Linda V. Taylor

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Linda V. Taylor An Idea Whose Time Has Come

By Linda V. Taylor, master teacher, author & owner of Linda’s Electric Quilters LLC

Victor Hugo said, “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, an idea whose time has come.” Longarm quilting is here and although it has been a struggle convincing people that we are not “cheaters” simply because we have eagerly embraced new available technology, it has been one heck of a ride. It has so immensely changed my life! And I have watched in awe as I have seen most of my family and friends’ lives change as dramatically as mine -- all for the better.

I cannot even begin to imagine what my life would be like without all the new friends I have found (some have found me). How thankful I am for each and every one of you that I have come to know on the longarm pathway. These friends have been the most creative, compassionate, energetic and just plain interesting people I have ever known. Some are very much like me (a little conservative, OK, a lot!) and some keep me on the edge of my seat with stories from their lives. I’m grateful to have shared their adventures in longarming.

I want to thank all my students, for sharing their lives and passion with me and for all they have taught me. After 15 years of teaching, they now number in the thousands, and they are entrepreneurs from every walk of life. And the coolest part is that almost all of them can say longarm quilting is one of the very best things that ever happened to them!

I celebrate the fact that we are a special breed, like it or not, because most of us quilt as a business. We have unique stories to tell about our customers, we have our own language. We are the same, and yet different from other quilters.

Remember with me back to the time when the hand quilters seemed upset with the machine quilters, then some hand quilters and machine quilters appeared upset with longarm quilters. At first, we were looked down on by the quilting community. Now we are widely accepted and embraced, with thousands of recruits every year. The acceptance has come about because of the quality of quilting and the many award winning longarm quilts in major quilt shows around the country.

We’re kind of a unique bunch. We are unique because so many of us are in business quilting, not just as a hobby. With the expense of the machine, most of us started out to at least make enough money to pay for the machine and then just have fun. But what happened? We were inundated with quilts and found that it was not only fun, but also a good way to make extra money. Staying power for most businesses is three years. We go way beyond that.

If the one with the most completed quilts wins, then longarm quilters will win hands down. A single quilter can complete the quilting on hundreds of quilts every year. During 5-10 years of what I call the “life of a longarm quilter” (that is when a longarm quilter is in the “trenches” quilting under deadlines every day to support their family, a second income, or support their quilting habit), one longarm quilter will complete literally thousands of quilts before they become “burned out.” After that, they want to keep their machine just to do their own quilting.

In my opinion, this phenomenon (quilting under the premise that “dates on the calendar are closer than they appear”) has changed quilting forever in two major ways. First of all, because of the quantity of quilting, the longarm quilters have become very proficient and really good at what they do best and have become more creative, inventing new techniques and altering even how we look at “traditional” quilting.

And second, it means that more quilters can get their tops finished to use or give away. Less unquilted tops will be passed onto the next generation. It’s exciting to be a part of this process since today’s finished quilts will be tomorrow’s finished heirlooms!

In the longarm quilting world, we will always have our critics; but actually, it’s kind of fun, because it won’t always be this way. These are the “good old days.” And they keep changing as fast as we can keep up -- now there is computerized quilting. Being able to immediately do perfect patterns with perfect stitches. Wow!

But enough of longarm history...
How do you find or hire one of these expert longarm quilters to get YOUR tops finished?

First of all, you can use this Professional Longarm Yellowbook to locate longarm quilters across the U.S. and Canada.
The next best place would be your local quilt guild. Guild members will be happy to recommend their favorite longarm quilter or perhaps, some of the guild members are longarmers. Word of mouth is the number one advertising for longarm quilters.
Check out some of the quilt shops in the area. Some of them may have in-house longarm quilters and most are happy to keep lists and cards of longarm quilters in their area.
Visit quilt shows in your area or nearby areas and notice the names of the quilters. This is a good way to check out various styles of longarm quilters.
If you are taking classes in a quilt shop, ask other students for names of longarm quilters. I’ll bet they know some great quilters.
Oftentimes, your local paper and some of the national quilting magazines will have small ads from longarm quilters; check it out. If you send your quilt to be quilted, make sure you know the shipping and payment policies ahead of time.
Decorator shops use longarm quilters for comforters and bedspreads; you might get some referrals there.

Once you find a longarm quilter, here are some of the criteria you may want to ask about:

Do they have a brochure or price sheet so you can figure how much the quilting will cost you?
What choices for quilting styles do they offer (pantograph, freehand, custom work, heirloom quilting, binding, etc.?)
How do you pick the patterns you may want on your quilt? Do they have patterns and samples?
How do they want you to prepare the quilt for quilting? (i.e. quilt top pressed and threads clipped; quilt back seamed and 6-8 inches longer and wider than quilt top)?
Do they provide any other services such as adding borders, seaming the backing or lining, repairs on the quilt top?
Are batting choices available or should you bring your own batting?
Do they supply the thread and what kind do they use?
Is there a minimum dollar amount set for small projects?
When are appointment times to discuss the quilting?
When should you bring the quilt?
What is the turn-around time? When can you expect it to be finished? (Some longarm quilters allow customers to reserve dates for future quilts to be finished -- they usually require the deposit when the date is reserved. Don’t be deterred by a long waiting time it generally means that the longarm quilter has a fine reputation.)
Is there a deposit required when you bring the quilt?
Do they have insurance to cover your quilt top while in the possession of the longarm quilter?
What are the forms of payment they accept, i.e, credit cards, checks? (Most home-based longarm businesses do not take credit cards.)
Ask for references or if you can see some of their work when you bring in your quilt top.
And if it makes a difference to you, ask what kind of machine they quilt with -- “manual” where they control the stitch length, “regulated” machine which controls the stitch length, or computerized which controls patterns and stitch length.

In behalf of longarm quilters around the world, I take the liberty to thank you who are reading this for your contribution to the longarm quilting world!

Each and every quilt is a treasure for us to work on and the friendship of those we serve is the foundation of our progress.

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Linda V. Taylor is a professional award winning quilt artist, master teacher and author. She is a frequent guest on popular TV quilting segments. She has produced ten instructional longarm DVDs, created hundreds of longarm patterns, and authored eight longarm quilting books including, The Ultimate Guide to Longarm Quilting produced by C&T Publishing. She owns and operates Linda’s Electric Quilters, LLC- a longarm learning center, www.thequiltingschool.com - internet classes on demand, and Quilting Online University. She is the host of the TV program called Linda’s Longarm Quilting on your local PBS station and on www.thequiltingschool.com. For more information or a free catalog, call 1-800-893-2748 or visit www.thequiltingschool.com.