A Day in the Life: Starting and Growing a Quilting Business

Over the past year I’ve had to opportunity to not only teach quilting classes to amazing students, but also to give a couple of lectures related to quilting as a business. I’ve found that I love sharing those presentations! Keep reading for A Day in the Life: Starting and Growing a Quilting Business where you’ll find a little bit about my business journey including the things I’ve found most helpful along the way.

A Day in the Life: Starting and Growing a Quilting Business

Early Days

First of all, it really was never my intention to start a quilting business. And if you had told 2008 me what I would be doing in 2025 I don’t think she would have believed you. (Although she would have been decidedly over the moon to hear it). I started blogging during the early days when there weren’t a ton of quilting blogs, and the blogospheres seemed to be ruled by Mommy Bloggers. (My children were all teenagers or young adults when I started blogging, so they were never the focus of my posts).

The Motivation to Blog

I actually decided to start blogging just to keep track of all of my projects. At the time I was making a lot of things and giving many of them away. And I just wanted a record of my projects. I wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping a physical scrapbook of my projects, and through the ease of transferring photos from a digital camera to my computer A Quilting Life was born. (As an aside, A Quilting Life wasn’t my first choice for my blog. Many of my other ideas for blog names were already taken. But now I find it providential that I used this name and can’t imagine any other).

Early Years: Consistency + Intentionality

One thing I did do well even though I had no “5-year business plan” was to consistently and intentionally post regularly on the blog. I hosted sew along events and had giveaways. I participated in a variety of these with other bloggers, getting to know just a little of the online quilting world from my home. Soon I was designing some simple projects. Next, I began sending small things off to be published in magazines and compilation books. I sewed samples for three different fabric designers, Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree and Company, Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms, and Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet. I joined Instagram pretty early on, but I focused primarily on my blog.

Turning the Corner from Hobbyist to Business

Three things prompted me to move from being a hobby quilter to a member of the quilting business community. First, my friend Jodi suggested I look into hosting advertisements on my blog. This is something that hadn’t even occurred to me. It became helpful as I was spending many hours weekly writing and publishing content here. (And there are also fees associated with maintaining a website). Another business inspiration for me was attending quilt market in Salt Lake City in 2011. I learned a ton at that event and had my eyes opened to what the quilting world was all about. And finally, when I suggested to a mentor that I might want to do more in the industry, I was given the advice to start a pattern company. Best. Advice. Ever!

Next…What I Wish I’d Known When I Started

Starting a pattern company was really the catalyst for what I do now. I loved designing with the incredible fabrics from amazing women throughout the industry. But something in me felt like I could do so much more creatively if I were able to design fabric. I went to my daughter Chelsi and asked if she might be interested in taking this journey. She excitedly agreed to try with me, and now eleven years later we just shared our 21st collection together. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to do what I love and to work with my family (the A Quilting Life Podcast and YouTube were both the ideas of my oldest, Billy). I wish I had been a bit more intentional back in the day in terms of business–as you’ll see from my tips below.

Best Tips

Below are some tips I happily share with anyone who asks me questions about the business aspects of quilting:

• Create a website or blog that serves as the landing space for your business. This has been invaluable resource for me.
• Start an email list ASAP. I didn’t really realize the power of this until the summer of 2022 when I took a course on this topic. I wish I had started my weekly newsletter in 2008, not 2022.
• Plan ahead, quarterly if possible. And do similar work in batches. (I write most of my blog posts in two computer sessions a week).
• Use video if you have the capability. YouTube has been very powerful in growing our business.
• Be intentional about work hours so you don’t overdo it.
• Regularly review your systems to make positive changes.
• Don’t look sideways in your industry. Get business ideas and inspiration from other niches.

Going Forward

I love learning about business best practices and ideas for managing my time and my work. I love what I do and so try to keep moving forward in a way that is sustainable for me and my family. And of course, I still love to quilt as much as I did when I first learned from my grandmother all those years ago! Below are a couple of posts you might find interesting:

• A Day in the Life: My Typical Week
• About Me

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Quilting!