.

11:19 Um, how many hours a week do you spend these days, uh, doing quilting for customers?

11:26 Um, well, it depends on the week. If I'm on the road with, with Gamble working on machines, I don't quilt at all. But if I'm home, I'm quilting.

11:35 Gotcha.

11:36 So, yeah.

11:37 Yeah.

11:38 And since you got your Statler, um, are, do you stick, uh, exclusively to, uh, edge to edge or do you still do any?

11:49 No. I'm doing custom work as well. Yeah, I'm doing both.

11:54 Um, the thing that really kind of turned me loose with custom though, was going to quilting with confidence. I got to spend the three days there and, and, um, I, I was well-prepared going in.

12:07 So I, I had watched all of the, the new owner videos and that gave me a really good foundation going into quilting with confidence. And so I took the advanced class and I came out of that and just, you know, it was radically easier in three days.

12:26 Now for, for the people that are watching, uh, Don, uh, two things. Um, I want to kind of get your feedback on the quilting with confidence and also as far as just the general, um, resources available, like some of the videos that you had talked about, um, how has, uh, the, your learning experience, uh, been with, with Gamble, with your Gamble?

12:50 Um, it's been amazing. Um, as far as quilting with confidence is concerned, I mean, I don't care how long you've been quilting. If you go, you're going to learn some new things, um, that you can apply instantly.

13:04 Um, I think it's well-designed in the fact that it's, it's, well, over the years I've taken lots of, lots of classes at different shows and a lot of it was very niche quilting ideas that weren't, you know, applicable to mainstream quilting. Um, but quilting with confidence is completely not that.

13:32 I mean, it's, it's applicable. It's, it's improve your skills really fast kind of stuff. Um, it's just phenomenal.

13:42 Yeah. I don't know what Bobby would say, but I, I see so many, um, posts that people make in the Facebook group or whatever, and they have questions. And a lot of times my first thought is, um, you know, they've got an inherited machine or, you know, their, their sister sold her, her machine or whatever.

14:05 And so they never got any training with the machine. And so often I'm looking at that and I'm like, wow, if you could just, just order the new owner training, uh, you won't, you won't miss the cost the minute you buy it because you get all that training, uh, for a year, a lifetime access to the classes, but a lot of handholding for a year and then go to a quilting with confidence, you know? So that's interesting that you bring that up because.

14:31 Honestly, with that new owner training, I would, I would play it on my laptop and then do it right there along with somebody on my machine. And I mean, it was like having a private tutor right there all the way through new owner training is, is really well done as well.

14:50 Andrew, speaking of that new owner training, is that something that's available that people can acquire even if they don't have a new?

14:57 Yeah. Well, like, like Don said, the machines are made to last for generations and they do. And so usually people only quilt on a machine for maybe 30 years at the most, and then they go to their new owner. And, uh, so the new owner training is set up so that even when a machine is a hundred years old or 150 years old in the future, whoever owns that machine, uh, it's new to them.

15:22 You know, it may not be a new machine, but it's new to them. And so that they'll have all the training that they need. Um, and because it's a global system, I mean, people can access it from around the world and it's available 24 seven. And, you know, if one person points out a little something that should have been in the class, we add it to the class, you know, so that, so that it includes everything that a person needs to know all the basics.

15:48 And I, I also wanted to tell anybody who is, uh, listening or watching this live, uh, you, you can, we should have said this.

15:57 Oh yeah. Questions.

15:58 Yeah. You can submit a question. You can click on the bottom of your screen. Is it the Q and a one?

16:04 You know, I think the buttons they see are different, but okay. Whichever button is there for asking a question, you'll figure it out.

16:11 Yeah. So, um, back to the, uh, back, I wanted to get back on track a little bit with my normal questions. Um, so you do, uh, custom quilting as well as edge to edge. Um, how do you, how do you, I'm assuming you charge by the inch for your, um, edge to edge, but how do you price out your custom? Do you quote each one individually or do you give people a range?

16:37 I price it, um, by the square inch as well, but depending on how dense or, or how complicated of designs they want, that would, would affect what the price would be.

16:49 Gotcha. Um, just curious. I've never asked anybody this question before, but what's been your most expensive custom quilt to date?

