Starting a Longarm Quilting Business: Lessons from Lisa Totty’s First Year

0:00 Well, welcome everybody to Quilting Business Success.

0:27 Our guest today is Lisa Toddy.

0:29 Lisa, we are very glad to have you here.

0:32 Thank you.

0:33 I'm really happy to be here.

0:35 We're going to hear your story and I want you to feel welcome to just shoot the breeze

0:43 and just share whatever you feel comfortable sharing.

0:48 And I'm just going to ask you a few questions and we'll just start the conversation out.

0:53 First of all, Lisa, can you tell us where you're located, where is home for you?

0:59 We live on 80 acres, about an hour south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in a little town called Morris.

1:06 Our closest neighbor is about a quarter mile away in any direction.

1:10 Nice.

1:11 80 acres, that's wonderful.

1:17 And so how long have you been long arming?

1:22 I started long arming about 20 years ago.

1:25 I had a friend who lived kind of near me and I'd go over to her house and we would piece

1:30 quilt tops together and she found a neighbor that had a Gammill, a minus machine.

1:37 It just went, you just turned it on and go.

1:40 And we went over there and met with her and loaded our first quilt.

1:45 And it was so funny because loading the back, the backing upside down was such a weird concept

1:52 when I first started long arming, we got it all loaded and we did a real simple pattern.

1:58 It took us a day to quilt this queen size quilt.

2:02 And I thought, I thought it was great, it was hard though.

2:06 And so after that, my friend Sue bought a computerized long arm machine, not a Gammill,

2:13 but at the time using her machine, I thought it was greater than sliced bread.

2:19 I mean, I was just like, this is so cool.

2:22 After trying to quilt quilts on a domestic machine, I was, I was in heaven and I quilted

2:29 with her for about five or six years and then she moved back to Minnesota.

2:35 So I lost my quilt, my long arm quilting access.

2:40 And then about a year ago, I have another friend named Sonia and she lives in Coweta,

2:45 not too far, about 45 minutes from us.

2:48 And she has a Statler and she invited me to come over and quilt with her.

2:54 And so I brought a quilt top and loaded it up and I was amazed, does not even describe

3:03 how much I loved working on the Statler.

3:08 I mean, trying to learn a new software program obviously was a little bit clunky for me,

3:13 just learning the process, but the Creative Studio software is so intuitive and there's

3:21 so many things built in it that make it easy for you to quilt.

3:27 I was like, how did I ever do it on that other machine?

3:31 That's how much easier it was on Statler.

3:33 So yeah.

3:38 So how far away did Sonia live from you?

3:42 Sonia is about 45 minutes away from me.

3:44 My other friend, Sue, was about 20 minutes away from me.

3:48 You have to drive a long way for everything where I live.

3:51 To get anywhere.

3:52 Yes, sir.

3:53 Yes, sir.

3:54 You're not like, you're not like in the city part.

3:56 You're not like in Tulsa or anything, you're a little bit out in the boondocks, huh?

4:01 Yes, sir.

4:02 Yes, sir.

4:04 Okay.

4:05 So you worked with the computerized machine with Sue and then Sonia had a Statler.

4:13 Yes.

4:14 And so what happened there?

4:17 Did Sonia move away or did you end up getting a machine of your own or how did that work?

4:22 After I quilted with her for about six months and she got to the point where I could just

4:28 go over to her house on the days when she wasn't quilting, even if she was, she still

4:32 had a day job at the time and even if she was at her job, I would just go into her studio

4:38 and fire up the Statler and quilt on it.

4:42 And it was so fun.

4:45 But when you're the borrower of a long arm, you always feel like you have to hurry up

4:52 and get it done.

4:53 Get it loaded, get it quilted, get it off the machine.

4:56 And I never was able to be creative like I want to be.

5:05 But I never thought I could afford a long arm and Sonia, bless her heart, she was the

5:09 best support system in this area because she kept saying, buy a Statler, Lisa, you can

5:16 do it.

5:17 You can make it work.

5:19 And I was like, we don't even have any room in our house for it unless I put it in the

5:23 living room.

5:27 So how did that work?

5:30 Did you go ahead and get one?

5:31 Yeah, it's funny.

5:33 Last year in May, I was in Shawnee, Oklahoma for Quilting with Confidence.

5:38 And I registered for Quilting with Confidence because I was using Sonia's machine.

5:44 And I thought it would be great if I knew the software better.

5:48 So we both signed up and went to Quilting with Confidence.

5:51 And while we were there, another quilter in Tulsa, Anne Olson, who you've had on your

5:59 podcast before, she and her husband, Pete, were there.

6:03 And Pete came over to Sonia and was saying, hey, I found this great long arm on Facebook

6:09 Marketplace.

