# How Jerry Peterson Added Longarm Quilting to a Quilt Shop After 21 Years Jerry Peterson shares how he added longarm quilting to his established quilt shop, covering pricing, workflow, and lessons learned. Quilting Business Success, Episode 59. Guest: Jerry Peterson. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI ## From Quilt Shop to Longarm Quilting: Why Jerry Made the Leap When Jerry Peterson decided on starting a longarm quilting business, he was already two decades into running Cotton and Chocolate Quilt Company, a well-known quilt shop in Thousand Oaks, California. The move wasn’t planned from the outset: “We’re really a quilt store that is doing long-arming, and that’s a recent development,” Jerry explains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=83s). The opportunity came when a local longarmer and customer decided to retire and offered her machine for sale. Jerry and his wife saw it as a way to boost store revenue and better serve their quilting community (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=910s). The transition was practical. “We went over and liked it. We found a space in our store. We moved a few fixtures around. Then that all worked out really well for us. That was that. We called you guys up. We moved it over and set it up. The rest is history. Customers are bringing them in. They’re happy. We’re happy to help them” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=938s). ## Choosing Equipment and Building a Team Jerry purchased a used Gammill Optimum Statler with a 30-inch throat and 12-foot table, allowing the shop to handle large quilts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=317s). The machine is computerized, making it accessible for staff with varying levels of experience. “We’ve trained, I’d say, about five of us on staff now to be able to handle. We only do edge-to-edge, we’re not doing custom at this time, there’s always room for growth in that, but there’s plenty of business in long arming in our area” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=275s). Importantly, Jerry decided not to rent the machine out to customers. “The more quilts that we can do as a store, the more revenue we’ll generate. So, renting it out and having people who don’t know what they’re doing mess up and stuff, it’s just not where we want to go, at least not now” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=412s). ## Workflow: Efficiency and Scaling Up With up to 100 quilts completed in the first three months and a steady backlog of 10–15 quilts, Jerry’s shop quickly developed a workflow to keep up with demand (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=296s). “Ideally, I’d like a morning and afternoon shift every day. I think we could take on even more. We’re not ramped up quite to that yet, but we’re getting there” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1033s). A key efficiency was separating quilt prep from quilting: “We set up a back room with an ironing board, with a big table I built on it. We try and get our regular staff, when they’re not busy helping customers, to prep quilts because that’s almost half the time...when somebody comes in to quilt, they’re not spending time doing that. They’re getting it on the machine and they’re getting it going. That’s an efficiency technique that we’re trying to develop” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1102s). ## Pricing Structure: Transparency and Simplicity For those starting a longarm quilting business, pricing is often the biggest question. Jerry’s approach is straightforward: “There’s a baseline charge by the square inch. Then we add a thread fee based on the number of square inches of the quilt...It’s not a lot. It’s like, you know, 5, 7, 9, 12, you know, some number of dollars, depending on it. And we have a minimum quilting fee of 50 dollars” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1200s). He also includes a pattern fee for every quilt, regardless of whether a new pattern is purchased, and charges retail price for batting used. California sales tax is added to the total. For customers, Jerry provides a table of common quilt sizes and a price range, rather than quoting a per-inch rate directly: “If they know approximately the number of square inches of their quilt, then I give them a range from—it’s usually a 20 to 30 dollar range. So that they don’t know what’s hidden in the cost that I roll up on that” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1273s). Extra labor, such as piecing or squaring backs, is charged separately ($8–$20), and Jerry is considering adding a trimming upcharge as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1299s). ## Learning Curve and Staff Training Despite being new to longarm quilting, Jerry and his staff adapted quickly. “I haven’t watched any videos. We were trained by the person who did it. She had written up a process to follow. We follow that process pretty much to the T” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1435s). Mistakes did happen, but were treated as learning experiences: “When we made some mistakes, we tweaked our process a little bit. We haven’t had too many snafus. I’ve only had to pick out a few rows here and there when the tension went wonky, and I didn’t see it underneath and got the eyelashes, you know, that happens and then you go fix it...Learning experience and move on” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1454s). Jerry credits his engineering background and methodical approach, but notes that other staff learned just as well by following clear instructions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1531s). ## Integrating Longarm with Retail: New Revenue and Customer Experience Adding longarm services has brought new energy and customers to the shop. “Anytime you get somebody in the store, they’re potentially shopping and so having it physically located in the store brings them in the store to drop it off, brings them in the store to pick it up...It also is a novelty. People come in and they see it and they’re like, wow, that’s really cool. And they see it operating” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1903s). Jerry also noticed new sales opportunities: “We didn’t really carry many wide backs in our store. And I’m seeing a lot of our customers bring in wide backs that they didn’t buy from us. And so we’re starting to carry wide backs and thinking that this will generate some more fabric sales so that they’re not buying their bins somewhere else” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1963s). ## What Jerry Wishes He Knew: Realities of Quilting Business Profit Jerry is candid about the financial realities: “I wish somebody would told me that...unless you’re like, really online and you’re really on it and you’re doing a lot on social media, your business is, is going to be adequate to probably pay your bills, especially if you have a brick and mortar, but it’s not going to make you rich” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2017s). Longarm quilting, however, offers better margins: “Even though I have to pay the labor for my staff, I can still make a decent amount of money per hour on that machine. And the more hours it’s operating, the more we’re making right? When I go in and operate it, and I try and do it about 20 hours a week, I’m not paying anybody to operate it. So it’s all revenue for me” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2044s). ## Advice for New Longarm Businesses: Growth, Marketing, and Community Jerry believes that starting a longarm quilting business can be successful if you can generate a steady stream of customers: “If you can attract customers and depends on your area, of course, and how much available, you know, how many quilters, et cetera, but if you can generate a regular stream of customers...” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2298s). He points to the previous owner’s example: “She was notorious for turning your quilt around in 1 day, which was amazing and everybody loved her for it...she had enough regular customers that just fed her constantly...She paid for her machine in less than a year. Easily, and then she had 11 more years of just pretty much profit other than the maintenance” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2349s). For marketing, Jerry recommends getting your name known through local and regional shows, word of mouth, and simple things like business cards in quilt shops. “Word of mouth goes a long way. Put your cards out in local quilt stores. Do what you can to get yourself known” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2543s). ## Key numbers Every article reports the same metrics. 'unclear' means the guest did not give it. - Edge-to-edge rate: unclear [unclear] - Custom rate: unclear [unclear] - Queen-size price, edge-to-edge: unclear [unclear] - Queen-size price, custom: unclear [unclear] - Average price per quilt: unclear [unclear] - T-shirt quilt price: unclear [unclear] - Thread and batting charges: Thread fee is added based on the number of square inches (e.g., $5, $7, $9, $12 depending on size). Batting is charged at normal retail price for the amount required. California sales tax is charged on the total. Pattern fee is also added to every quilt, regardless of whether a new pattern is purchased. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1227s) - Quilts per year: 300–450 quilts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1011s) - Backlog / waiting list: 10–15 quilts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=296s) - Turnaround time: unclear [unclear] - Time per quilt, edge-to-edge: 3–4 hours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1027s) - Time per quilt, custom: unclear [unclear] - Edge-to-edge share of work: 100 % (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=283s) - Mail-in share: unclear [unclear] - Quilting hours per week: 20 hours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2072s) - Hourly rate (stated): unclear [unclear] - Annual revenue (stated): unclear [unclear] - Worst year revenue: unclear [unclear] - Lifetime revenue per machine: unclear [unclear] - Annual earnings (est.): unclear [unclear] - Effective hourly rate (est.): unclear [unclear] - Machine (model, throat, table): Gammill Optimum Statler, 30-inch throat, 12-foot table, computerized (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=317s) - Machine cost: unclear [unclear] - Machine payback (stated): unclear [unclear] - Machine payback (est.): unclear [unclear] - Number of machines: 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=259s) - Studio size: unclear [unclear] - Years in business: 21 years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=89s) - Years quilting: 10 years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=106s) - Customers: unclear [unclear] ### What the numbers say The business completes between 300 and 450 quilts per year, all using edge-to-edge quilting, with a constant backlog of 10–15 quilts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1011s)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=283s)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=296s). Each quilt takes about 3–4 hours of machine time, and the owner personally spends about 20 hours per week quilting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1027s)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2072s). This suggests a throughput of roughly 1–1.5 quilts per day, matching the stated annual volume (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1011s). Only one longarm machine is in use, a computerized Gammill Optimum Statler (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=259s)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=317s). Pricing details are largely unclear: rates for edge-to-edge and custom work, average price per quilt, and specific charges for queen-size or T-shirt quilts are not provided. However, the fee structure does include additional charges for thread (based on quilt size), batting (at retail price), and a pattern fee for every quilt, with sales tax applied to the total (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1227s). Without clear price or revenue data, estimates for annual earnings, hourly rate, or machine payback are not possible. Overall, the available figures point to a steady, moderate-capacity operation focused solely on edge-to-edge quilting, with a consistent workflow and a single machine. The lack of pricing and revenue data means that financial performance and payback period cannot be analyzed from the provided information. ## Quotes > We only do edge-to-edge, we’re not doing custom at this time, there’s always room for growth in that, but there’s plenty of business in long arming in our area. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=275s > We have a minimum quilting fee of 50 dollars. So, if it’s really small, it still takes time to do. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1200s > We set up a back room with an ironing board, with a big table I built on it...we try and get our regular staff, when they’re not busy helping customers, to prep quilts because that’s almost half the time. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1078s > I haven’t watched any videos. We were trained by the person who did it. She had written up a process to follow. We follow that process pretty much to the T. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=1435s > Even though I have to pay the labor for my staff, I can still make a decent amount of money per hour on that machine. And the more hours it’s operating, the more we’re making right? > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2044s > If you can generate a regular stream of customers...you can make bank. You can do pretty well. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK23W3VIFOI&t=2298s