Do I Need A Longarm Quilter for My Quilting Business?

One question many quilters ask when considering starting a quilting business is "do I need to buy a longarm quilter?". For those of you who not familiar with longarm quilters they are basically a sewing machine with a longer arm for greater maneuverability and attached to a frame. This allows for you to quilt without the hassle of having to pick up and rotate your quilt every few minutes. The long arm allows the quilter to freely move the quilt around and create patterns as complicated or as simple as desired.

All this allows you to do the work in a fraction of the time that it would do on a conventional machine. This has clear implications for your quilting business - i.e. your time is money and the quicker you can make quilts then the higher your profit margins will be.

For your quilting business you should look at the downsides of investing a longarm quilter as well as the benefits. The first consideration has to be cost. There is no getting away from it - longarm quilting machines are expensive! You will need to consider carefully how serious you are about quilting business and whether you see your business as long-term before taking the plunge and investing in a machine. As it will be a part of your business, you will be able to offset the cost of the machine against tax.

Another consideration is space. Longarm quilters are attached to large frames, so you will need to think about whether you have sufficient space in your home.

Overall, it is not essential to have a longarm quilter to start a quilting business. However, a longarm quilter does allow you to complete larger projects in significantly less time.