6:11 And they showed, I was looking at the ad and it was a purple Gammill.

6:16 And I was like, told my friend Sonia, I said, please ask him to send you that Marketplace

6:23 ad.

6:24 And I had never been on Facebook Marketplace.

6:26 I messaged the guy while I was sitting in Quilting with Confidence and said, hey, is

6:31 this machine still available?

6:32 And I went to Wichita, Kansas and bought her the next week.

6:39 My husband had just had knee surgery, drove up there myself, bought her.

6:44 And then they tore it down and brought the machine to me on Memorial Day weekend.

6:52 And then I still didn't have a studio.

6:54 I had no place to put her, nowhere to put her.

6:58 And I'm like, what do I do?

6:59 You bought it with no place to put it, huh?

7:01 Yes.

7:02 Yes.

7:03 So my husband and I sat down and we had, we probably had a hundred conversations.

7:11 Do we build a standalone building?

7:14 Do we buy a portable building to put her in?

7:17 Do we add on to the house?

7:19 You know, we went through every scenario and it kept changing and changing and changing.

7:26 And we finally decided on a 30 by 40 metal building.

7:31 We started that in, I want to say August or September, no August.

7:38 And I told the builder, I said, we have to be done by December 1st because I had already

7:45 bought the Ascend retrofit and they were coming to retrofit it.

7:53 I told him, I said, you have to wait until December 1st.

7:55 That's when my studio will be done.

7:57 And you guys were so accommodating.

7:59 And so I had already paid for the retrofit and they retrofitted her December 9th and

8:06 10th.

8:08 And so, yeah, and then I started my business January 1st.

8:12 So I'm brand new business owner, quilter all my life.

8:17 Okay.

8:18 Wow.

8:19 That is a lot.

8:20 And by the way, while you were talking and Olsen popped on and said, hello, she says

8:25 she definitely remembers you.

8:27 So we both know her.

8:30 Yeah.

8:32 So that is a quite a story there.

8:37 And you apparently, you did buy your machine specifically to start a business.

8:44 Is that right?

8:47 It was, it was about equally, you know, I wanted it for a business.

8:51 Yes.

8:52 Because I'm getting ready to retire from my corporate job.

8:55 I work for a financial advisor and I'm going to work through 2026.

9:01 And so I've started thinking about what I want to do when I'm retired.

9:06 I'm a little bit anxious about having a fixed income.

9:10 So that's why I wanted to start a business.

9:14 Now my husband has a cattle business and he's getting ready to retire in about two months.

9:20 So it won't be long and we'll both be, you're always holding up the one month finger.

9:25 It's only one month now.

9:26 Okay, honey, I gotcha.

9:29 Yeah.

9:31 Yeah.

9:32 He corrects me really good when I don't say the right thing.

9:35 Oh, okay.

9:37 He'll keep you in line.

9:39 Yes, he does.

9:40 He's your fact checker there.

9:43 Okay.

9:44 So, um, so let me ask you this thing, um, did you, do you know, or how, did you do any

9:57 research or did you know that there's enough business in your area to support what you're

10:04 wanting to do?

10:05 Or tell us a little bit about that.

10:07 Yes.

10:08 Um, our area, we do have a lot of long arm quilters.

10:13 I'm a member of two quilt guilds and both of them have, I would say a good amount of

10:19 long arm quilters.

10:21 Um, a lot of them do quilt for others, um, but it's also an aging, um, demographic.

10:33 One of my really, really good friends, and she's been a super mentor to me is Mary pinner.

10:38 She's long armed forever.

10:42 And um, most of the people that I know that quilt are my age or older.

10:47 So I, um, I felt like a, if you have, if you are good at a skill, there's always business.

10:58 It, um, to me, I don't think there's ever a saturated market.

11:03 Um, there's a, there's our, there are businesses, you know, like chain type businesses that

11:10 have one on every corner.

11:12 So I feel like there's never like complete saturation in any, um, industry, right.

11:21 But I did do a lot of research.

11:23 I, I, um, I checked all the quilt guilds in my area to see how many long armers there

11:29 were.

11:30 I asked a lot of people that were already in business, what their turnaround time is.

11:36 I actually did a whole business plan and I gotta give, I gotta give Andrew a plug because

11:44 you and he were talking on one of the quilting business success podcasts and I have watched

11:49 them all.

11:50 Um, so he talked about score and I, when he said that, I, I, what I said to myself, what

11:58 is score?

11:59 I have never heard of that.

12:01 And he did say the acronym, which was really good because I would have never known what

12:06 it was.

12:07 I reached out to a score mentor in Tulsa and he helped me write a business plan, which

12:15 is how I got a business loan.