16:58 Um, I did one, a would have been one I did with the hand, the hand guided machine probably 10 years ago. It was probably 800 bucks.

17:09 It was a, an applique quilt that had all kinds of flowers on it. And, and, um, you know, I did a lattice in the background and then mash down the holes in the lattice with, with tight quilting.

17:23 At the end, did you feel like you had charged enough?

17:26 Um, probably not.

17:30 That's a lot of work.

17:31 I probably spent, I probably spent every bit of 50 hours on it. I didn't track it, but it was a long time.

17:41 Yeah. Well, live and learn, right?

17:45 That's right.

17:46 So, uh, for the, for the people that are watching, uh, an average, say, queen size quilt, uh, what, what would you say that, uh, your average price for something like that would be?

17:59 For an average queen? Um, that would be a little math here real quick.

18:08 Math teacher, math is coming out. Yes. Yeah. Well, thank you.

18:13 Math teacher, math is coming out. Yes. Yeah. Well, if it was algebra, he'd have the answer already.

18:18 At $175 to $200 if it's not super dense.

18:26 Yeah. Some city areas are a little bit higher. Some rural areas are a little bit less. Sounds about right for peculiar.

18:35 So, over, over these, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there.

18:40 Um, over these last, uh, 20 years, um, can you tell what, uh, how many quilts like a year on average you would do and, and maybe what was your largest amount of quilts in a year?

18:57 Probably the largest would have been a couple hundred. Um, the, you know, the past few years I haven't done near as many. I, my wife and I took on the kids ministry at our church, um, leading that.

19:14 So I kind of had to let go of the quilting instead. And, um, in the past, I don't know, about a year and a half, two years ago now, I guess, um, I've stepped back from that and my wife's doing that full time. So I have quilting time again. So.

19:29 That's fantastic.

19:31 So, um, when people bring you a quilt to do, uh, do you also have things like batting or wide back fabrics or any of those other things to sell?

19:43 Um, I, I do batting, but I don't do the backing fabrics, just, just, just the battings.

19:49 And I, I welcome them to bring whatever they want to as well. Many bring their own.

19:53 Do you, uh, trim the quilts when they're done or leave them untrimmed or you.

20:00 ask the customer their preference? I will trim it if they ask me to but I typically leave it

20:06 untrimmed. That kind of scares me to trim them because I mean people have widely varying ideas

20:14 on what that means in my opinion. So you know I had a lady one time that you know she was like

20:21 you know we get in the floor with a t-square and I mean we're she didn't want you to quilt too close

20:27 to the edge because she needed room to be able to get it absolutely square and I mean she she

20:33 won tons of awards with her quilts and so I would never want to trim one of her quilts.

20:40 But I have trimmed some for for folks that would say you know I don't have a place I can do that

20:44 and you know I tell them what I'm going to do and be sure it's okay first. And you do run into

20:50 certain people that you just kind of have a knowing that you better better not go off and

20:57 do anything that's take any artistic license. That's exactly right and then it goes the other

21:06 way too that they're I mean they're totally welcoming to absolutely anything you see.

21:13 So that's part of the that's part of the art of growing a business you know being able to

21:18 read people in that way. That's exactly right. So Don you've been doing this for 20 years can

21:27 the question I want to ask is what would you say has been this that you look back over the last 20

21:34 years what has been the hardest part of growing the business or do you have any anecdotes or

21:41 thoughts about that? I would say probably the hardest part is getting to the place that

21:47 I can be okay with charging what my time is worth.

21:53 Especially when I first started I was worried that my work wasn't good enough

21:58 and so you know I undercut what it really should have cost and you know for one that's not fair to

22:08 the other quilters in the area. And it's honestly not fair to to me as a quilter either because I

22:15 was producing exceptional work and getting paid less for it so yeah. Did you at the beginning did

22:22 you feel was there like an insecurity about well is my work good enough and that caused you to kind

22:29 of not want to charge as much as you probably should have? There really was because honestly

22:35 before we we quilted you know any quilts at all I mean I mean we'd never even taken a quilt to

22:43 someone to have it quilted so we didn't know what that should even look like.

