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| Starburst at MQX with Faculty Ribbon, October 2013 |
All Quilted, LLC
Confession of a Professional Long Arm
Quilter
I’ve been a quilter for going on 15 years,
off and on when time allowed amidst the hustle-bustle of raising and
homeschooling 5 kids, and one would think I would have utilized the services of
a long arm quilter myself. Not so. I have never hired a long arm quilter. So, why in the world did I become one?
I wanted my quilts to be all mine, from
beginning to end. I wanted to select the
pattern, the fabrics, the quilt design, and I wanted to do it all: the piecing and the quilting! So I quilted on my domestic machine. I even bought a machine with the deepest
throat space I could find to make the job easier. I have quilted a king sized quilt on my
domestic machine! That quilt is on my
bed right now.
The problems were these: it is very difficult to finagle a big quilt
through a stationary sewing machine. My
back, neck, and head would ache by the time I was finished. Worse, I could never stitch the designs I had
in my head on my quilts – I just couldn’t make it happen.
Then, my mom bought a long arm quilting
machine. Every time I visited her in
Florida, I took a quilt top to quilt on her machine. I learned right away, long arm quilting is
not as easy as it looks. Again, I found
that my quilting stitched out nothing like the beautiful designs I had in my
head. But the seed was planted; I wanted
a long arm of my own and I wanted to finally make those designs in my mind come
to life.
Fast forward to February 2013 – my brand new
Innova long arm came home, along with a robotics system that allows those
gorgeous designs that I envision to stitch out in glorious reality every
time. The 4th quilt I quilted
on my machine is “Starburst” and it won the 3rd place machine
quilting ribbon at a local show in April 2013.
It also won a “faculty” ribbon at the Machine Quilters Expo that just
happened in Portland last week.
What do you get from All Quilted, a long arm
quilter who never hired a long arm quilter?
You are in charge.
You get to
pick the quilting design.
And if I don’t
have what you are looking for, I will find it or digitize it.
My designs are organized by type of design
(texture, floral, spirals…) in my design catalogues (
www.allquilted.com) and even better, over
90% of the designs are stitched out on large samples.
Paper just doesn’t do the designs
justice.
Their beauty is most evident
when they are stitched on fabric.
Many
of my customers never look at the catalogues.
They choose their designs from my quilted samples.
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| Starburst Detail and Ribbon, MQX October 2013 |
At All Quilted, you are in charge of the
price.
The designs are priced by density
(stitches per square inch) and start at $0.015 per square inch.
My design catalogues are sorted by density,
hence price (
www.allquilted.com), or
the design catalogues sorted by design type clearly indicate the density
(hence, price) of each individual design.
Each quilted sample is labeled by density as well.
All Quilted currently has “NO Minimums!” This will not last forever. But for now, say you have a 36 by 36 wall
hanging and want a more intricate quilting design than you wish to stitch on
your domestic machine: the most you
would pay for quilting this quilt, even my most intricate design, is $36. Take advantage of the chance to try All
Quilted with one of your smaller projects while “No Minimums” is in effect.
All Quilted has fast turnaround time. I can usually promise 2 week turnaround. As we approach the Christmas season, this may
extend. However, when you talk to me
about your quilting project I will give a firm promise date for completion and
you can count on that date; in fact, you can take it to the bank. If I miss my promise date, your quilting is
free.
At All Quilted, you are in charge of the
quilting design, the price, and the completion date. I would be honored to help you complete your
quilting project.
Debbie
Scroggy, Owner and Quilter
All
Quilted, LLC
503
704 4739
What’s the best
thing about owning your particular business?
I love how quilting
adds texture and makes the quilting project sign. I love, love, love it!
How long have
you been in business?
Formally, since
February 2013.
What’s been your
favorite order/customer/memorable moment as a business owner?
After delivering
Karen’s custom wall hanging, for which I created “Lattice” (see fill design
catalogue on my website and the border on my Halloween Whole Cloth), I said,
“I’m so glad you like it.” Karen came to
give me a hug and said, “I don’t like it, I love it! Does your mom know what kind of work you are
doing? Is she proud of you?” Regarding my mom, yes and yes.
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| Halloween Whole Cloth Border |
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| Halloween Whole Cloth Detail |
What other
jobs/businesses have you worked/owned?
I’m a retired
CPA, retired (by my kids) homeschooling mom, current graduate student in
Economics (boy has my passion for that waned, but I’m going to finish it if it
kills me), and currently, finally, a professional long arm quilter.
What made you
want to go into this field of work?
I wanted to
master the art of making the designs in my head come to life with stitches on
fabric.
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| Whimsical Log Cabin Back |
Do you still
have time to do your own quilting and sewing while owning your business?
Some. Now all of my personal projects are selected
to showcase some aspect of the final quilting process/design.
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| Bubblicious Sample |
Does your business have classes, get-togethers, or special events you’d like to mention?
I’m running an
“Early Bird Gets the Worm” promotional.
I gave away a $100 gift certificate in September, will give a $50 gift
certificate (drawn from all quilts delivered to me in October) on October 31,
and a final $10 gift certificate drawn from all quilts delivered to me in
November on November 30, 2013.
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| Whimsical Log Cabin Detail |
What would you
like to see PMQG do to strengthen the quilting community in the Portland Metro
Area?
I have no
suggestions – I love the creative energy of the PMQG members. I am blown away by that energy every time I
come to a guild meeting. It is truly
inspiring!
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| Whimsical Log Cabin, October 2013 |