12:17 And I have to say, when I went into the bank to talk to our banker, he looked at my business

12:22 plan, which was about 14 pages long, which I didn't think was very long for a business

12:28 plan.

12:29 I mean, I really just touched on the basics.

12:31 I thought, and he's, he looked up and he said, can I keep this?

12:36 I haven't had a business plan written this well since I've been at this bank.

12:41 Wow.

12:42 So.

12:43 Very nice.

12:44 Yeah.

12:45 So, um, all right.

12:48 So you built, built a 30 by 40 building, bought the Ascend, um, so, and this, so I guess you,

13:00 you made plans for all this, uh, it's, you know, it's not something that's going to come

13:05 back to bite you.

13:09 It might.

13:10 You never know.

13:11 No, it won't.

13:12 It won't.

13:13 And, and, and you just, uh, you got your machine.

13:17 Did you say December, January?

13:19 I got it last May, a year ago, May.

13:22 So what, 14 months ago, 13 months ago.

13:26 So yeah, got my machine.

13:30 She sat in the living room covered in a sheet until December when I got my, uh, Ascend retrofit.

13:36 I never did get to use her with just, uh, um, stitch regulator, but that's okay.

13:44 I had a lot of other things to do trying to get the building built and boy building something.

13:50 I didn't realize, you know, I was constantly making decisions about appliance, not appliances,

13:56 but, you know, like, uh, the fixtures and the lighting and yeah, it's a lot of work

14:01 building something.

14:02 A lot of details that do not occur to you when you're in the process, you know?

14:08 Yeah.

14:09 Yes, that is correct.

14:11 So it is, is everything up and running now?

14:15 It is.

14:16 What's your status now?

14:17 It is.

14:18 I did my first client quilt about two weeks after I got my Ascend.

14:24 They needed it before Christmas and it was just a baby quilt, but, um, I was really excited

14:30 to do it and it was kind of a semi custom job.

14:34 Um, so that was cool.

14:36 It wasn't just edge to edge and, um, that I want that in the end to be my focus.

14:45 I know edge to edge is your bread and butter and you know what, that's what helps our businesses

14:51 go, but I love, love, love the creativity that, um, creative studios allows you.

14:59 And then, um, my biggest goal is that I want to become a good hand guider and I'm not right

15:06 now.

15:07 I want to be, I want to be a really good ruler work quilter and I'm not now.

15:14 So that's my biggest goal.

15:16 And I took a class with Karen Marchetti and she was wonderful, but I don't learn very

15:23 well in that kind of a group situation.

15:25 When I'm learning and somebody's over my shoulder, students or a teacher, I, I don't really feel

15:31 like I get everything out of it that I need to.

15:34 So, but she was wonderful.

15:37 All the instructors at Quilting with Confidence were amazing.

15:42 Yes, they are.

15:45 Um, and you have the, um, uh, uh, new owner training.

15:52 Yes.

15:53 And, uh, have you, have you been through all of the, all of the, those, uh, videos?

15:58 Yeah, I, as soon as, um, as soon as I paid for my retrofit and they were available, I

16:05 started doing them.

16:07 And I also bought the Accelerate program and I'm working through it, um, not as fast

16:14 as the new owner training because I wanted to be up and running and try to get as much

16:19 information out of that as I could.

16:21 Yes.

16:22 But I, the, both programs have been so informative.

16:28 I really, I'm really thankful that I bought a Gamel, not just for the quality because

16:34 I think it is far and above better quality than any other long arm that I've looked at

16:39 or used.

16:41 But the, what you give back to us in education and those kinds of things, that's what makes

16:54 it the best company for me.

16:56 That's, you know, and that is a huge thing that you just mentioned.

17:02 I mean, it's, it's, it's generally, it's understood that the Gamel is, is, you know,

17:07 the best machine out there, but, but people don't oftentimes focus on the support, uh,

17:13 that comes, that comes with it.

17:16 Um, you say that you've, uh, you've got the Accelerate.

17:20 Can you tell us just briefly a little bit about that and what you hope for that to do

17:24 for you and what it's for?

17:27 Accelerate is a program that was designed by Gamel for quilting business owners.

17:33 And it goes through every aspect of the business and helps you, um, get as much as you can

17:42 out of your business.

17:43 Right now I'm stuck on social media.

17:46 If anybody is watching this or watches this in the future and they can help me, um, join

17:54 my Instagram and Facebook accounts.

17:56 If you can help me find a web designer, that's not like astronomically priced it, any of

18:02 those things that I need help, I need a lot of help.

18:06 Okay.

18:07 And at the end we will, we will get your information, how people can get in touch with you if they

18:13 want to.

18:14 And, and yeah, they may, they may get in touch with you for you to do something for them,

18:19 but for them to do something for you.