22:51 What has been maybe can you think of one thing that has changed in terms of technology

23:02 that's made it easier for you now than 20 years ago when you started?

23:08 Clearly the Statler. I suppose I should have expected you to say that.

23:16 Yeah yeah it's just honestly it's just easier on the body than swinging the machine yourself

23:26 and you know I also love that I can set it to quilting and I can come off to the end

23:33 at my domestic machine and I can piece while it sews.

23:40 You know you've got a unique and valuable

23:49 viewpoint in view of your experience and that you have you hand guided for all those years

23:56 and you've been relatively recently that you've gotten into the computerized with your Statler

24:03 can you tell us as far as learning how to operate the Statler and the software and

24:12 everything that's associated with that has that has that been hard or easy tell us a little bit

24:18 about that. I wouldn't call it either one I think it's just one of those that that you've got to be

24:27 willing to jump in and try and realize you can't break it beyond what a phone call to tech support

24:34 can fix and you just got to be willing to try. I think I came into some of that with

24:44 probably some unique perspective because as a teacher you know every year there was some new

24:51 kind of software or new tech tool or new whatever that we were expected to implement

24:58 so I wasn't afraid to try things so I think I had a baseline there that

25:08 that kind of set me free to be okay with trying it. I'm curious when you made the change from

25:18 the hand guided machine to the Statler what was your reaction from your customers did you

25:28 gain customers or did they have different comments when they picked up their quilt

25:35 and you'd done 20 of them with your old machine and now you did one with your new machine

25:40 I'm curious how that went. You know they really didn't have much much difference at all

25:49 but I don't think anybody even made any issue of it. It's just the same old oh it's beautiful

25:58 thank you I love it. Yeah it's you know I know you're gonna give me good work I know you're gonna

26:03 you're gonna make my quilt look better than it does when I drop it off and they were thrilled

26:09 when they picked them up. Here's another question I have for you I'm just coming up with all kinds

26:14 of new questions but have you do you have any comments about the tension you know the

26:23 the tension of the thread and everything on the stitch because you changed brands of machine in

26:30 there. What's been your perception there? Well I feel like my stitch quality is probably better

26:41 on the Gamel than it was on the other machine. Simply I think I learned some stuff in in tech

26:49 training and within a few weeks of of being on the road that that you know made my stitch

26:56 quality better. You know I now know exactly what to do if it's not right and how to fix it

27:04 where before I was just you know I was cranking the knob on the side of the machine and hoping

27:09 for the best and you know if you don't have a tow gauge buy a tow gauge and set that

27:17 set that bobbin tension and keep it the same and you know then you're you've eliminated half your

27:22 battle already. So I always tell people if they have the tow gauge it if you if you don't have

27:30 a tow gauge you're trying to balance the top and the bottom tension back and forth and it becomes

27:36 almost to use the phrase an algebraic equation but if you have that bottom tension set you know

27:44 on what it's supposed to be then then it becomes much simpler. It's just a matter of

27:50 adjusting that top tension and so yeah I'm with you on that. Absolutely yeah.

27:58 So who has been in your journey who's been your biggest cheerleader

28:02 on your journey? Clearly my wife. I mean she's always always willing to

28:11 to let me you know try new things. She's always encouraging me to you know I mean I

28:17 I like to buy fabric just like every other quilter and she never complains about the hat

28:23 or thread or you know any of that but she's she's always been incredibly encouraging.

28:34 There's a lot of a lot of worse vices that you could have.

28:38 There are. Fabric addiction I don't know. That's right that's right. What what kind of impact

28:46 has the quilting business particularly I'm thinking about the income you know that you've

28:54 obviously earned money doing the quilting over 20 years but what kind of impact has the money

29:01 and the control over your personal schedule you know you can do it when you want.

29:07 What kind of impact has that had in your life? Probably the the best part of it is I mean my

29:15 wife has stayed home until until recently becoming the the kids minister at our church

29:23 and we've got we've got six kids and honestly the the quilting machine has has funded

29:30 multiple trips that our whole family has taken to do mission trips and we've gone to Taiwan

29:37 several times to do mission work there and and it was it was funded exclusively by quilting.

