The Three Pillars of Building a Profitable & Sustainable Longarm Quilting Business - FREE video

Meet Emi Takagi Stapler of Emi and Ko Studio

This month in the Longarm League, we published a coaching call featuring Emi Takagi Stapler of Emi and Ko Studio. I sat down with her to talk about balancing her quilting business, which consists of pattern design and longarm quilting, with being a mother of four, teaching piano lessons, and adapting to military relocations. We talked about her experience at Quilt Market in Houston, thoughts on potentially starting a podcast, and how to best leverage social media for her business.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Emi to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Emi...

Emi Takagi Stapler, Emi and Ko Studio.

Located: Colorado Springs, CO
In business: Since 2018
Machine and software: Bernina Q24 and Bernina Qmatic
In the Longarm League: Since 2022

Where to find Emi
Website: https://www.emiandkostudio.com/
Instagram: @emiandkostudio
Facebook: Emi and Ko Studio
Best way...

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Essex Edge-to-Edge Digital Pantograph

 

 

 

My inspiration for this design came from the "ribbon candy" motif that—for whatever reason—always seems so effective in adding great quilting texture.

Ribbon candy is often used in custom quilting to add oomph to certain areas of a quilt top, whether it be in the patchwork or in a thin border or sashing. 



I wanted to translate that ribbon candy idea into an edge-to-edge design that would be effective regardless of the quilt pattern. 

I couldn't help but see the shape of an S in the ribbon candy, and the name Ess-Dog (from the song Jenny and the Ess-Dog by Stephen Malkmus) kept coming to mind when I was trying to name the design. But luckily, during the Christmas holiday break, Josh and I watched the entire series of the BBC show called Gavin and Stacey, and a lot of the show is set in Essex. I thought this was a much more grown-up name than Ess-Dog. :) 

I wanted to keep the repeats somewhat "contained" and...

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Christmas Starlets Quilt using Rumble as Crosshatch E2E Quilting

 

 

 

Today, I'm featuring an alternate use for the Rumble edge-to-edge design we released three years ago.

Back then, when a new design came out, I didn't have the bandwidth to do anything but email the Longarm League membership and maybe post it to Instagram. In other words, Rumble never got the blog treatment that it deserves.



I've seen Rumble used many times over the years, much more commonly without the offset. Here's an example of a time I used it with my Fierce Feathered Star quilt:

Rumble used the default way makes a great alternative to straight-line quilting. It's awesome on modern quilts! 

But as I was sewing this Christmas-y quilt together, I thought Rumble this alternate way—with a 50% offset— would be a great way to finish the lap quilt. I'm very happy with the result!

I am NOT big on decorating for any holiday, so I feel especially festive right about now, a whole two weeks before December 25th. I'm throwing this on my...

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A Curly, Spiral E2E Digital Quilting Design called Perm

 

 

 

 

I've always wanted to make my own version of "hand-guided" spirals to join the ranks of Feathered Spirals, Fancy Feathers, Echoed Swirls, Fossilized—designs I used to free-motion quilt before I had my computerized machine.

This was the first design that I drew on my iPad (using the Graphic app), then imported into Art and Stitch to "clean up". The most difficult part of that process was getting the rows to nest the way I wanted them to. After many, many iterations, I'm happy with the design that's meant to look "perfectly imperfect," like free-motion quilting. 




I think that the larger and more varied the single repeat is, the more a design looks organic. For these kinds of designs, my goal is that the design repeats and rows are difficult to find. :) 

I named it Perm because the spirals reminded of the curly hair look in the late 80s and early 90s! The one and only perm I got was a "spiral perm" at a...

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Fizz Extended Width Digital Quilting Design

 

 

 

Fizz is so simple and versatile, it'll work on anything!



This is an extended-width pantograph design, which means one squiggly line will travel the whole width of the quilt and then will travel back right-to-left to complete the bubbles, baubles...? Melon shapes? What are we calling these? Chainlink, but cuter? ;)

The advantages of using this design:
1) No backtracking.
2) Stitches smoothly (no corners or pivots) and quickly.
3) Looks great in either direction — loading a quilt on its side can increase efficiency by not having to advance the quilt as much.