18:21 And that would be wonderful.

18:24 So, um, did you say that you are, are you currently still working otherwise, uh, right

18:31 now?

18:32 I am.

18:33 I have worked in the financial industry for the last 16 years and, um, I'm, I am so scared

18:45 to retire.

18:48 I, I want to retire so that I can quilt every day, all day long.

18:54 I I'm so happy and at peace when I'm in my studio, even when everything's going wrong,

19:01 it's my happy place.

19:03 But um, the thought, the word retirement really scares me.

19:08 Just the word, um, and maybe that's because my background, I grew up extremely poor, um,

19:16 worked at least three jobs sometimes.

19:20 And even since I've been married, um, I'm kind of the, whatever it takes kind of person

19:26 when, when you need money, how do you get money, go get a job.

19:30 So I, every time we needed money, I would just go get another job.

19:35 Right.

19:36 And my husband, I have to say, my husband is wonderful.

19:40 He's always worked.

19:43 It's not that I needed a job because we were going to lose our house or anything, but we

19:49 did leave, live paycheck to paycheck for a long time.

19:54 Well, uh, right now, uh, with your quilting business.

20:00 How much time are you putting into it and what does the customer load look like?

20:09 Can you tell us a little bit about what it's looking like right now?

20:12 Right now, I'm keeping up.

20:15 I don't have a queue.

20:16 I work in the evenings and weekends.

20:20 I would say mostly I work on the weekends.

20:23 If we're planning to go somewhere or do something on the weekend,

20:26 I'll work during the evening.

20:28 I do one to two quilts a week for clients.

20:33 I know for all you business owners out there that came before me on this podcast,

20:38 that seems like nothing, but it is allowing me to catch up on my quilt queue,

20:46 my personal quilt queue, which is about 44 quilt tops at this point.

20:54 You don't have a long-arm machine that you can use.

20:59 When Sue moved away and I hadn't started seeing Sonia yet and didn't know her,

21:05 I just kept building quilts and putting them in a box.

21:09 There's a lot for me to work on.

21:14 Ann commented and said,

21:16 don't retire, just change careers.

21:19 That's it.

21:20 A lot of it is how you look at it.

21:22 That's the perfect way to look at it.

21:25 Yes. Holly made a comment, said,

21:29 web design, every state has a small business development center

21:34 that offers many business services for free.

21:37 I did my business plan,

21:39 financial projections, website, and Facebook help.

21:42 They were wonderful and all the services were free.

21:45 Anybody who's watching this recorded,

21:47 and if you're watching live,

21:49 you can go back and watch the recording to pick up

21:52 any of the information that you may have missed,

21:55 so just FYI.

21:57 Thank you. That is a great resource.

22:00 I really appreciate that.

22:07 Right now, did you say about how many hours you're putting into quilting these days?

22:14 I probably work quilting for others.

22:18 I probably work 15,

22:21 maybe 20 hours a week.

22:24 Then the rest of the time,

22:26 I'm working on getting my studio decorated and working on my own quilts.

22:34 You mentioned that you're doing edge to edge.

22:40 Your heart is in the custom quilting.

22:45 It really is.

22:47 What are you actually doing?

22:50 What kind of ratio does that look like right now?

22:52 My client quilts are basically all edge to edge right now.

22:58 I want to make sure I get enough custom quilts with my machine,

23:05 and not even another Statler,

23:07 but with my machine so that I feel really comfortable.

23:12 Most people that spend the money for custom work,

23:16 need it to be pretty perfect.

23:21 I want to make sure that I can make it pretty

23:24 perfect before I start offering that service.

23:27 But once I get to that point,

23:30 I would say I will still do more edge to edge than custom,

23:35 but my heart is in custom work.

23:39 Got you. I hear that sentiment from a lot of people.

23:43 Your bread and butter is the edge to edge,

23:46 but oftentimes your heart is in the custom quilting.

23:52 Let me ask for the people watching, Lisa,

23:56 do you charge by the hour, by the square inch?

23:59 How does that work out for you?

24:02 Right now, because it's edge to edge,

24:05 it is square inch.

24:09 I'm not sure.

24:11 I have been talking to a lot of people,

24:14 and I'll probably talk to a lot more

24:16 before I really start doing custom work,

24:19 to really get a feel for what would be the best way

24:24 for me to charge for that.

24:27 Okay. On the edge to edge,

24:31 do you feel comfortable sharing what you charge

24:35 per square inch for that?

24:36 Sure. My price starts at two cents a square inch.

24:40 Then depending on if they wanted a really densely quilted pattern

24:47 or just a densely quilted all over quilt,

24:50 I might charge more for that.

24:54 Do you know if that is typical for your area?

24:59 I would say it's pretty typical.

