Happy Monday Quilting Peeps! I do hope you are well and enjoying your quilting. I’ve got a guest blogger today, Gina Perkes! I’ve had the privilege of meeting Gina and sharing breakfast with her, and her delightful mom on more than one occasion. As a long time admirer of her work, I consider Gina to be one person who has influenced my free motion quilting.
Beginning a new scary, yet exciting adventure…shop ownership/longarm dealership – The Copper Needle.
the ability to do what I love as a means to support myself and my family. What began as a hobby almost eighteen years ago, has evolved into so much more. In fact, my quilting business was actually requiring not only eighty hours per week from me but also a good fifty percent of my living space.
You must become an expert in designing, creating, adapting, reinventing yourself, marketing, photographing, writing, accounting, and staying relevant…no pressure. I guess I am a sucker for a challenge.
Living in a town full of quilters with no quilt store means that I have a great market here but I do hope that my reach will be much larger than just my small Arizona town. My goal is that quilters will want to visit from all over the country to learn, shop, become inspired, etc. My space is beginning small with 1,500 square feet but as the business grows, so will the facility. I will be carrying fabrics, patterns, threads, batting, notions, and a huge selection of machine quilting tools designed by me and other machine quilters. It is my goal to not just promote my own designs and tools but to highlight other teachers, designers, and quilters who have great classes, products, and tools that they’ve developed as well! This is one of the great things about our industry: networking and sharing ideas!
I am now an Innova dealer and my shop will serve as a training center for those wanting to learn about longarm quilting. I am quite busy with my rental services as well. There are many people who do not have the space or budget to purchase a longarm machine but still want to complete their quilts on their own. They complete a training day so that they can receive a “driver’s license” then they come to my studio to complete their projects.
Teaching – On the road you can and me at HMQS, OSQE, MQS, Quilt week Grand Rapids, and more…check my website calendar if you’d like to say hi at an upcoming show or sign up for a class:)!
Congratulations Gina! I look forward to seeing you at HMQS!
Happy Quilting!
Teri
The link to Gina’s site goes to an ad for GoDaddy. Is there another link?
Thank you again Teri! I am truly honored that you featured me on your blog! Sandy: try http://www.thecopperneedle.com
Thanks! That one works just fine. 🙂
I have taken a class from Gina in Phoenix. She is an absolute delight and knows what she is doing!! Give yourself a special gift, take a class from her, it’s fun, thoughtful and will help build your skills.