Potential disadvantages of using this design (hey, just being honest):
1) If your machine doesn't do well traveling right-to-left, you'll want to load the L to R version of the design which is included in the purchase. This means manually moving the machine head back to the left edge of the quilt for each line, like you would for straight-line quilting. Kind of a pain. But, even so - no backtracking is still...

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Meet Katelin Craven of Red Rock Quilt Co.

This month in the Longarm League, we published a coaching call featuring Katelin Craven of Red Rock Quilt Co. I sat down with her to talk about recently leaving her travel-heavy job as a bat biologist to have a better work/life balance and focus on her quilting career full-time. We talked about changing from slowly building a business to quickly ramping up, ways to apply her science skills and strengths to her new business, and living and quilting in a remote area full of amazing wildlife - check out the spectacular view from her studio window below!

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Katelin to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Katelin...

Katelin Craven, Red Rock Quilt Co.

Located: Roxborough Park, Colorado
In business: 9 months
Machine and software: Babylock Regalia with Pro-stitcher
In the Longarm League: 1 year

Where to find Katelin
Website: ...

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Meet Starla Landis of Guided Star Quilting

This month in the Longarm League, our Business Spotlight is featuring Starla Landis of Guided Star Quilting. I sat down with her to talk about how her business has grown over the last few years and what's working for her now. Starla ran an in-home drapery business for 20 years before starting her longarm quilting business and she shared so many great tips around the tools and processes she's brought over from her drapery days and now uses in her longarm business. We're so excited to share this info-packed call with our members this week!

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Starla to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Starla...

Starla Landis, Guided Star Quilting

Located: Lancaster, PA
In business: almost 4 years
Machine and software: Bernina Q24 with Qmatic
In the Longarm League: Will be 4 years in February

Where to find...

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Flight E2E Pantograph Digital Quilting Design

 

 

 

This is Flight.

It's a minimalistic version of a bird in flight. You can tell by the little beak leading the way. I wanted the tail feathers to look like they were nestled between the next row of birds so they got a bit of a scalloped edge.



Mainly, this is a fussless edge-to-edge pantograph design that will blend into the background but still provide interesting texture with its gentle curves and angles.

Remember the early 2010s and "put a bird on it"? Well, I'm a decade late, but I finally did it! 

If you had a quilt with bird fabric or bird elements like applique or piecing, this would be a perfect panto for it! But the nice thing about this design is that it will also serve as a nice texture without being bird-related at all. In fact, it might even be mistaken for acorns. I don't know, ask my husband. :)



The Quilt

This was a fun and fast quilt top to sew up, made with leftover scraps from other projects.

I'll include an...

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Meet The Panto Shop

This month I interviewed three Longarm League members to discuss the challenges and rewards of starting a new business together - The Panto Shop! I loved getting to talk with them about their journey from individual League members, to being in a Business Buddy group, to now creating and starting their new business. While the full discussion replay is available for League members, we invited them to share a little about themselves and their businesses with all of you.

My guests were Shelly Moore (Ma Tante Quilts), Katie Hanson (Modern Textiles), and Kaitlyn Howell (Knot and Thread Design). While they each run their own longarm quilting businesses, they joined together to create and found The Panto Shop - a new website for purchasing digital pantographs. They specialize in offering fresh and modern pantographs on a clean and easy to navigate website.

After knowing these ladies for years and watching their individual businesses grow, it's...

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Meet Jennifer Smith of Jenn B Quilts

Each month in the Longarm League, we hold a coaching call with one of our members to talk about their business. This month I sat down with Jennifer Smith of Jenn B Quilts. We talked about meeting and quilting for popular designers, finding new ways to manage a busy household after starting a business, and ideas for continuing to attract new clients.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Jenn to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Jenn...

Jennifer Smith, Jenn B Quilts

Located: University Place, WA
In business: 2 years
Machine and software: Gammill with Intelliquilter
In the Longarm League: 2 years

Where to find Jennifer
Website: https://www.jennbquilts.com/
Instagram: @jennbquilts
Facebook: jennbquilts
Best way for someone to contact you for quilting? Through my website. You can request quilting using my form, or if you need to reach...

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