25:03 Everybody has a little bit different way that they charge.

25:06 Some charge for thread, some charge for loading,

25:09 some charge for bobbins and needles.

25:13 I don't charge for any of that

25:15 because I feel like I'm giving somebody a service,

25:20 and I couldn't do that service without needle and thread.

25:24 For me, it seems like it should be all included,

25:27 but for my friends who do charge for that stuff,

25:33 I agree that you're doing the best for your business.

25:37 Got you. Got you.

25:39 Do you do other things like piecing, binding, T-shirt quilts?

25:46 I will do T-shirt quilts in the future.

25:48 I'm not doing them now.

25:50 I want to be a little more prepared before I start that

25:52 because T-shirt quilts are hard

25:56 to just take somebody's top and quilt that.

25:59 I feel like for a T-shirt quilt,

26:01 it would have to be like a start to finish type project

26:05 for me to feel comfortable about quilting it.

26:09 Have you tried anything like that yet?

26:12 I have two boxes of my two sons' T-shirts

26:16 that I'm going to work on

26:18 before I start saying that I offer that.

26:23 They are very popular here.

26:26 I went to our local embroidery shop

26:28 to introduce myself and give her a couple of my cards

26:32 and things like that,

26:33 and that was the first question she asked me.

26:35 She said, everybody who comes in here

26:38 wants to know if I do T-shirt quilts, and I don't.

26:44 I'm sure I'll add that at some point

26:47 in the not-too-distant future,

26:49 and I have no idea what I would charge for it.

26:52 I'm going to have to do some research.

26:54 I do like to do research.

26:56 I mentioned that I have watched all of the podcasts.

27:00 I don't just watch the podcast, Bobby.

27:05 I have an app on my phone.

27:07 It's a notes app, and I write down anything pertinent.

27:13 I write down every time you have a podcast,

27:15 where they're from, how much they charge,

27:18 what they do for advertising.

27:20 That has been a gold mine.

27:23 The people that have been on before me

27:25 that have talked about one lady from Australia had bags made.

27:31 I took that idea and had my own bags made with my logo on them.

27:35 Yes, I remember that one, yes.

27:36 Yes, and they're perfect. I love them.

27:39 It's a great idea.

27:40 I've gotten so many good ideas,

27:43 and the ones that are really good,

27:45 I bold on my little app,

27:47 and everyone has the number of the podcast

27:52 and all the information I could pick out of it,

27:55 so that I could use it in the future to help my business.

27:59 So thank you, everybody who went before me,

28:01 because your ideas made my business what it is.

28:07 Wow, so if a support group called Quilting Business Success Anonymous

28:13 rises up, you'll probably be in that group there.

28:16 Yes, I would.

28:19 No, no, I am inspired by hearing what you say.

28:26 You know, researching things, and I'm just like you.

28:30 I'm a note-taker, you know.

28:31 I will, you know, if I'm reading a book sometimes,

28:35 I will write more pages than the actual four-word of the book

28:41 is for my own notes, you know.

28:43 But so anyway, that's great.

28:46 That's great, and I would tell the people watching

28:50 to follow your example with that,

28:52 because knowledge truly, I've said this so many times,

28:56 knowledge is power, you know.

28:59 And the more I talk to you,

29:02 I'm really enjoying our conversation, by the way.

29:04 The more I talk to you, the more I feel that you are on a road to success.

29:13 Thank you.

29:14 I think it sounds like you're on a good path there.

29:20 Will you share your source for bags, Amy is asking.

29:27 Okay, I used ProImprint, not 4imprint

29:32 that all the commercials on TV are about.

29:34 I used ProImprint, and what I did was I took a reusable grocery bag

29:44 that I had at home, and I took a king-size quilt,

29:48 and I folded it up to see if it would fit in that bag,

29:52 and it wouldn't.

29:53 So I knew I needed to get a little bit bigger bag,

29:57 and I found a bag that would work for a king-size quilt.

30:00 I measured it, and that's what I bought.

30:06 The podcast with the ladies from Australia,

30:09 when I did that podcast, I actually reached out to her,

30:13 and I said, can you give me the dimensions of your bag?

30:16 And she did.

30:17 She messaged me back right away.

30:19 So if you guys have any questions about anything I talk about,

30:26 if you go back through the podcast, you'll get an answer.

30:29 Because I promise you, everything I've gotten

30:32 has been because of this podcast.

30:36 It's wonderful.

30:37 Well, thank you.

30:42 You don't happen to have one of those bags handy, do you?

30:44 I left it out.

30:45 I took it out to my shop so I could use it as an example

30:49 when we were talking.

30:51 Yeah.

30:53 Well, if one happens to show up during the podcast,

30:57 you can show it to us.

