I want to start a longarm quilting business! I gave this answer so many times while telling my friends and family my idea to start a business (usually followed with “what is that?”). With one exception. More on that to come, but first let me introduce myself. My name is Sydney Sarasin and I am the owner and sewist of Arachne’s Quilting. My life has always revolved around art, and I even have a PhD in art history. I’ve taught art history, managed museum collections, and run arts education programs, but I always wanted to do more making. This is my chance.
I have been doing a wide range of fiber arts since I first taught myself to knit back in middle school. Since then, I’ve taught myself to crochet, sew, embroider, cross stitch, and now quilt, just to name a few. I like to say I began collecting fiber arts like Pokemon after knitting made me fall in love. Quilting is the most recent self-taught skill I’ve acquired after a good friend hounded me to be her quilting friend back in 2021. I started slow, but have since become obsessed!
This brings me to creating the business. I, and I cannot stress this enough, HATED doing the actual quilting on my domestic sewing machine. I had been pushing through (pun intended) for years with a crappy little beginner sewing machine that was gifted to me in high school. The neck? The size of a pencil. My frustration? The size of a t-rex. My wrists? Constant pain. So, when I decided to make a king-sized quilt for my partner and I for our wedding, I knew I couldn’t possibly quilt it myself. But that raised another issue – could I really hand off my quilt to someone else, even if they are a professional? For many, the answer is yes. For me, a chronic I-can-do-anything-er, the answer was no. If something can be done, I want to figure it out and do it myself!
So, on a random weekday around 1:30 pm I texted my partner, Nick, out of the blue, “What if I just start my own longarm business?” Nick promptly replied, “I was wondering when you were going to say that.” They know me so well. Shortly after confirming that I was serious (hello ADHD), Nick had already completed a wealth of research on the business and which machines we should get. Only a few short weeks later, we were on our way to Duluth to buy our APQS Millie from Karen McTavish of McTavish Quilting Studio. Nick excitedly handled the boring business stuff so I could focus on the quilting, and here we are! Proud owners of Arachne’s Quilting. I can’t wait to meet some wonderful quilters, have the opportunity to work on your quilts, and continue to learn and grow as a quilter through this business. Come along for the journey!
Arachne's Quilting 