29:45 Well we have a very specific question that came up here for since you are a technician.

29:52 Lynette is asking what should the bobbin tension be the same number on the TOA gauge regardless of

29:59 thread weight? Yes set that bobbin at 200 on the TOA gauge with whatever thread you're using and

30:09 adjust the top from there. Unless you have a 18 inch premier machine the tension is a little bit

30:16 different in that one. Right yeah that's part of that is the magic of the TOA gauge I'll chime in

30:23 on that answer because even going within the same brand of thread like a real common brand is

30:31 Signature another brand is is Omni but whatever brand you're using if you switch from light gray

30:42 to yellow even though it's supposedly the same thread you will read a very different reading

30:49 on the TOA gauge and so just even changing from one color to the next you're going to need to

30:55 adjust your bobbin case. There are different amounts of drag on different threads the different

31:01 weights of thread even different colors of thread like Andrews. Yeah some of the colors are

31:06 significantly thicker. Yeah reds and blacks tend to create radical change from the light colors I've

31:13 found. Yeah so that's a surprise for a lot of people they're like but it's all you know Omni

31:20 supposed to be 40 weight. Well it's supposed to be. What can I say I'm not an expert in thread

31:30 I'm an expert in dealing with thread that's a different thing. So what's something Don

31:40 what's something that you wish someone would have told you when you first started?

31:46 Well I had somebody that that actually told me in a class I took one time she said that

31:54 not to pick it out unless you can see it from 40 miles an hour on a train going by

32:00 and I early on I picked a lot of stuff out because it wasn't just absolutely perfect.

32:09 You know if my feathers didn't retrace right over the top of each other for the you know

32:17 the veins as you went back and stuff like that I'd start picking stuff out and you know honestly

32:24 when when you take the machine off the quilt and you know so it's a little wider in one place than

32:30 the other it doesn't track right on top it doesn't show when you you step back 10 feet

32:37 and and take a look so yeah don't be so critical of yourself.

32:44 Well we're we're getting close to the to the end of our show I wanted to ask you one more

32:51 time if you could could you if I can put you on the spot can you give us a brief commercial about

33:01 why you would recommend quilting with confidence I know you mentioned that earlier.

33:07 Sure I would say

33:12 quilting with confidence for me that the thing I walked away from it with that I was

33:18 incredibly elated with was I walked away able to digitize patterns myself.

33:25 You know it's it's one of those things that it doesn't matter how how skilled you are going in

33:31 you're going to walk away with some new skills and whether that's whether that's skills taught

33:37 by the instructor or that's skills by just hanging out with other quilters for three days I mean

33:43 that's that's valuable professional development too you're going to learn new stuff and I think

33:51 you could could go you know year after year after year and still do the same thing.

33:56 I recall last last year in the in last year's quilting with confidence we had multiple

34:04 individuals who attended a quilting with confidence event and then they they immediately signed up

34:12 for one later on in another part of the country either either they started with the basic and

34:18 then they signed up for the advanced but sometimes not sometimes they were just like I've got to do

34:24 that again and that that was really now I want to tell people that the schedule for 2025 is not

34:34 out yet it's being worked on every single day I sometimes walk past the lady's desk where she's

34:40 working on every day we do people want to know when when and where because I need to put in for

34:45 my vacation time you know and I'm very grateful to all the people that wrote in and suggested

34:52 locations this year we put out the call on Facebook or maybe it was through a email newsletter

35:00 I don't remember but we gave people the opportunity to suggest places in their hometown that might be

35:06 a good a good location so it's going to be the best year ever I'm sure for 2025 so yeah well

35:15 worth your time and your money to make it happen yeah I was able to go to quilting with confidence

35:21 this year in Tennessee and it was phenomenal I want to go again tell Michelle and if you want a

35:27 more exclusive experience you know we have retreat style ones that we do we have a cruise coming up

35:32 in April and I think there's still room available on the on the cruise and those those are you know

35:38 they're more expensive but they're also there's there's the quilting with confidence you should

35:46 hit that and the cruise like don't don't not do the cruise but don't miss out on quilt with

35:52 confidence because the way that it's structured it packs a tremendous amount of punch from the