30:59 But OK, because I have like three people

31:02 asking about those bags since you mentioned them.

31:06 Just look for the podcast with the ladies from Australia.

31:09 I wish I could remember the number of it, but I can't.

31:12 And my list is on my phone, which I'm using for this Zoom.

31:16 So I can't even look it up.

31:19 OK, yeah.

31:23 OK, we're having fun.

31:23 We're having fun.

31:24 We had a little technical difficulties before we started.

31:27 Were you not on your phone when you first started out?

31:29 Yeah, I was.

31:30 But I was out in my studio, which I usually

31:32 have a pretty good connection.

31:34 I don't know why I didn't tonight, but it is what it is.

31:38 So nobody gets to see Violet.

31:40 I had her set up so I could see her

31:42 in the background of the Zoom.

31:44 But anyway, she's the same color purple as my sweater.

31:49 Well, when we get to the end and if you tell people,

31:52 I don't know if you have Facebook or whatever you have,

31:55 maybe you can post a picture of or you can direct them

31:59 to where that is.

32:01 Yes.

32:02 All right, let's move on here.

32:04 OK.

32:04 Everybody's saying thank you for the information

32:07 you just shared.

32:08 They appreciated that.

32:10 Oh, good.

32:10 Good, good.

32:11 So let's see.

32:15 So at this point where you are, is there

32:18 anything you can think of that has been a difficulty

32:22 or something that you've had to deal with as you have

32:26 at this point in your business?

32:29 OK, let me think.

32:30 Hold on.

32:32 Seems like I answered that question when

32:34 I was going through my stuff.

32:35 I think maybe the hard part.

32:41 I'm so sorry.

32:42 Ask me that question one more time.

32:44 Yeah, what has been, is there something you can think of

32:47 maybe has been the hardest part of doing this business thing?

32:51 Oh, yeah, social media.

32:53 And I would say I'm very familiar with Facebook.

32:57 I'm on Facebook a lot, but I'm not a poster.

33:00 I look at Facebook for my friends and relatives,

33:04 things like that.

33:05 But I am not a poster, and I'm not a,

33:10 I don't know how to use it to grow my business.

33:14 When I try to think of a post to say something exciting

33:19 like I see on other people's business pages,

33:23 yeah, my mind just draws a blank.

33:27 If you're looking out there, people,

33:29 I really need some Facebook social media help.

33:32 Please.

33:34 It's a cry for help.

33:35 A cry for help.

33:36 Yes, yes it is.

33:39 And OK, OK.

33:43 And probably some of the, there's

33:48 probably some contacts or something in Accelerate

33:52 and also some of the educators.

33:55 They can be contacted, and they probably

33:59 have some information about that also.

34:01 Some experience with that.

34:03 So OK.

34:05 Yeah.

34:06 Good to know.

34:09 So you said you've been doing long-arming.

34:14 You said it's about 20 years ago that you,

34:19 and that was with the friend Sue.

34:22 Is that right?

34:23 That was some hand-guided that you were doing.

34:27 Hand-guided to begin with, and then she bought a computerized,

34:30 but it was not a Gamel, but it was computerized.

34:34 And so how much of a, how big is the difference,

34:39 would you say, between the hand-guided and like the Ascend

34:43 that you have nowadays?

34:46 The Gamel that we use, the minus machine

34:49 that we used with no stitch regulator or anything,

34:53 I don't know how.

34:55 I mean, I do know how, because I could quilt

34:58 on a domestic machine once I practiced a lot

35:03 without a stitch regulator.

35:06 But it is really hard.

35:10 I know that if I did it every day, I could do it.

35:14 But I'm so thankful that I don't have to do it,

35:17 that I have a stitch regulator, and that I have a computer

35:21 program that I can use.

35:25 Yeah.

35:29 And I suspect, I know at least part

35:31 of the answer to this question, who

35:33 has been your biggest cheerleader support

35:35 during all this journey that you're taking?

35:39 OK, I have to say, and I hope this is OK, I have four.

35:43 Obviously, my husband has been a rock.

35:46 What's his name?

35:47 His name's Jason, and he is a wonderful, wonderful.

35:50 He's the person in the picture with me

35:52 that I had on my promo picture.

35:56 Yeah, that's my husband.

35:58 We've been married 37 years, 37 years.

36:04 And everything that I came up with, he was, yes, let's do it.

36:12 We built my studio with money from my retirement.

36:16 And he was like, you're going to make money.

36:19 You want to do something in retirement.

36:21 Let's use this money and make it work for us.

36:24 And then my studio was going to be 20 by 30.

36:27 And he said, I talked to the builder,

36:30 and he said it wouldn't cost us much more

36:34 if we wanted to make it a little bit bigger footprint.

36:37 And I was like, OK, let's make it 30 by 40 then.

36:41 Because my goal is to educate.

36:43 My goal is to have quilting classes in my studio.

36:48 And I already work with our county 4-H sewing group.

36:55 I meet with them once a week with a really, really

36:58 experienced sewer named Valerie.

37:01 And we teach the children to sew.

37:03 They quilt some.

37:05 They sew mostly.

37:06 And I am not a sewer.

37:08 So I'm usually asking Valerie, OK, Valerie,

37:11 what's the next step?

37:11 Because I don't have a clue.

37:13 But the kids love it.

37:14 I love it.

37:16 And I want to see children sew and quilt.

37:20 I don't want that art to die.

37:23 Yes.

37:24 And that's also something that we encourage on this podcast

37:29 is we do see and want to see even more.

37:34 A lot of the younger generation is,

37:38 contrary to popular belief, getting into quilting

37:43 and have bought a Gammill themselves.

37:46 We've seen a ton of them on here.

37:48 So yeah.

37:50 It's really encouraging to me to see younger quilters.

37:54 I'm so excited every time I see somebody that's younger that

37:58 is taking up the craft.

38:01 Yes.

38:03 My resource people have let me know

38:07 that the episode that Lisa referenced about the bag idea

38:13 is episode 39.

38:15 So you can look that up on the Quilting Business Success

38:21 podcast and find episode 39.

38:24 And you'll find that idea on there.

38:27 Bobby, really quick.

38:28 I need to finish my who is my biggest support system

38:31 because Jason, obviously my husband.

38:33 OK.

38:35 Sue, who worked with me and got me started long arming.

38:41 Sonia, who graciously let me use her statler

38:44 anytime I needed it.

38:46 She has been wonderful.

38:48 And she's the one who kept saying, Lisa, you can do this.

38:51 Just buy that machine.

38:52 It'll work out.

38:54 Something will work out.

38:55 So I did.

38:57 And then the last one is Mary Penner.

39:00 And she should be on this podcast.

39:02 She's been quilting long arm forever.

39:05 She is a wealth of knowledge.

39:09 She's the kindest person.

39:13 I just love her.

39:15 OK, I just wrote her name down.

39:18 Great.

39:19 All right, Mary Penner.

39:22 OK, well, thank you.

39:23 Yeah, so it sounds like you have had

39:27 several different significant people that

39:31 have helped encourage you and inspire you

39:35 through this journey.

39:37 So that's wonderful.

39:39 I also have one more thing that I wanted to say.

39:42 And it's kind of a plug for somebody.

39:43 But when I first started this journey,

39:46 and I have never met this lady, but she wrote a book.

39:49 And it's called Quilting for Hire,

39:52 something like start your own long arm business,

39:57 something, something.

39:58 And her name is Shelly.

40:00 Pagliai, and I hope I didn't butcher your name Shelly if you're watching this, I'm so sorry, but I carried her book around

40:08 Every day for probably six months while I was planning my business getting things ready buying things

40:16 Getting all the legal stuff done for my business and she was a wealth of knowledge and it's a very well written book

40:23 Quilting for hire Shelly Pagliai, does that sound right? Pagliai? It's P-A-G-L-I-A-I

40:36 Pagliai, okay, maybe

40:39 I think I'm probably butchering it. No. No, that's good. That's good. Okay

40:44 Excellent. We've got you on there

40:47 Okay, Oh

40:49 Pat has commented

40:51 She said thank you for focusing on working with 4-h youth. Wonderful. Yeah, you're definitely making a difference

40:59 I'm here to tell you that

41:02 Down the road those youths will forever be indebted to you. Thank you

41:06 That's the reason I became a 4-h County Extension agent. Oh, I love hearing stories like that

41:13 I my my children were both in 4-h and never raised an animal

41:18 They did all the other things that 4-h

41:22 Has and a lot of people don't know that they think that 4-h is just about raising

41:27 animals and there is so many things that you can

41:33 Learn to do in 4-h and I have had a wonderful time

41:40 Awesome awesome

41:42 well Lisa

41:44 Is there anything that?

41:46 That you wish you someone would have told you or that you would have known when you first started this

41:54 um, I

41:56 think what I would say is I

41:59 Wish somebody would have told me how at peace I feel when I'm in my studio

42:08 No matter how bad things are going that day no matter how

42:13 Many times I have thread breaks or you know

42:17 You have those days where you and Jack are just becoming best friends

42:23 I'm still at peace

42:25 It's the most peaceful place in the world my studio. I get the music going pretty loud

42:34 Awesome and I just have fun

42:37 And and do you have you have the customers come there into your shop, is that right?