36:00 materials that you get and the way that the time is very carefully planned there's there's really

36:07 no wasted words and no messing around at quilting with confidence because we set it up teach the

36:14 classes and head on down the road it's very tight so I see the it looks like Shandy probably posted

36:21 the link to uh to everyone uh which is um for the cruise uh gamble.com slash cruise 2025 um yeah

36:32 uh I'd love to see anybody on the cruise I'll I'm I'm gonna be there so and several other people

36:38 that I talked to today are going to be there as well so yes so uh last question that we have for

36:45 you Don um so 20 years ago um you got your first machine and two years ago you got your gamble um

36:53 no one year ago you got your gamble yeah well not quite a year even yeah so what advice would you

37:01 give to somebody who uh has heard about what you did and they like that idea they want to have

37:10 their own quilting business what what advice would you give them and and do you believe that it's just

37:17 as possible now as it was when you did? I totally believe it's completely as possible now as ever

37:25 before um I talk to quilters all the time that are still backlogged you know two to eight months

37:33 all over the midwest I'm hearing that um so there's there's there's very much market that

37:39 it's that's out there that that could be um taken advantage of um I think the advice I would give is

37:47 is um gamble pretty much has an entry point for anybody that wants to get into the business

37:55 um I don't think there's any wrong way to get into the business whether that's starting with

38:02 the stitch regulated machine or starting with a computer driven machine or or going clear to

38:08 the top and getting the ascend um or I think getting a pre-loved machine is a great choice too

38:15 um but there's I I would say there's there's an entry point for anyone that wants to get

38:20 into the business and don't be afraid to take the jump um you know gamble gamble offers the

38:27 support that's necessary to to be successful um they offer the education that I mean within a

38:35 short time you can you can be well educated and on your way to to making money instead of just

38:41 trying to flounder and figure out what you're what you're doing um that's different than it

38:46 was 20 years ago for me um so I'd say take the leap at whatever level that means for you personally

38:56 thank you I uh you mentioned that you've been around and you've you've visited a lot of people

39:01 that like you have a backlog of quilts to get done um what states have you mostly worked in

39:09 um I am mostly um Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska a little bit of Iowa and Missouri

39:18 um but I've been clear to the gulf and was in South Dakota last week and

39:26 so you see this all over where because I do too whenever I'm out in people studios they've got

39:33 loads of quilts to do yes yeah most people are as busy as they want to be

39:40 yeah well cool uh we got a comment it wasn't a question uh we got a comment from Angie thank you

39:48 guys from Piedmont Piedmont Missouri good questions I did quilting with confidence in

39:54 Little Rock this past year totally worth it so yeah there's been threads on Facebook too

40:00 people people have

40:02 One person says oh

40:04 I I just went to quilt with confidence and y'all are missing out and there'll be a hundred other people that chime on and say

40:10 Oh, yeah, don't miss it. Don't miss it. Don't miss it. So anyway, so

40:15 Yeah, you that information of course is on gamble calm

40:19 Well, hey Don. Thank you for joining us today

40:23 Yeah

40:27 Yeah, thank you, I think I think your your story will help people to

40:33 believe that maybe they too can

40:36 Chase their quilting dream and make it happen. Yes, absolutely

40:41 Well, Don Sutcliffe, we really appreciate you joining us

40:45 And we're gonna say good night to everybody. I was gonna ask do you have a website for your?

40:53 service

40:54 You know, I don't I am completely word-of-mouth at this point. Okay. All right. Well, we're not gonna send traffic to your website then

41:04 Appreciate the offer though. All right listen for quilting business success

41:12 Do we have anything about well

41:15 We had a question

41:17 Somebody asked if camel has a directory of quilters

41:21 We we do not

41:24 something we've talked about having

41:27 There are some complexities

41:30 It's not off the table might happen someday, but we got to work a few things out. So thank you. That was a good question

41:36 alright, well, thank you everybody for joining us tonight and

41:40 Don we'll see you at work

41:43 Yes, sounds good. It's good to see you guys

41:46 Business success, I'm Bobby Ware and this is Andrew Weaver you guys take care and we'll see you next time

41:57 You