42:44 I'm flexible if you want to meet me in town somewhere

42:49 Because I kind of live out in the middle of nowhere. I've met people at Panera before to pick up and deliver quilts

42:56 I've met at libraries

43:00 Really wherever but I do

43:02 I'm still working on landscaping around my building and getting a place, you know with like a walkway and stuff. So

43:10 Only my really good friends come to the house right now. Just because I wouldn't want anybody to get hurt

43:16 and

43:18 um, I'm kind of

43:21 I wouldn't say I'm being secretive, but I kind of want to wait

43:25 Until my studio is completely done

43:27 Before I have people come in

43:30 I got you. I understand and

43:33 You know that thing that you were saying about

43:37 Just how much uh peace that you have and and uh when you're doing what you what you love

43:45 There's something

43:46 Empowering about that, you know, and i'm saying that to you and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and

43:54 Empowering about that, you know, and i'm saying that to you and to all the people watching. Um

44:00 when you

44:02 When you're emotionally and spiritually healthy

44:06 It it it there's something about it that creates uh success and it draws people, uh

44:14 To you and people, you know

44:16 You can be doing something. That's just a job

44:20 And if it's not something you enjoy

44:22 even if you do a good job just the people can pick up on

44:27 You know if it's if it's not something that your heart is in and the thing that you shared there is a key

44:34 That I have seen with so many of the people on this podcast

44:39 They they do what they love they do what they love

44:43 And uh, and I really appreciate that and I wanted to just drive the point that you made right there uh home

44:50 I I do have one more question. Uh, lisa

44:54 um

44:56 It with the experience that you've had

44:59 uh, both pre ascend and post

45:03 Do you think that uh that this journey that you are still in the beginning phases of do you think it's

45:09 that this is something that uh

45:11 Somebody can still do in this day and age

45:15 I do

45:16 I do, you know earlier. I said I didn't think there could be market saturation

45:21 I really believe that especially when you're doing

45:24 something that is a

45:26 creative process

45:28 um

45:30 I don't I don't know of a good analogy other than if you make nuts and bolts. They're pretty much all the same

45:37 Right if it's a common nut or bolt you can kind of find it at any walmart or

45:44 hardware store

45:45 But if you need a specialty item

45:49 You go to find somebody who does whatever specialty you're into and with quilting there are so many different

45:58 Uh types of long arm quilting, you know, very traditional very modern very in the middle

46:06 so

46:07 I think if you

46:09 are a quilter

46:11 and

46:12 A you want to be able to do a little bit of everything

46:16 Um style wise but if you find a style that really suits you

46:23 People will find you because they see your work and they see the things that you've done

46:30 and that's the type of quilting that they want so

46:33 Um exposure, you know taking your quilts to quilt guild for show and tell and

46:40 entering them in the fairs even the local county fairs just to get your

46:45 Your quilts in front of people not just quilt shows

46:52 Well, that's awesome, um

46:54 Lisa, uh

46:56 I I have to say it you've it it's been very inspiring uh talking to you

47:01 Uh, and i'm serious and I know a lot of people watching have uh been inspired

47:06 I've just seen from the comments, uh coming in while i've been talking to you. They've been inspired and thank you. Thank you for sharing

47:13 uh your story with us

47:15 um

47:16 Is is there any?

47:18 Any way that people can uh get in touch with you or find you or you know, see your stuff

47:24 What what information you got for us? Okay

47:27 Um before I tell you that I I want to say i'm really missing quilting with confidence this year

47:32 And I sure hope it comes back next year. I went to four quilting with confidences last year

47:38 I traveled, um to des moines, iowa

47:41 and colorado springs and

47:44 I don't even know where else I went, but

47:47 I really i'm ready for it to come back. I hope it comes back next year

47:51 Okay, so my let's see i'm on facebook. Lisa toddy. That's my personal page

47:56 um

47:57 I'll answer you if you uh

48:00 post on my personal page

48:03 Indy ind ie indy quilting is the name of my business

48:10 And I have a business facebook page but it's pretty bare right now because

48:16 Yeah, because

48:17 I need help

48:20 Yes, yes, you can post or message me on that i'm also on instagram

48:25 um instagram and I

48:27 uh

48:28 We don't have a great relationship right now and maybe that's because I just don't know enough about it to make it work for me

48:35 so

48:36 facebook would be the best place to

48:39 uh post

48:41 Message me you can um personal message me if you want to through facebook, that's fine

48:47 um

48:48 and then um

48:50 My email is indyquilting at gmail.com

48:57 Okay, wonderful wonderful

48:59 um, well lisa

49:01 Thank you so much. Uh

49:03 It's been great talking to you

49:05 And uh, thank you all for uh joining this another great episode of a quilting business success

49:12 Lisa you take care and everybody else happy quilting. Thank you

49:20 You